Frances Perkins Biography
Social and Labor Reformer, Secretary of Labor 1933-1945, Teacher. 1880 - 1965
"Very slowly there evolved… certain basic facts, none of them new, but all of them seen in a new light. It was no new thing for America to refuse to let its people starve, nor was it a new idea that man should live by his own labor, but it had not been generally realized that on the ability of the common man to support himself hung the prosperity of everyone in the country."
Only a handful of women have held a position in the US Presidential Cabinet. Frances Perkins was the first. Her innovative and forward-thinking ideas have shaped many of the labor laws in place today.
Frances Perkins (christened Fannie Coralee, but she legally changed it) was born in Boston and raised in Worcester, MA, earning a Bachelor’s degree at Mt. Holyoke, and later a Master’s in sociology at Columbia. Perkins took a course in history while at Mt.Holyoke which set her on a lifelong path of working for labor reform. The class had students observe working conditions at some modern-day factories, and Perkins saw firsthand their low wages and poor working conditions. After graduation in 1903, Perkins went to Illinois to teach school, but received an education herself in social justice from leaders like Jane Addams, Ellen Gates Starr, and Dr. Graham Taylor, who was head of the Chicago Commons, a famous settlement house. It wasn’t long before she was living and working in a settlement house, beginning her career in social work. In Philadelphia she worked with young women forced in prostitution by predatory landlords and employers. Perkins saw not only the problems in front of her, but formulated ideas for reform and improvement. She worked with NY State Senator Tommy McManus to improve conditions in Hell’s Kitchen, and learned how politics worked, which would be useful later in her career.
In 1910, Perkins was general secretary of the National Consumers League in New York, becoming an established name as an expert in industrial working conditions. When she married in 1913, Perkins kept her name, unwilling to lose the influence her name commanded in her field. The next year was the infamous fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, where over one hundred employees, mostly young girls, died. Perkins watched as, unable to escape down stairways because they were locked in, many workers jumped to their deaths from the 8th floor of the AschBuilding. Horrified at what she saw, Perkins worked on the New York State Factory Commission (established in response to the fire) to improve job safety. She testified before the state legislature, and had lawmakers visit factories and workers’ homes to see their working and living conditions firsthand. Her tactics were successful. New laws and codes were written between 1911 and 1915 to protect workers, compensate them for injuries incurred while on the job, and to limit working hours for women and children.
It was with the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt that her goals for social justice were able to be taken to a national level. In 1933, the new President wanted Perkins for Secretary of Labor, but she was unsure. She cautioned him, saying, “I don’t want to say yes to you unless you know what I’d like to do and are willing to have me go ahead and try.” She then told him of her ideas and plans for reform, including minimum wage, maximum work hours, unemployment benefits, social security, and universal healthcare. Roosevelt was certain she was the person he wanted, and these were ideas he would support, and with that – Frances Perkins became the first woman to serve in a President’s Cabinet. She was Secretary of Labor from 1933-1945, and served Presidents Roosevelt and Truman.
As the country was in the midst of the Great Depression, Perkins and President Roosevelt worked swiftly in the first year of his administration to bring relief to the public. As Secretary of Labor, Perkins worked tirelessly to create programs such as The Emergency Relief Administration, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Public Works Administration. These programs provided food, shelter and jobs for millions of people and invested in conservation projects. But perhaps her greatest achievements were the enactments of the Social Security Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. In 1935, Congress passed the first, ensuring that working people had benefits during unemployment and in retirement. In 1938, the second was made law. This immediately raised wages and shortened work hours for many people, and in many industries, prohibited the use of child labor. Perkins’ dedication to labor reform and the welfare of the public that needed her was manifested in these two laws. Universal healthcare, however, was one goal she could not reach. And yet, with all that she achieved, she never believed in a Federal Government that dictated to the public. Rather, Perkins believed in having the federal government work with state governments to pass laws that worked best for people. During her time as Labor Secretary she suffered harsh criticism because her gender and her steadfast adherence to the rights and welfare of workers. At one point some members of Congress initiated an effort --- unsuccessfully --- to have her impeached.
When she ended her career in government service, she took a post on the faculty of Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, where she remained until her death in 1965.
Frances Perkins achieved something remarkable in becoming the first woman to serve in a Presidential Cabinet. Perhaps even more remarkable though, was that the laws she was instrumental in creating are still in force today. The family home in Maine has been set up as the FrancesPerkinsCenter. http://www.francesperkinscenter.org/
