Friends of Framingham Reformatory.

Variant names

Dates:

Establishment 1948

Nationality: Americans

Language: English

History notes:

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 Correctional Institution at Framingham, with emphasis on rehabilitation of women prisoners rather than on punishment.

Van Waters had served with distinction and to the satisfaction of six Commissioners of Corrections from 1932 to 1948. Eliot McDowell became Commissioner in February 1948; Van Waters was summarily fired in January 1949. McDowell's deputy, Frank A. Dwyer, was permitted to make an "investigation." Governor Paul Dever then appointed an impartial commission composed of Erwin Griswold, Dean of Harvard Law School, Mrs. Roger Lowell Putnam of Springfield, and Robert G. Clark, Jr., Assistant District Attorney of Norfolk County. The Commission completely vindicated Van Waters of the 27 charges against her and she was restored to her position in March 1949. McDowell and Dwyer remained in office, however; their efforts to harass and discredit Van Waters continued.

The small group of citizens that rallied behind Van Waters in the summer of 1948 grew into an organization called "Friends of Framingham, Inc." Its purposes included the development of modern and scientific methods of treatment and rehabilitation of individuals committed to correctional institutions in Massachusetts; the promotion of public education in the techniques, purposes and potentialities of modern penology; helping to improve practices in the work of government agencies concerned with those accused or convicted of crimes.

The original focus of the organization was modified over the years. In 1964, the group established a Friends of Framingham Half-Way House for former Framingham prisoners. Barbara Johnson is currently secretary of "The Friendly Visitors," an outgrowth of FOF. The population at the Reformatory now includes women and men.

From the guide to the Additional records, 1938-1973, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)