The Life and Legacy of Frances Perkins

Join us as we host Frances Perkins Center Programs Coordinator Mary Reid for a presentation on the life and legacy of Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve on a presidential cabinet. A champion of workers' rights and safety, Frances Perkins was Secretary of Labor for the entirety of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidency, from 1933 to 1945. She was the architect of countless New Deal programs and policies, including Social Security, unemployment insurance, the minimum wage, and bans on child labor. Frances Perkins' ancestral homestead in Newcastle, which she owned from 1927 to 1965, became a national monument in 2024. The Frances Perkins Center is now the official philanthropic partner to the Frances Perkins National Monument. This program is free and open to the public