Guide to the Aime J. Forand papers, 1918-1972

Phillips Memorial Library
Archives and Special Collections
1 Cunningham Square
Providence, RI 02918
Tel: 401-865-2578
Fax: 401-865-1578
Email: pcarchives@providence.edu
Website: https://pml.providence.edu/

Published in 2009

Collection Overview

Title:	Aime J. Forand papers
Date range:	1918-1972
Creator:	Forand, Aime J., 1895-1972
Extent:	10.75 linear feet
Abstract:	The papers of Congressman Aime J. Forand, United States House of Representatives from the Rhode Island delegation, contains his private and congressional correspondence, awards, election material, photographs, and scrapbooks.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	Phillips Memorial Library
Collection number:	rppc_forand

Scope & content

The materials which comprise the Aime J. Forand papers highlight both the private and public life of the United States House of Representative from Rhode Island. Included in his papers are congressional correspondence, photographs, memorabilia, election materials, and service awards and commendations.

Included are scrapbooks Forand personally compiled filled with news clippings and government documents that highlight his political career and advocacy work on the part of the elderly and disabled. In addition, there are a number of personal items, such as private correspondence and family photographs and film.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Fogarty, John Edward, 1913-1967
• Green, Theodore Francis, 1867-1966
• Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969.
• Humphrey, Hubert H. (Hubert Horatio), 1911-1978
• Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973
• Forand, Aime´ Joseph, 1895-1972
• Pastore, John O. (John Orlando), 1907-
• Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972
• Robert E. Quinn, 1894-1975
• Condon, Francis B. (Francis Bernard), 1891-1965

Subject Organizations

• Rhode Island. General Assembly. House of Representatives
• National Conference on Social Welfare

Geographical Names

• Rhode Island -- Politics and government -- 1865-1950
• Rhode Island -- Politics and government -- 1951-

Subject Topics

• Government, Politics and Law

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into nine series.

• Awards and Citations
• Clippings
• Correspondence
• Election Materials
• Invitations
• Government Papers
• Memorabilia
• Photographs
• Recordings

Biographical note

Aime Joseph Forand served as a congressional member from the 1st Congressional District of Rhode Island to the United States House of Representative for twenty-two years, and was an important advocate for senior citizens, the disabled, and the unemployed. Forand’s monumental work to provide Social Security and health insurance benefits to the elderly and disabled, culminated in the Forand Bill. This legislation passed in 1965 under the Social Security Act and was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Forand was born May 23, 1895 in Fall River, Massachusetts, to Francois Xavier and Meli-Luce Ruest Forand. After attending public and parochial schools, he studied at the Magnus Commercial School in Providence, Rhode Island, and at Columbia University. In May 1918, Forand went to France as a sergeant, first class, in the Motor Transport Corps of the American Expeditionary Force. In July, 1919 he was honorably discharged from the service.

Returning to his home town of Central Falls, Forand became a member of the City Commission in 1922. Forand soon became a Charter member of Rhode Island Young Men’s Democratic League, and served as the branch’s president from 1923 until 1926. Forand continued his political career with his election as a Democratic member of the House of Representatives of the Rhode Island General Assembly for two terms, 1923-1927. In 1924, Forand also began working as a reporter for the Providence News and News-Tribune, working at the Pawtucket and Woonsocket offices until 1930.

Aime J. Forand continued to pursue a political future throughout the 1930s. Beginning in 1929 as Secretary to United States Representative Jeremiah E. O’Connell, Forand also served in this role to O’Connell’s successor, Francis B. Condon, from 1930-1935. In 1935, Forand took a leading role in promoting the rights and welfare of veterans with his appointment to Chief of the Rhode Island State Division of Soldiers’ Relief and as Commandant of the Rhode Island Soldier's Home.

His political career continued to expand with his 1936 election to the Seventy-Fifth Congress from the 1st Congressional District. Although he lost the 1938 election, he in won his seat back in 1940 and remained in office until retiring in 1961, after the completion of the Eighty-Sixth Congress. It was during this tenure that Forand achieved his most significant and noteworthy accomplishments.

Staring in 1941, Forand served in a number of prominent roles, including speaker for the Democratic National Congressional Committee (1941), and as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee (1943), Chairman to both the United States House of Representatives Democratic Caucus (1947) and the Board of Visitors to the United States Coast Guard Academy (1948), as well as being named National Chairman of the Senior Citizens-for-Kennedy Committee. Additionally, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree by Providence College (1951).

Apart from these many achievements, Forand was instrumental in advocating for the elderly, unemployed and disabled. As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, he championed jobless benefits for federal, state, and municipal employees, and promoted legislation designed to increase Social Security benefits for dependents. These aims were coupled with his sponsorship of tax legislation that would aid persons dependent on charitable and non-profit organizations due to their level of low-income.

Aime J. Forand’s most important work focused on socialized medicine for senior citizens and disabled persons. Forand proposed that medical insurance be guaranteed to these people, in addition to increasing their Social Security benefits by ten percent. The legislation was first drawn up in 1957 and despite facing opposition, Forand’s “Ten-Point Bill of Rights for Older Citizens” speech to Congress helped with the bill’s adoption by Congress in 1958. His initial demands for a ten percent increase of Social Security benefits were decreased to seven percent, but the legislation was reintroduced in 1959, and finally passed in 1964. In July 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed H.R. 3708 and H.R 6675, or the “Older Americans Act,” into law under the Social Security Act. The final version of the legislation provided hospital insurance and an increase in benefits for the elderly and disabled.

Although Forand retired from Congress in 1961, he remained active in public service. Forand established, and headed as president, the National Council of Senior Citizens, Inc., (1961), and was also a member of the Advisory Committee on Housing for Senior Citizens, under Hon. Robert C. Weaver the Administrator of Housing and Home Finance. Forand resigned from this post due to ill health in 1963, and retired to Boca Raton, Florida. Forand was honored in 1970 with his induction into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame.

After his retirement, Forand remained actively involved in a number of public service organizations, such as the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign War, Elks, and Knights of Columbus. After suffering a heart attack at his retirement home in Florida, Forand passed away on January 18, 1972. He was survived by his wife of forty-one years, Gertrude B. Bedard Forand.

Chronology

Date		Event
1895 May 23		Born in Fall River, Massachusetts, to Francois Xavier and Meli-Luce Ruest Forand.
1918 -1919		Served in France with the Motor Transport Corps of the American Expeditionary Force, as sergeant, first class.
1922		Member of the City Commission of Central Falls, Rhode Island.
1923		Charter member of Rhode Island Young Men’s Democratic League.
1923 -1926		President of Central Falls Branch of Rhode Island Young Men’s Democratic League.
1923 -1927		Democratic member of the House of Representatives of the Rhode Island General Assembly for two terms.
1924 -1930		Reporter for the Providence News and News-Tribune.
1929		Secretary to Jeremiah E. O’Connell, United States Representative from the First Congressional District of Rhode Island.
1930		Secretary to O’Connell’s successor, Francis B. Condon.
1931		Marries Gertrude B. Bedard.
1935		Chief of the Rhode Island State Division of Soldiers’ Relief. Commandant of the Rhode Island Soldiers’ Home.
1936		Elected to the 75th Congress from the First Congressional District.
1938		Loses reelection to the 76th Congress.
1940 - 1960		Reelected to the 77th Congress and remains in office until retirement after the 86th Congress.
1941		Member of the Democratic National Congressional Committee.
1943		Speaker of the Democratic National Congressional Committee. Member of the House Ways and Means Committee.
1947		Chairman, United States House of Representatives Democratic Caucus.
1948		Chairman, Board of Visitors, United States Coast Guard Academy.
1951		Receives an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree by Providence College.
1957		Introduces H.R. 9467, a bill to provide federal health insurance to the elderly and disabled in addition to a ten percent Social Securities benefit increase.
1959		Re-introduces the Forand Bill.
1960		National Chairman of the Senior Citizens-for-Kennedy Committee.
1961		Retires from Congress. Organized the National Council of Senior Citizens, Inc., and serves as first president of the Council.
1962 - 1963		Member of the Advisory Committee on Housing for Senior Citizens, under Hon. Robert C. Weaver, Administrator of Housing and Home Finance.
1965 Jul 14, Jul 30		President Lyndon B. Johnson signs H.R. 3708, the “Older Americans Act. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs H.R. 6675.
1966		Receives an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Rhode Island College.
1970		Inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame.
1972 Jan 18		Dies of a heart attack at retirement home in Boca Raton, Florida.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	Collection is open for research by appointment. Materials do not circulate. Some materials may be restricted, for further information contact the Archives and Special Collections, Phillips Memorial Library, Providence College.
Use of the materials:	Researchers are advised that express written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection must be obtained from the Phillips Memorial Library. Although Providence College has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Aime J. Forand papers, Providence College, Phillips Memorial Library, Archives and Special Collections.
Contact information:	Phillips Memorial Library Archives and Special Collections 1 Cunningham Square Providence, RI 02918 Tel: 401-865-2578 Fax: 401-865-1578 Email: pcarchives@providence.edu Website: https://pml.providence.edu/

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Ms. Angelina Trahan, sister of Mrs. Aime J. Forand, donated the papers and personal memorabilia of the Congressman to Providence College in 1977.
Custodial history:	Prior to Providence College's acquisition of the collection, the papers and personal items of Congressman Aime J. Forand were in the custody of his sister-in-law, Ms. Angelina Trahan.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Archives Staff.
Encoding:	Finding aid encoded by Shannon McNamara 2009 February 18
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Inventory

---