A good day to honor the remarkable Frances Perkins.
In 1911, Francis Perkins witnessed the horror of the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City, which killed 146 workers — 123 women and girls and 23 men, many of them young immigrants. Some exits had been locked, a practice intended in part to control workers and prevent unauthorized breaks and theft. Trapped on the upper floors, dozens jumped to their deaths.
Perkins later described that afternoon as a turning point in her life and devoted herself to changing the conditions that had made such a catastrophe possible. She became a leading advocate for workplace safety and labor reform in New York, helping push through laws governing fire safety, working conditions, hours and protections for women and children.
Along the way, she became an ally of a rising New York politician named Franklin D. Roosevelt. Two decades after the Triangle fire, President Roosevelt appointed Perkins Secretary of Labor, making her the first woman to serve in a presidential Cabinet and from where she became one of the principal architects of the New Deal, helping build much of the social framework that still protects American workers: Social Security, unemployment insurance, the minimum wage, limits on working hours and protections against child labor.
“The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to give all the people under its jurisdiction the best possible life,” she said.
2 Responses
A fascinating biography “The Woman Behind the New Deal”, Kristin Downy, is a great book about a great life.
Francis Perkins was an important person in our American history. I recently visited her home and museum on River Road in Damariscotta, Maine. The museum development is still underway, but it is a good place to visit because of its location and informed staff.