The Elderly
"What will we as a Nation do with the energy, imagination, and experience of Americans who are technically beyond retirement age, even though they feel they have something yet to give for others? We should answer that question in the most positive terms we can." Harrison A. Williams, Jr., Opening statement at introduction of Older Americans Community Service Program bill, 12 January 1967.
Poverty, health care, housing, and other concerns of the elderly were a central feature of Great Society programs. As a member of the Special Committee on Aging for most of his career, Williams gained a first-hand view of the problems of the aged, leading to his advocacy of corrective legislation and involvement in programs such as Meals on Wheels. Williams viewed seniors not just in terms of their problems, but also as individuals with potential as a national human resource warranting government support. Green Thumb, Retired Senior Volunteer (RSVP), and other programs advocated by Williams and supported by federal funding reflected this view.
Photograph, National Council of Senior Citizens Rally on Capitol steps, Washington, D.C., 6 June 1973.
Senior citizens were major beneficiaries of Great Society programs, as health care, housing, and other social services expanded. Williams led many of these efforts, as well as promoting legislation aimed at changing attitudes toward the elderly, including support for programs that drew on seniors as valued human resources in their communities. (Photograph by U.S. Senate, Special Committee on Aging.)
Photograph, Harrison Williams publicizing one of many product scams that targeted the elderly, February 1964.
Some of Williams's earliest efforts in the Senate focused on product scams that targeted the elderly
Front page of Senior Citizen News, publication of the National Council of Senior Citizens, Inc., Vol. 2, No. 80, May 1968.
Williams was Chairman of the Senate's Special Committee on Aging, which released its report in April 1968 surveying the problems confronted by the nation's senior citizens and identifying areas for government action.
Photograph, Green Thumb members planting flowers in the courtyard of the Old (Russell) Senate Office Building, July 1968.
Green Thumb was one of the programs established in 1965 to give senior citizens a vehicle for using their skills (gardening in this case) for their personal fulfillment and for their communities.
From Senator Harrison A. Williams, Jr., [No.] 78-50, “Williams says final congressional action on mandatory retirement ‘will help ensure the rights of elderly workers.’”
Age discrimination in employment was initially outlawed in 1967 under a bill signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. The law, which at its signing covered ages 40 through 65, has been amended many times since to expand its coverage. These included the 1978 amendments sponsored by Williams and signed by President Jimmy Carter.
Proclamation, State of New Jersey, Executive Department, to Harrison Williams, 7 November 1979.
This proclamation, signed by Governor Brendan Byrne, provides a concise summary of Williams's legislative initiatives, and a sense of the legacy of Great Society programs, on behalf of senior citizens.