Overview
Correspondence, clippings, etc., of Friends of Framingham, Inc., formed in support of Miriam Van Waters and the progressive changes she had implemented as superintendent of the Massachusetts Reformatory for Women at Framingham.
Dates
- Creation: 1948-1957
Language of Materials
Materials in English.
Access Restrictions:
Access. Closed for digitization.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright. Copyright in the records created by the Friends of Framingham, Inc., as well as copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.
Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.
Extent
6.67 linear feet (16 file boxes)The collection consists of correspondence about the Van Waters case. There are also publications, state government documents, scrapbooks, and clippings about Van Waters, Friends of Framingham, women at Framingham, and prison conditions in general.
This collection was formerly cataloged at the Schlesinger Library as Friends of Framingham Reformatory Records.
HISTORY
The Friends of Framingham, Inc. (FOF) was formed in 1948 in support of Miriam Van Waters and the progressive methods she had implemented as Superintendent of the Massachusetts Reformatory for Women at Framingham with emphasis on rehabilitation of women prisoners rather than on punishment. An attempt was made to remove Van Waters because of alleged irregularities at the reformatory, but she was cleared of all charges. Friends of Framingham then worked on development of rehabilitation methods, public education in penology, and improving the practices of government agencies concerned with the accused or convicted. It established a halfway house in 1964 and a friendly visitors program.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession number: 143
Received June 1960. Gift of The Friends of the Framingham Reformatory thru Dorothy Kirchwey Brown, (Mrs. LaRue Brown) Beacon St., Boston, Massachusetts.
CONTAINER LIST
- Box 1: 1-28
- Box 2: 2: 29-55.
- Box 3: volumes 1-4
- Box 4: volumes 5-8
- Box 5: volumes 9-12
- Box 6: volumes 13-14
- Box 7: volumes 15-17
- Box 8: volumes 18-20
- Box 9: volumes 21-23
- Box 10: volumes 24-26
- Box 11: volumes 24-26
- Box 12: volumes 27-28
- Box 13: volumes 31-32
- Box 14: volumes 33-35
- Box 15: volumes 36-38
- Box 16: volumes 39-41
Subject
- Brown, Dorothy Kirchwey (Person)
- Friends of Framingham Reformatory (Organization)
- Griswold, Erwin N. (Erwin Nathaniel), 1904-1994 (Person)
- League of Women Voters of Massachusetts (Organization)
- Van Waters, Miriam (Person)
- Title
- Friends of Framingham, Inc. Records of the Friends of Framingham, 1948-1957: A Finding Aid
- Author
- Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- sch00587
Repository Details
Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository
The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.