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As an individual, not as a cabinet member, Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor, received first hand information on the Golden Gate Bridge Project 

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Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins shakes hands with Carnegie Steel Workers during the National Recovery Act drive under FDR's administration.Photo by © CORBIS

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Frances Perkins lectured at the ILR School from 1957 to 1965. (Cornell University)

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Ex-labor Sec. Frances Perkins speaking at a civic meeting concerning old peoples' medical plan, and backing the Forrand Bill. (Photo by Bob Gomel/Getty Images)

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Frances Perkins stamp was issued in 1980

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Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins,,arrives for a special meeting, September 16, 1938Image: Library of Congress ID hec.25045

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From early on she was trained as a social worker and worked at the settlement houses in Philadelphia and Hull House in Chicago. Her perseverance and her tenacity to bring justice to the working population were always a part of the goal. Her advocacy for the rights of workers, like safety, hours of work, and age of the worker. In fact, Francis Perkins brought on Social Worker Harry Hopkins who put together the Federal Emergency Relief Administration.
She was an integral member of the administration, putting together many of the programs of the New Deal in the 1930s & 40s, which provided much relief to the unemployed, elderly, single mothers, and families. A few of the programs that she was a part of are still here today, like Social Security.  A true Social Worker, person for the people.

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Fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, Manhattan, NY. March 25, 1911. FDR Library Photo.

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A transforming event occurred while Francis was having tea with a friend who lived in Washington Square. Word came that the Triangle Shirtwaist factory was on fire. They rushed to it. The horror they saw there helped forge in Frances a lifelong commitment to worker’s safety and rights.

Perkins, Frances, Change Agent. Social Welfare History Project. (2020, March 29). Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/eras/great-depression/perkins-frances-she-boldly-went-where-no-woman-had-gone-before/.

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FDR signing the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935. Frances Perkins stands behind the President.

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1929 - New York State Governor Franklin D Roosevelt appointed Francis Perkins as Industrial Commissioner of New York.
1932 - FDR appointed Perkins to cabinet Secretary of Labor. Made history by being the first woman in a cabinet position.
1934 - FDR issued an Executive Order, creating a cabinet-level Committee on Economic Security to prepare legislation for Congress. It's chair Francis Perkins!
1935 - Francis's economic committee presents the report, two days later FDR unveils the Social Security program & sent it to congress.
*She went on to work on other New Deal Programs, including:
1938 - Fair Labor Standards Act, establishing a minimum wage and prohibited child labor in many places.

Frances Perkins. FDR Presidential Library & Museum. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://www.fdrlibrary.org/perkins.

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As a result of poor safety regulations, such as faulty fire escapes and locked doors, the workers could not escape the scorching fire.  146 workers died that day. Perkins immediately took action and sought ways to prevent future workplace tragedies.
Recommended by Theodore Roosevelt, she was named executive secretary of a Committee on Safety. The Committee was instrumental in creating the New York State Factory Investigating Commission, a legislative panel that investigated factories and other workplaces and make sure they were up to code.

Frances Perkins. FDR Presidential Library & Museum. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://www.fdrlibrary.org/perkins.

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Frances Perkins at work for the Factory Investigation Commission, circa 1911. Photo from the Frances Perkins Papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia 

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She went to Mount Holyoke College, the nation's oldest continuing institution of higher education. She studied physics, chemistry, and biology.
She took an American economic history that would have the most profound impact on her life. Professor Soule required her students to visit the mills along the Connecticut River in neighboring Holyoke to observe working conditions there.
Of this experience, Frances Perkins later said, “From the time I was in college I was horrified at the work that many women and children had to do in factories. There were absolutely no effective laws that regulated the number of hours they were permitted to work. There were no provisions which guarded their health nor adequately looked after their compensation in case of injury. Those things seemed very wrong. I was young and was inspired with the idea of reforming, or at east doing what I could, to help change those abuses.”

Her life: The woman behind the new deal. Frances Perkins Center. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://francesperkinscenter.org/life-new/.

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After college she moved to Philadelphia in 1907. She investigated phony employment agencies that preyed on immigrant women. She then moved to New York City, continued her education at Columbia while working with women's suffrage movement.
Francis was offered a job for the National Consumers League, an organization that advocated for workers' rights and protection. This is where she got her start in politics and lobbied for elimination of child labor and the creation of shorter work week.

Her life: The woman behind the new deal. Frances Perkins Center. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://francesperkinscenter.org/life-new/.

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Francis Perkins was born Fannie Coralie Perkins in Boston in 1880. 

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Her roots were in Maine. Her mother came from Bethel, and her father Frederick Perkins, was born and raised in Newcastle. Fanny heard stories about the French and Indian War when the Perkins family maintained a garrison by the river to shelter the people in case of trouble.
She came of age understanding her New England heritage and adopting the Yankee values that were the core of that heritage – frugality, ingenuity, tenacity, and self-reliance – as well as a belief that the new nation, only a century old at her birth, held opportunities for all who sought and were willing to work for them.

Her life: The woman behind the new deal. Frances Perkins Center. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://francesperkinscenter.org/life-new/.