Marcia Chinitz Goldberg was born December 11, 1925 in Atlantic, Iowa, the daughter of Esidor Chinitz and Anna Gelfand Chinitz. She was educated at the University of Iowa, earning a B.A. in French in 1948.

After graduation she moved to New York City where she worked in the field of magazine advertising and promotion in several capacities: advertising copywriter for Prentice Hall, Inc. (1950-51); publicity director for the Comptone Company (1951-52); and promotion manager for Modern Bride Magazine (1952-53).

In 1953 she married Samuel Goldberg (b. 1925), recently appointed assistant professor of mathematics in the Department of Mathematics, Oberlin College. Mrs. Goldberg was appointed the same year as secretary to the College Librarian and Professor of Bibliography Julian S. Fowler (d. 1975). A son David was born on February 13, 1955, which led Mrs. Goldberg to leave her secretarial position at the College Library. In addition to raising a family and maintaining a household, Marcia Goldberg was a member of the League of Women Voters and in the late 1950s served as an active member of the Housing Survey and Code Committee of the City of Oberlin. She wrote publicity articles in support of the Survey and Code Subcommittee. For more information on her role as a community activist, see Leadership in a Small Town (Totowa, N.J., 1964), by Aaron Wildavsky.

Mrs. Goldberg, who received an M.A. in art history from Oberlin College in 1973, was an active researcher in the field of art history. She published many articles in national art journals and several in conjunction with exhibitions at the Allen Memorial Art Museum and the College Library, both of Oberlin College. She served as a research associate with the Oberlin College Archives from 1975 to 1985, and also named one of the first affiliate scholars at Oberlin.

She and her husband, now retired, still live in Oberlin. Marcia Goldberg, in her own quiet way, continues to support local educational endeavors and a variety of social concerns.