This being Womens History Month and today being the 103 anniversary of the terrible Triangle Shirtwaist Fire got me to thinking about Frances Perkins the first ever woman cabinet member as Secretary of Labor under FDR from 1933 to 1945. The fire so affected her that it changed her whole focus in life and lead indirectly to her becoming the first woman cabinet member. She is considered the architect of the New Deal. It was Frances whom FDR picked to shepherd the many aspects of his New Deal, including the CCC Civilian Conservation Corp; the WPA Workers Progress Administration, Social Security and the thing that documented it all the Artist Project. She was only one of two cabinet members to serve all 12 years in FDRs administration. Frances Perkins first Woman Cabinet Member Secretary of Labor under Franklin Roosevelt 1933 – 1945 United States Civil Service Commission under Harry Truman 1945 - 1952 Frances Perkins (born Fannie Coralie Perkins; April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965) was the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, and the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet. As a loyal supporter of her friend, Franklin D. Roosevelt, she helped pull the labor movement into the New Deal coalition. She and Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes were the only original members of the Roosevelt cabinet to remain in office for his entire presidency. During her term as Secretary of Labor, Perkins championed many aspects of the New Deal, including the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Public Works Administration and its successor the Federal Works Agency, and the labor portion of the National Industrial Recovery Act. With the Social Security Act she established unemployment benefits, pensions for the many uncovered elderly Americans, and welfare for the poorest Americans. She pushed to reduce workplace accidents and helped craft laws against child labor. Through the Fair Labor Standards Act, she established the first minimum wage and overtime laws for American workers, and defined the standard forty-hour work week. She formed governmental policy for working with labor unions and helped to alleviate strikes by way of the United States Conciliation Service, Perkins resisted having American women be drafted to serve the military in World War II so that they could enter the civilian workforce in greatly expanded numbers. Early life and education Perkins was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Susan Bean Perkins and Frederick W. Perkins, the owner of a stationers business (both of her parents originally were from Maine). She spent much of her childhood in Worcester, Massachusetts. She was christened Fannie Coralie Perkins, but later changed her name to Frances, when she joined the Episcopal church in 1905. Perkins attended the Classical High School in Worcester. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry and physics in 1902. She obtained a masters degree in political science from Columbia University in 1910. In the interim, she held a variety of teaching positions including a position teaching chemistry from 1904 to 1906 at Ferry Hall School (now Lake Forest Academy). In Chicago, she volunteered at settlement houses, including Hull House. In 1918 she began her years of study in economics and sociology at the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School. Life and career before the cabinet position She achieved statewide prominence as head of the New York Consumers League in 1910 and in that position she lobbied with vigor for better working hours and conditions. During this time Perkins also taught as a professor of sociology at Adelphi College. The next year, she witnessed the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, a pivotal event in her life. It was because of this event that Frances Perkins would leave her office at the New York Consumers League and become the executive secretary for the Committee on Safety of the City of New York. In 1913, Perkins married New York economist Paul Caldwell Wilson. She kept her birth name, defending her right to do so in court. The couple had a daughter, Susanna. Both father and daughter were described by biographer Kirstin Downey as having manic-depressive symptoms Wilson was frequently institutionalized for mental illness. She was the sole support for her household. Prior to moving to Washington, D.C., Perkins held various positions in New York State government. She had gained respect from the political leaders in the state of New York and during 1919 she was added to the Industrial Commission of the State of New York by Governor Alfred Smith. In 1929 the newly elected New York governor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, appointed Perkins as the inaugural Commissioner of the New York State Department of Labor. Having earned the cooperation and respect of various political factions, Perkins ably helped put New York in the forefront of progressive reform. She expanded factory investigations, reduced the workweek for women to 48 hours, and championed minimum wage and unemployment insurance laws. She worked vigorously to put an end to child labor and to provide safety for women workers. In 1933 Roosevelt appointed Perkins as Secretary of the Department of Labor, a position she held for twelve years, longer than any other Secretary of Labor. She became the first woman to hold a cabinet position in the United States and thus, became the first woman to enter the presidential line of succession. With few exceptions, President Roosevelt consistently supported the goals and programs of Secretary Perkins. As Secretary of Labor, Perkins played a key role in the cabinet by writing New Deal legislation, including minimum-wage laws. Her most important contribution, however, came in 1934 as chairwoman of the Presidents Committee on Economic Security. In this post, she was involved in all aspects of the reports including her hand in the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps which ultimately resulted in the Social Security Act of 1935. On the day that bill was signed into law, her husband escaped from a mental institution. In 1939 she came under fire from some members of Congress for refusing to deport the communist head of the west coast International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Harry Bridges. Ultimately, however, Bridges was vindicated by the Supreme Court. Following her tenure as Secretary of Labor, in 1945 Perkins was asked by President Harry Truman to serve on the United States Civil Service Commission, which she did until 1952, when her husband died and she resigned from federal service. During this period, she also published a memoir of her time in FDRs administration called The Roosevelt I Knew, which offered a sympathetic view of the president. Following her government service career, Perkins remained active as a teacher and lecturer at the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University until her death in 1965 at age 85. She is buried in the Glidden Cemetery in Newcastle, Maine. Bob Bearden
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 03:02:44 +0000
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