Miriam Van Waters
Encyclopedia
Miriam Van Waters was a noted early American
feminist social worker and served as superintendent of the Massachusetts Reformatory for Women at Framingham (1932–1957). Estelle Freedman wrote a biography of Van Waters in the mid-nineties, and provided historical and social context for her professional work as social worker and prison superintendent in her earlier social history of women's prisons.
, daughter to a member of the clergy, Rev. George Browne Van Waters, an Episcopalian priest. She was a practitioner of the "Social Gospel
" associated with that current of Christian faith, and believed in prisoner rehabilitation as an important element within a broader context of social reform. She earned a doctorate in anthropology from Clark University
, then went on to work as a probation officer at the Boston Children's Aid Society. With other female social reformers, she developed a number of specialist juvenile rehabilitation and reform facilities in California, such as the Frazer Detention Home (Portland, Oregon
) and El Retiro School for Girls (Los Angeles
), which sought to assist girls to develop self-esteem and embark on the road to rehabilitated social behavior. She also served as a referee at the Los Angeles Juvenile Court.
, Jane Addams
, Margaret Mead
, Ethel Sturges Dummer, and Frances Perkins
.
While inmates worked on industrial concerns like manufacturing clothing and flags, or working in the kitchens and prison farm unit, Van Waters also developed educational opportunities for the inmates, such as an art and crafts course, literary class, drama class, prison newspaper, hikers club and a parole club, which networked with other Massachusetts social reform and rehabilitation agencies outside the prison. She also pioneered separate accommodation for younger inmates as well as nursing mothers, who were allowed to keep their children with them until the latter were fostered out at two years of age. When the state legislature tried to separate infants from nursing mothers, Van Waters successfully lobbied against the proposed legislation.
Van Waters was also a closeted lesbian during this period, and in fact, it was a 'moral panic' against 'prison lesbianism' that almost led to her dismissal as a superintendent in 1949. At this time, her successful female networks were to prove indispensable in prompting widespread protest from Episcopal, Jewish and Catholic clergy, the Massachusetts State Federation of Women's Clubs, Massachusetts Council of Churches, National Council of Jewish Women and Americans for Democratic Action.
However, Van Waters herself eluded 'outing' although she sacrificed mementos of her past, such as two decades-worth of romantic letters from her lifelong companion, Geraldine Thompson (1872–1967). Given strong public support, she weathered this storm. It was to be another eight years before she entered well-earned retirement after her life of public service.
and a hip fracture meant that she was unable to personally participate in the cause of civil rights as much as she, a lifelong anti-racist, would have liked. This did not prevent her from participation in the Community of the Holy Spirit, a reform-minded Episcopal women's social service ministry, during the sixties.
As time went on, however, her friends began to pass away. Van Waters and Geraldine Thompson remained lovers, and participated in joint social activities like membership of the Audubon Society. Sadly, Thompson predeceased her, and died in 1967. In 1972, Van Waters experienced a minor stroke, but her remaining friends and associates were concerned at what it might mean. In January 1974, Miriam Van Waters died. Although Estelle Freedman relates that her former onsite superintendent’s house is still there, it has not fared well in a harsher and more punitive penal environment.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
feminist social worker and served as superintendent of the Massachusetts Reformatory for Women at Framingham (1932–1957). Estelle Freedman wrote a biography of Van Waters in the mid-nineties, and provided historical and social context for her professional work as social worker and prison superintendent in her earlier social history of women's prisons.
Early Life and Professional Career
Miriam Van Waters was a liberal mainline Protestant ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
, daughter to a member of the clergy, Rev. George Browne Van Waters, an Episcopalian priest. She was a practitioner of the "Social Gospel
Social Gospel
The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United States and Canada...
" associated with that current of Christian faith, and believed in prisoner rehabilitation as an important element within a broader context of social reform. She earned a doctorate in anthropology from Clark University
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university and liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts.Founded in 1887, it is the oldest educational institution founded as an all-graduate university. Clark now also educates undergraduates...
, then went on to work as a probation officer at the Boston Children's Aid Society. With other female social reformers, she developed a number of specialist juvenile rehabilitation and reform facilities in California, such as the Frazer Detention Home (Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
) and El Retiro School for Girls (Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
), which sought to assist girls to develop self-esteem and embark on the road to rehabilitated social behavior. She also served as a referee at the Los Angeles Juvenile Court.
Massachusetts Reformatory for Women: 1932-1957
In 1932, Van Waters began a long-term appointment as superintendent at the Massachusetts Reformatory for Women at Framingham, succeeding Jessie Donaldson Hodder. She served as superintendent of that institution for the next quarter-century. Most of the inmates were serving time for prostitution, extramarital sex, or alcoholism. Her feminist principles led to an emphasis on rehabilitation during her period as superintendent, and are reflected in her active staff recruitment programmes. She developed a donor base amongst female philanthropists, including Eleanor RooseveltEleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
, Jane Addams
Jane Addams
Jane Addams was a pioneer settlement worker, founder of Hull House in Chicago, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in woman suffrage and world peace...
, Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist, who was frequently a featured writer and speaker in the mass media throughout the 1960s and 1970s....
, Ethel Sturges Dummer, and Frances Perkins
Frances Perkins
Frances Perkins , born Fannie Coralie Perkins, was the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, and the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet. As a loyal supporter of her friend, Franklin D. Roosevelt, she helped pull the labor movement into the New Deal coalition...
.
While inmates worked on industrial concerns like manufacturing clothing and flags, or working in the kitchens and prison farm unit, Van Waters also developed educational opportunities for the inmates, such as an art and crafts course, literary class, drama class, prison newspaper, hikers club and a parole club, which networked with other Massachusetts social reform and rehabilitation agencies outside the prison. She also pioneered separate accommodation for younger inmates as well as nursing mothers, who were allowed to keep their children with them until the latter were fostered out at two years of age. When the state legislature tried to separate infants from nursing mothers, Van Waters successfully lobbied against the proposed legislation.
Van Waters was also a closeted lesbian during this period, and in fact, it was a 'moral panic' against 'prison lesbianism' that almost led to her dismissal as a superintendent in 1949. At this time, her successful female networks were to prove indispensable in prompting widespread protest from Episcopal, Jewish and Catholic clergy, the Massachusetts State Federation of Women's Clubs, Massachusetts Council of Churches, National Council of Jewish Women and Americans for Democratic Action.
However, Van Waters herself eluded 'outing' although she sacrificed mementos of her past, such as two decades-worth of romantic letters from her lifelong companion, Geraldine Thompson (1872–1967). Given strong public support, she weathered this storm. It was to be another eight years before she entered well-earned retirement after her life of public service.
Life in Retirement: 1957-1974
After her retirement, Van Waters moved into an apartment with two former inmates and staff members from the Massachusetts Reformatory. According to her biographer, Estelle Freedman (1), she did not slow down in retirement, and tirelessly still campaigned for greater prison reform, civil rights, and abolition of the death penalty, which she abhorred. She respected Martin Luther King, but muscular dystrophyMuscular dystrophy
Muscular dystrophy is a group of muscle diseases that weaken the musculoskeletal system and hamper locomotion. Muscular dystrophies are characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness, defects in muscle proteins, and the death of muscle cells and tissue.In the 1860s, descriptions of boys who...
and a hip fracture meant that she was unable to personally participate in the cause of civil rights as much as she, a lifelong anti-racist, would have liked. This did not prevent her from participation in the Community of the Holy Spirit, a reform-minded Episcopal women's social service ministry, during the sixties.
As time went on, however, her friends began to pass away. Van Waters and Geraldine Thompson remained lovers, and participated in joint social activities like membership of the Audubon Society. Sadly, Thompson predeceased her, and died in 1967. In 1972, Van Waters experienced a minor stroke, but her remaining friends and associates were concerned at what it might mean. In January 1974, Miriam Van Waters died. Although Estelle Freedman relates that her former onsite superintendent’s house is still there, it has not fared well in a harsher and more punitive penal environment.