Frances Perkins

Frances Coralie Perkins (nèe Fannie Coralie Perkins). (born April 10, 1882 – May 14, 1965) was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1902, and Columbia University in 1910 with a master's degree in sociology. In 1910 she became head of the New York Consumer's League, lobbying for better working hours and conditions. In 1913 she married Paul Caldwell Wilson. She kept her maiden name, defending, in court her right to do so. In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt appointed Miss Perkins as Secretary of the Department of Labor, a position she held for twelve years, longer than any other Secretary of Labor and making her the first woman to hold a cabinet position in the United States (thus becoming the first woman to enter the presidential line of succesion). She was also one of only two secretaries to hold their post throughout the entire FDR presidency (the other being Harold L. Ickes).

Related Topics:
April 10 - 1882 - May 14 - 1965 - Boston, Massachusetts - Mount Holyoke College - Columbia University - 1913 - Paul Caldwell Wilson - Franklin Roosevelt - Department of Labor - Secretary of Labor - Harold L. Ickes

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As Secretary of Labor she played a key role writing New Deal legislation, including minimum-wage laws. However, her most important contribution came in 1934 as chairwoman of the President's Committee on Economic Security. In this position she was involved in all aspects of the reports and hearings that ultimately resulted in the Social Security Act of 1935.

Related Topics:
New Deal - Minimum-wage - Social Security Act

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Prior to going to Washington, Perkins held positions in state government in New York, first as an aid to Governor Al Smith and then to Franklin Roosevelt when he became Governor. Smith, a machine politician from the old school, was an early social reformer with whom Frances Perkins made common cause. At Smith's funeral in 1944 two of his former Tammany Hall political cronies were overheard to speculate on why Smith had become a social crusader. One of them summed the matter up this way: "I'll tell you. Al Smith read a book. That book was a person, and her name was Frances Perkins. She told him all these things, and he believed her."

Related Topics:
New York - Al Smith - Tammany Hall

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Following her tenure as Secretary of Labor in 1945, Miss 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. Following her government service career, Miss Perkins continued to be 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.

Related Topics:
Harry Truman - United States Civil Service Commission - New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations - Cornell University

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