Guide to the Helen Forman papers, circa 1920-1999

Special Collections, James P. Adams Library
Rhode Island College
600 Mount Pleasant Ave
Providence, RI, 02908
Tel: 401-456-8380
email:digitalcommons@ric.edu

Published in 2023

Collection Overview

Title:	Helen Forman papers
Date range:	circa 1920-1999
Creator:	Forman, Helen.
Extent:	2.1 cubic feet.
Abstract:	Collection of materials from a Rhode Island School of Education graduate and local teacher, Helen Forman, which contains photographs, correspondence, and memorabilia.
Language of materials:	English.
Repository:	Special Collections, James P. Adams Library
Collection number:	MSS-0034

Scope & content

The collection contains the personal and professional materials of Helen Forman. Included are contracts and letters of resignation from schools in which Forman worked, as well as earning statements, personal correspondence from Sylvan Forman, memorabilia, such as dance cards and graduation regalia, college transcripts, and awards. The collection also contains photographs with subjects including travels to Europe, various beaches in Maine and Rhode Island, Providence College, Lincoln Woods, RI, yearbook portraits, graduation ceremonies at RICE and RIC, and the Bureau of Jewish Education.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Forman, Helen
• Forman, Sylvan

Subject Organizations

• Bureau of Jewish Education
• Providence Public Schools (Rhode Island
• Rhode Island College
• Rhode Island College of Education
• Warwick Public Schools (Rhode Island)

Subject Topics

• Americans -- Travel
• Americans -- Travel -- Europe
• Education
• Rhode Island/Local Interest

Geographical Names

• Conimicut (Rhode Island)
• Providence (Rhode Island)
• Springfield (Massachusetts)

Occupations

• Postal Workers
• Teachers

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into the following series:

• Series 1: Papers and memorabilia; circa 1926-1999
• Series 2: Photographs; circa 1920-1988

Biographical/Historical Note

Helen Ginsburg Forman was born in 1911. Forman was raised in Providence, Rhode Island, and graduated from Rhode Island College of Education (RICE) in 1934, now called Rhode Island College (RIC). Forman became a school teacher shortly after, working with students from kindergarten to high school in various school districts in Warwick and Providence. In 1940, she married Sylvan Forman, a graduate of Bryant and Stratton College, who become a postal worker in Springfield, MA, and later was a supervisor at the U.S. Postal Transportation Office in Rhode Island. Together they had one child, Jeffrey. After retirement, Helen Forman spent her time volunteering for fundraising events at Rhode Island College and attended music, theater, and dance performances. In 1990, Sylvan Forman passed away, leaving Helen to make her first donation to RIC in her husband’s memory: $250,000 for the construction of an admissions office. Helen Forman died in 2005, leaving a $5.1 million donation to Rhode Island College, which at the time was the largest gift given by an individual to a public college in Rhode Island’s history. Two buildings at RIC are named for the Formans: the Helen Forman Theatre in the Nazarian Center and the Sylvan R. Forman Center Admissions Office.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	The collection is open for research.
Use of the materials:	Researchers are advised to contact Rhode Island College Special Collections for questions regarding permissions to reproduce, distribute, or otherwise publish material from this collection. Although Rhode Island College has physical ownership of the collection, it does not necessarily hold literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Alternate form:	This collection has not been digitized. Please contact the Rhode Island College Special Collections about obtaining digitized materials.
Preferred citation:	Helen Forman papers, MSS-0034, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College.
Contact information:	Special Collections, James P. Adams Library Rhode Island College 600 Mount Pleasant Ave Providence, RI, 02908 Tel: 401-456-8380 email:digitalcommons@ric.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The collection was initially given to the Rhode Island College Development Office in 2007. It was transferred to the Rhode Island College Special Collections at that time. An addition to the collection was made in 2008.
Processing information:	An inventory to the collection was created sometime around 2008. In 2023, Special Collections student, Lilliana Martinez, arranged and described the collection, as well as created a finding aid using current archival standards under the direction of supervisor Veronica Denison, Digital Archivist and Special Collections Librarian at Rhode Island College. In 2024, the collection was reboxed by Special Collections student Abigail Standeven, under the direction of Denison.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Veronica L. Denison and Lilliana Martinez.
Encoding:	This finding aid was encoded by Veronica L. Denison, 2023
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Separated material:	Commercial high school yearbooks were removed from the collection and added to the Rhode Island College Special Collections Book Collection.
Location/Existence of copies:	This collection has not been digitized. Please contact the Rhode Island College Special Collections about obtaining digitized materials.
Other information:	Works used in preparation of inventory: Mooney, Tom. “Rhode Island News.” The Providence Journal, October 28, 2006. Rhode Island College gets record $5.1M gift. (2006, October 29). Sun Journal. Retrieved February 21, 2023, from https://www.sunjournal.com/2006/10/29/rhode-island-college-gets-record-51m-gift/. "Sylvan R. Forman." Providence Journal (RI), July 12, 1990: B-02. NewsBank: America's News – Historical and Current.

Inventory

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