Irving J. Fain was a philanthropist, successful businessman, and community leader whose perseverance and ideals almost single-handedly led to the establishment of a fair housing law in Rhode Island. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Alfred and Elizabeth (Stoneman), Russian immigrants, on Aug. 11, 1906. He had two brothers, Edgar and Norman, and two sisters, Janet and Selma. His father, Alfred Fain, founded Apex Tire Company in 1924. Irving was raised in Lippitt Hill, now University Heights, an American landmark mixture of races and economic backgrounds he helped to create. In 1923, he graduated from Classical High School and, in 1927, from Harvard University, where he was captain of the debate team. In 1936, Fain married Evelyn Macie. They had two children, Lyle and Elizabeth. He served in the United States Army as a quartermaster officer in England, North Africa, and Italy from 1942-1945 and ultimately attained the rank of captain.
Fain worked in his family business, which included Thompson Chemical, Tower Iron Works, Apex Inc., Apex Tire and Rubber, and Dighton Industries. During WWII, Apex rebuilt naval aircraft tires with plastic due to the short rubber supply. When Irving was president in 1950, Apex developed the first vinyl garden hose.
He helped found and was the first chairman and chief lobbyist of Citizens United for a Fair Housing Law in 1958. In 1959, he led three discussions of the proposed Fair Housing Law in Rhode Island on WJAR radio’s World Affairs Program, stressing residential desegregation’s moral and ethical values. Fain campaigned vigorously for a Fair Housing Law until its passing in 1965. He served as the Temple Beth-El and the Urban League of Rhode Island president. He became chairman of the Social Action Committee of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.
Fain was also heavily influenced by the civil rights movement in the South and donated $50,000 to the Mississippi Bail Fund to help release arrested civil rights protestors. Additionally, he grew passionate about nutrition in schools and helped found the Rhode Island Nutrition Council. He was a member of a five-person trade commission sent to Turkey by the United States government in 1956, one of six American businessmen named in 1961 to the American Trade Commission to eight new West African nations, and a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Trade Expansion and the Export Advisory Committee of the Department of Commerce in 1964.
During the 1960 Presidential campaign, Fain was chairman of the social action committee of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, which worked among 605 Reformed temples in the United States for “fair play and objectivity.” For that effort, he received a brotherhood award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1963.
Among other honors, he received in 1964 the George Brussel Memorial Award of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City for his achievements in religious and social justice, and in 1967, the distinguished service award of the Synagogue Council of America. As a trustee of Tougaloo Colen” in Mississippi, he worked out a teacher exchange program with Brown University in 1964 and received honorary degrees from Tougaloo in 1967 and Brown University in 1968.
He founded and was chairman of a citizens committee that campaigned for several years for a fair housing statute, finally enacted by the legislature in 1965. He was also active in organizations devoted to housing problems for low‐income families and minority groups. He acquired dozens of multiple‐unit dwellings, improved them, and rented them on an integrated basis.
Fain received Brotherhood Awards from the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1963 and 1965. Active commitment to social justice was a hallmark of Irving Fain. His commitment inspired Reform congregations across North America to develop and pursue a wide range of activities and programs designed l’taken et ha’olam, to mend the world. By reaching out to those in need, forming coalitions of concern across religious and racial lines, and advocating for equality and justice, Fain helped Congregations realize the prophets’ vision and create communities informed by that vision. The Fain Awards, established in 1983 in his honor and memory, are awarded every two years to congregations whose work in social justice is exemplary.
Irving Fain died on Aug. 22, 1970. He was inducted into The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 1985.
For additional reading:
Trade Agreements Act extension: hearings before the Committee on Finance United States Senate Eighty-fifth Congress second session on H.R. 12591, an act to extend the authority of the President to enter into trade agreements under section 350 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as amended and for other purposes, Irving J. Fain, 1958.
Irving Jay Fain papers, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Providence, RI. Papers relating to Irving Jay Fain’s concern for and activities regarding housing, civil rights, poverty, and nutrition. The collection includes materials about the Rhode Island Fair Housing Law and the National Welfare Rights Organization.