Frances Perkins | |
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| 4thUnited States Secretary of Labor | |
| In office March 4, 1933 – June 30, 1945 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | William N. Doak |
| Succeeded by | Lewis B. Schwellenbach |
| Member of theUnited States Civil Service Commission | |
| In office 1945–1953 | |
| President | Harry S. Truman |
| Succeeded by | Frederick Lawton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Fannie Coralie Perkins (1880-04-10)April 10, 1880 Boston,Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | May 14, 1965(1965-05-14) (aged 85) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Paul Wilson (m. 1913, died 1952) |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | Mount Holyoke College (BS) Columbia University (MA) University of Pennsylvania |
Work institutions | |
Frances Perkins (bornFannie Coralie Perkins; April 10, 1880[1][2] – May 14, 1965) was an American workers-rights advocate who served as the fourthUnited States Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position. A member of theDemocratic Party, Perkins was the first woman ever to serve in apresidential cabinet. As a loyal supporter of her longtime friend, PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt, she helped make labor issues important in the emergingNew Deal coalition. She was one of two Roosevelt cabinet members to remain in office for his entire presidency (the other being Interior SecretaryHarold L. Ickes).
Perkins' most important role came in developing a policy forsocial security in 1935. She also helped form government policy for working withlabor unions, although some unionleaders distrusted her. Perkins' Labor Department helped to mediate strikes by way of theUnited States Conciliation Service. She dealt with numerous labor issues duringWorld War II, when skilled labor was vital to the economy and women were moving into jobs formerly held by men.[3]
Fannie Coralie Perkins was born inBoston, Massachusetts, to Susan Ella Perkins (née Bean; 1849–1927) and Frederick William Perkins (1844–1916), the owner of a stationer's business (both of her parents originally were fromMaine).[1] Fannie Perkins had one sister, Ethel Perkins Harrington (1884–1965).[4] The family could trace their roots to colonial America, and the women had a tradition of work in education.[5] She spent much of her childhood inWorcester, Massachusetts. Frederick loved Greek literature and passed that love on to Fannie.[4]
Perkins attended the Classical High School in Worcester. She earned a bachelor's degree inchemistry andphysics fromMount Holyoke College in 1902. While attending Mount Holyoke, Perkins discovered progressive politics and the suffrage movement.[6] She was named class president.[4] One of her professors wasAnnah May Soule, who assigned students to tour a factory to study working conditions;[7] Perkins recalled Soule's course as an important influence.[8]
After college, Perkins held a variety of teaching positions, including one from 1904 to 1906 where she taught chemistry atFerry Hall School (nowLake Forest Academy), an all-girls school inLake Forest, Illinois.[8] In Chicago, she volunteered atsettlement houses, includingHull House, where she worked withJane Addams.[8] She changed her name from Fannie to Frances[9] when she joined theEpiscopal church in 1905.[10] In 1907, she moved to Philadelphia and enrolled atUniversity of Pennsylvania'sWharton School to learn economics, and spent two years in the city working as a social worker.[11] Shortly after, she moved toGreenwich Village, New York, where she attendedColumbia University and became active in the suffrage movement. In support of the movement, Perkins attended protests and meetings, and advocated for the cause on street corners. She earned a master's degree in economics and sociology from Columbia in 1910.[12][13]
In 1910 Perkins achieved statewide prominence as head of the New York office of theNational Consumers League[14] andlobbied with vigor for better working hours and conditions. She also taught as a professor of sociology atAdelphi College.[15] The next year, she witnessed the tragicTriangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, a pivotal event in her life.[16] The factory employed hundreds of workers, mostly young women, but lacked fire escapes. In addition, the owner kept all the doors and stairwells locked in order to prevent employees from taking breaks. When the building caught fire, many workers tried unsuccessfully to escape through the windows.[17] Just a year before, these same women and girls had fought for the 54-hour work week and other benefits that Perkins had championed. One hundred and forty-six workers died. Perkins blamed lax legislation for the loss.[18]
As a consequence of this fire, Perkins left her position at the New York office of the National Consumers League and, on the recommendation ofTheodore Roosevelt, became the executive secretary for the Committee on Safety of the City of New York, formed to improve fire safety.[10][19] As part of the Committee on Safety, Perkins investigated another significant fire at theFreeman plant inBinghamton, New York, in which 63 people died. In 1912,[20] she was instrumental in getting the New York legislature to pass a "54-hour" bill that capped the number of hours women and children could work.[21][14] Perkins pressed for votes for the legislation, encouraging proponents including Franklin D. Roosevelt to filibuster, while Perkins called state senators to make sure they could be present for the final vote.[21]
In 1913, Perkins married New York economist Paul Caldwell Wilson.[5] She kept her maiden name because she did not want her activities in Albany and New York City to affect the career of her husband, then the secretary to the New York City mayor.[5] She defended her right to keep her maiden name in court.[5] The couple had a daughter, Susanna, born in December 1916.[22] Less than two years later, Wilson began to show signs of mental illness.[22] He would be institutionalized frequently for mental illness throughout the remainder of their marriage.[23] Perkins had cut back slightly on her public life following the birth of her daughter, but returned after her husband's illness to provide for her family.[24] According to biographerKirstin Downey, Susanna displayed "manic-depressive symptoms", as well.[25][26] Perkins shared the Georgetown, D.C. home of an old friend,Mary Harriman Rumsey, who had founded theJunior League in 1901, for less than a year, until Rumsey's death in 1934. Rumsey and Perkins' arrangement was for practical reasons, as a December 1933Washington Post columnist had criticized Perkins for not meeting social obligations, due to her apartment accommodations. Later Perkins shared a home withCaroline O’Day, a Democratic congresswoman from New York.[3][27]
Prior to moving to Washington, D.C., Perkins held various positions in the New York state government. She had gained respect from the political leaders in the state. In 1919, she was added to the Industrial Commission of the State of New York by GovernorAl Smith.[10] Her nomination was met with protests from both manufacturers and labor, neither of whom felt Perkins represented their interests.[28] Smith stood by Perkins as someone who could be a voice for women and girls in the workforce and for her work on the Wagner Factory Investigating Committee.[28] Although claiming the delay in Perkins's confirmation was not due to her gender, some state senators pointed to Perkins's not taking her husband's name as a sign that she was a radical.[29] Perkins was confirmed on February 18, 1919, becoming one of the first female commissioners in New York, and began working out of New York City.[30][29] The state senate-confirmed position made Perkins one of three commissioners overseeing the industrial code, and the supervisor of both the bureau of information and statistics and the bureau of mediation and arbitration.[29] The position also came with an $8,000 salary (equivalent to $145,000 in 2024), making Perkins the highest-paid woman in New York state government.[31] Six months into her job, her fellow Commissioner James M. Lynch called Perkins's contributions "invaluable," and added "[f]rom the work which Miss Perkins has accomplished I am convinced that more women ought to be placed in high positions throughout the state departments."[29]
In 1929, the newly elected New York governor, Franklin Roosevelt, appointed Perkins as the inaugural New York state industrial commissioner.[32][5] As commissioner, Perkins supervised an agency with 1,800 employees.[5]
Having earned the co-operation and the respect of various political factions, Perkins helped put New York in the forefront of progressive reform. She expanded factory investigations, reduced the workweek for women to 48 hours, and championedminimum wage andunemployment insurance laws. She worked vigorously to put an end to child labor and to provide safety for women workers.[10]
In 1933, Roosevelt summoned Perkins to ask her to join his cabinet. Perkins presented Roosevelt with a long list of labor programs for which she would fight, from Social Security to minimum wage. "Nothing like this has ever been done in the United States before," she told Roosevelt. "You know that, don’t you?"[33] Agreeing to back her, Roosevelt nominated Perkins asSecretary of Labor. The nomination was met with support from theNational League of Women Voters and the Women's Party.[34] TheAmerican Federation of Labor criticized the selection of Perkins because of a perceived lack of ties to labor.[34]
As secretary, Perkins oversaw theDepartment of Labor. Perkins went on to hold the position for 12 years, longer than any otherSecretary of Labor and thefourth longest of any cabinet secretary.[35] She also became the first woman to hold a cabinet position in the United States, thus she became the first woman to enter thepresidential line of succession.[36] The selection of a woman to the cabinet had been rumored in the four previous administrations, with Roosevelt being the first to follow through.[37] Roosevelt had witnessed Perkins's work firsthand during their time in Albany.[37] With few exceptions, President Roosevelt consistently supported the goals and programs of Secretary Perkins.
Perkins played a role in theNew Deal by helping to write legislation. As chair of the President's Committee on Economic Security, she was involved in all aspects of its advisory reports, including theCivilian Conservation Corps and theShe-She-She Camps.[10] Her most important contribution was to help design theSocial Security Act of 1935.[39][40]
Perkins created theImmigration and Naturalization Service.[41] She sought to implement liberal immigration policies but some of her efforts experienced pushback, especially in Congress.[41]
Perkins went toGeneva between June 11 and 18, 1938. On June 13, she gave a speech at theInternational Labour Organization in which she called on the organization to make its contribution to the world economic recovery, while avoiding being dragged into political problems. She also defended the participation of the United States in the ILO, which it had joined in 1934[42][Note 1].
In 1939, she came under fire from some members of Congress for refusing to deport thecommunist head of the West CoastInternational Longshore and Warehouse Union,Harry Bridges. Ultimately, Bridges was vindicated by theSupreme Court.[44]
After the death of President Roosevelt in April 1945,Harry Truman replaced the Roosevelt cabinet, namingLewis B. Schwellenbach as Secretary of Labor.[45][46] Perkins's tenure as secretary ended on June 30, 1945, with the swearing in of Schwellenbach.[46]
Following her tenure as Secretary of Labor, in 1945, Perkins was asked by President Truman to serve on theUnited States Civil Service Commission,[47] which she accepted. In her post as commissioner, Perkins spoke out against government officials requiring secretaries and stenographers to be physically attractive, blaming the practice for the shortage of secretaries and stenographers in the government.[48] Perkins left the Civil Service Commission in 1952 when her husband died.[47] During this period, she also published a memoir of her time in the Roosevelt administration entitled,The Roosevelt I Knew (1946,ISBN 9780143106418), which covered her personal history with Franklin Roosevelt, starting from their meeting in 1910.[49]
Following her government service career, Perkins remained active and returned to educational positions at colleges and universities. She was a teacher and lecturer at theNew York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations atCornell University until her death in 1965, at age 85. She also gave guest lectures at other universities, including two 15-lecture series at the University of IllinoisInstitute of Labor and Industrial relations in 1955 and 1958.[50]
At Cornell, she lived at theTelluride House where she was one of the first women to become a member of that renowned intellectual community. Kirstin Downey, author ofThe Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience, dubbed her time at the Telluride House "probably the happiest phase of her life".[51]
Perkins is buried in the Glidden Cemetery inNewcastle, Maine.[52] She was also known locally as "Mrs. Paul Wilson" and is buried by that name.[53]
Perkins is famous for being the first woman cabinet member, as well as from her policy accomplishments. She was heavily involved with many issues associated with thesocial safety net including, the creation of Social Security,unemployment insurance in the United States, the federal minimum wage, and federal laws regulating child labor.[54]
In 1967, theTelluride House andCornell University'sSchool of Industrial and Labor Relations established the Frances Perkins Memorial Fellowship.[55] In 1982, Perkins was inducted into theNational Women's Hall of Fame.[56] In 2015, Perkins was named by Equality Forum as one of their 31 Icons of the 2015LGBT History Month.[57] In 2019, she was announced as among the members of the inaugural class of the Government Hall of Fame.[58] Also that year,Elizabeth Warren used a podium built with wood salvaged from thePerkins Homestead.[59]
As the first woman to become a member of the presidential cabinet, Perkins had an unenviable challenge: she had to be as capable, as fearless, as tactful, and as politically astute as the other Washington politicians, in order to make it possible for other women to be accepted into the halls of power after her.[60]
Perkins had a cool personality that held her aloof from the crowd. On one occasion, however, she engaged in some heated name-calling withAlfred P. Sloan, the chairman of the board at General Motors. During a punishing United Auto Workers strike, she phoned Sloan in the middle of the night and called him a scoundrel and a skunk for not meeting the union's demands. She said, "You don't deserve to be counted among decent men. You'll go to hell when you die." Sloan's late-night response was one of irate indignation.[61]
Her achievements indicate her great love of workers and lower-class groups, but her conservative upbringing held her back from mingling freely and exhibiting personal affection. She was well-suited for the high-level efforts to effect sweeping reforms, but never caught the public's eye or its affection.[62]
PresidentJimmy Carter renamed the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., theFrances Perkins Building in 1980.[63] Perkins was honored with a postage stamp that same year.[64]Her home in Washington, D.C. from 1937 to 1940, andher Maine family home are both designatedNational Historic Landmarks.[65]
TheFrances Perkins Center is a nonprofit organization located at the Frances Perkins Homestead in Newcastle, Maine, which was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2014.[66][67] In December 2024, the site was named aNational Monument by PresidentJoe Biden.[68]
On April 10, 2003, a historical marker honoring Perkins was dedicated inHomestead, Pennsylvania, at the southwest corner of 9th and Amity.[69]
On October 30, 2024, a plaque honoring Perkins was unveiled at 121 Washington Place inGreenwich Village, where Perkins once lived.[70]
Perkins remains a prominent alumna ofMount Holyoke College, whose Frances Perkins Program allows "women of non-traditional age" (i.e., age 24 or older) to complete a bachelor of arts degree. There are approximately 140 Frances Perkins scholars each year.[71]
Amural depicting Perkins was displayed in the Maine Department of Labor headquarters,[72] the native state of her parents. On March 23, 2011, Maine's Republican governor,Paul LePage, ordered the mural removed. A spokesperson for the governor said he received complaints about the mural from state business officials and an "anonymous" fax charging that it was reminiscent of "communistNorth Korea where they use these murals to brainwash the masses".[73] LePage also ordered that the names of seven conference rooms in the state department of labor be changed, including one named after Perkins.[73] A lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court seeking "to confirm the mural's current location, ensure that the artwork is adequately preserved, and ultimately to restore it to the Department of Labor's lobby inAugusta".[74]
As of January 2013[update], the mural resides in theMaine State Museum, at the entrance to theMaine State Library and Maine State Archives.[75]
In 2022, Frances Perkins was officially added to theEpiscopal Church liturgical calendar with a feast day on 13 May.[76]
Perkins is a minor character in the 1977BroadwaymusicalAnnie, in which she, alongside Harold Ickes, is ordered by Roosevelt to sing along to the songTomorrow with the title character.[77] It is during this scene in the show that Roosevelt's cabinet comes up with the idea of the New Deal.
In the 1987 American movieDirty Dancing, the lead character Frances "Baby" Houseman reveals that she was named after Perkins.[78]
David Brooks's 2015 bookThe Road to Character includes an extensive chapter biography of Perkins.[79]
Becoming Madam Secretary[80] by New York Times author Stephanie Dray tells the story of Ms. Perkins’ life. It was copyrighted in 2024 and published by Thorndike Press.
Birthplace: Ma; Age: 2 months; Head of Household: Fred Perkins; Relation: Daughter; Census Place: Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts
Fannie Coralie Perkins; 1880; Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts; Birth(subscription required)
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| Preceded by | United States Secretary of Labor 1933–1945 | Succeeded by |
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