Frances Perkins (born Fannie Coralie Perkins; April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965) was an American workers-rights advocate who served as the fourth United States secretary of labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position. A member of the Democratic Party, Perkins was the first woman ever to serve in a presidential cabinet. As a loyal supporter of her longtime friend, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she helped make labor issues important in the emerging New Deal coalition. She advocated for immigrants’ rights as well. She was one of two Roosevelt cabinet members to remain in office for his entire presidency (the other being Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes).
Perkins's most important role came in developing a policy for social security in 1935. She also helped form government policy for working with labor unions. Perkins's Labor Department helped to mediate strikes by way of the United States Conciliation Service. She dealt with numerous labor issues during World War II, when skilled labor was vital to the economy and women were moving into jobs formerly held by men.Downey, Kirstin. The Woman Behind the New Deal, 2009, p. 250.
Perkins was born in Boston. After graduating from Mount Holyoke College, she briefly worked as a teacher and at the Hull House settlement in Chicago. She obtained graduate degrees at Columbia University and became a labor leader and consumer advocate in New York City, where she first met Roosevelt in 1910. Perkins was appointed a commissioner in New York City government and later in the state government. On January 14, 1929, Perkins was appointed the head of New York's Department of Labor, in the role of Industrial Commissioner, by Roosevelt when he was governor of New York. She addressed the early effects of the Great Depression in this role. When Roosevelt was elected president in 1932, Perkins was asked to join his cabinet and she presented him with a list of programs to help workers. She oversaw many New Deal programs during the Depression and labor programs during World War II. The Frances Perkins Building, headquarters of the U.S. Labor Department, is named for her, and she is remembered with a feast day in the Episcopal Church.
Early life Fannie Coralie Perkins was born in Boston, 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 from Maine). Fannie Perkins had one sister, Ethel Perkins Harrington (1884–1965). Frances Perkins was raised in a middle class Republican family. She descended from a long line of Maine farmers and craftsmen.Frances Perkins | AFL-CIO. (n.d.). Aflcio.org. In 1905 she changed her name to Frances Perkins. The family could trace their roots to colonial America, and the women had a tradition of work in education. She spent much of her childhood in Worcester, Massachusetts. Frederick loved Greek literature and passed that love on to Fannie.
Perkins attended the Classical High School in Worcester. She earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry and physics from Mount Holyoke College in 1902. While attending Mount Holyoke, Perkins discovered progressive politics and the suffrage movement. She was named class president. One of her professors was Annah May Soule, who assigned students to tour a factory to study working conditions;Annah May Soule Papers , Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley, MA. Perkins recalled Soule's course as an important influence.
Early career and continuing education After graduating from High school she taught in Chicago and helped collect wages for workers . After college, Perkins held a variety of teaching positions, including one from 1904 to 1906 where she taught chemistry at Ferry Hall School (now Lake Forest Academy), an all-girls school in Lake Forest, Illinois. In Chicago, she volunteered at settlement houses, including Hull House, where she worked with Jane Addams. She changed her name from Fannie to Frances when she joined the Episcopal church in 1905.Kennedy, Susan E. "Perkins, Frances". American National Biography Online. Oxford University Press, Feb. 2000. Web. March 27, 2013. In 1907, she moved to Philadelphia and enrolled at University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School to learn economics, and spent two years in the city working as a social worker. During this time, she joined the Socialist Party of America, but left after a few years as she felt the party was too idealistic. Shortly after, she moved to Greenwich Village, New York, where she attended Columbia 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.Downey, Kristin. The Woman Behind the New Deal. Anchor Books, 2010, pp. 11, 25.
In 1910 Perkins achieved statewide prominence as head of the New York office of the National Consumers League and lobbied with vigor for better working hours and conditions. She 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. 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. 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.
As a consequence of this fire, Perkins left her position at the New York office of the National Consumers League and, on the recommendation of Theodore Roosevelt, became the executive secretary for the Committee on Safety of the City of New York, formed to improve fire safety. As part of the Committee on Safety, Perkins investigated another significant fire at the Freeman plant in Binghamton, New York, in which 63 people died. In 1912, 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. 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.
Marriage and personal life In 1913, Perkins married New York economist Paul Caldwell Wilson. 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. She defended her right to keep her maiden name in court.. This newspaper article does not make any reference to an actual court case. The phrase that she "defended her right to keep her maiden name in court" was often used in newspaper articles about her, but even in Downey's recent biography of 2009, there is no mention of such a court proceeding. The couple had a daughter, Susanna, born in December 1916. Less than two years later, Wilson began to show signs of mental illness. He would be institutionalized frequently for mental illness throughout the remainder of their marriage.Downey, Kirstin. The Woman Behind the New Deal, 2009, p. 2. 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. According to biographer Kirstin Downey, Susanna displayed "manic-depressive symptoms", as well.Downey, Kirstin. The Woman Behind the New Deal, 2009, p. 380. Perkins shared the Georgetown, D.C., home of an old friend, Mary Harriman Rumsey, who had founded the Junior League in 1901, for less than 17 months, until Rumsey's death in 1934. Rumsey and Perkins's arrangement was for practical reasons , as a December 1933 Washington Post columnist had criticized Perkins for not meeting social obligations, due to her apartment accommodations. Later Perkins shared a home with Caroline O’Day, a Democratic congresswoman from New York. During this time, Perkins also switched her party affiliation from the Republican to the Democratic Party.
Return to work in New York
Prior to moving to Washington, D.C., Perkins held various positions in the New York state government, having gained respect from the political leaders in the state. When Perkins returned in 1917 to New York when she was the first female member of the New York state she was highly ranked, especially for a female at this time. Under Governors Al Smith and later Franklin D Roosevelt she helped organize factory inspections, settled strikes and most importantly established a reputation as one of the nation’s leading experts of labor relations. Frances Perkins (1880–1965). (2021). In D. G. Felder, Trailblazing Women!: Amazing Americans Who Made History (1st ed.). https://access.infobase.com/article/1784331-frances-perkins-18801965?aid=104024
In 1919, she was appointed to the Industrial Commission of the State of New York by Governor Al Smith. Her nomination was met with protests from both manufacturers and labor, neither of whom felt Perkins represented their interests. 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. 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. 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. 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. The position also came with an $8,000 salary (), making Perkins the highest-paid woman in New York state government. 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."
In 1929, the newly elected New York governor, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, appointed Perkins as the inaugural New York state industrial commissioner.Our History – New York State Department of Labor . Labor.ny.gov (March 25, 1911). Retrieved on 2013-08-12. As commissioner, Perkins supervised an agency with 1,800 employees.
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 championed minimum wage and unemployment insurance laws. She worked vigorously to put an end to child labor and to provide safety for women workers.
Secretary of Labor
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?" Agreeing to back her, Roosevelt nominated Perkins as Secretary of Labor. The nomination was met with support from the National League of Women Voters and the Women's Party. The American Federation of Labor criticized the selection of Perkins because of a perceived lack of ties to labor.