Illustration by Shirley Goodall, McGill University, 1937

R. Shirley Goodall (1913–1969)

Although Shirley Goodall does not appear in our broader narrative of medical illustrators, we felt it important to include her work here. Goodall was active at McGill University and the Royal Victoria Hospital in the 1930s, working alongside figures like Dr. Wilder Penfield. Born in Montreal, she studied at The Study under Ethel Seath—of the influential Beaver Hall Group—and later completed science studies at McGill before continuing her training at Johns Hopkins.

Despite producing high-quality medical illustrations for McGill physicians between 1933 and 1939, very little documentation about her professional career survives. Like many women in the field, her contributions have been fragmented by history: she married in 1939 and retired from illustration shortly thereafter.

Her preserved drawings remind us that archival traces matter—ensuring talented but lesser-documented artists like Goodall still receive recognition for their work.