The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR'S Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience
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Frances Perkins is no longer a household name, yet she was one of the most influential women of the twentieth century. Based on eight years of research, extensive archival materials, new documents, and exclusive access to Perkins’s family members and friends, this biography is the first complete portrait of a devoted public servant with a passionate personal life, a mother who changed the landscape of American business and society.Frances Perkins was named Secretary of Labor by Franklin Roosevelt in 1933. As the first female cabinet secretary, she spearheaded the fight to improve the lives of America’s working people while juggling her own complex family responsibilities. Perkins’s ideas became the cornerstones of the most important social welfare and legislation in the nation’s history, including unemployment compensation, child labor laws, and the forty-hour work week. Arriving in Washington at the height of the Great Depression, Perkins pushed for massive public works projects that created millions of jobs for unemployed workers. She breathed life back into the nation’s labor movement, boosting living standards across the country. As head of the Immigration Service, she fought to bring European refugees to safety in the United States. Her greatest triumph was creating Social Security. Written with a wit that echoes Frances Perkins’s own, award-winning journalist Kirstin Downey gives us a riveting exploration of how and why Perkins slipped into historical oblivion, and restores Perkins to her proper place in history. Publishers Weekly No individual-not even Eleanor Roosevelt-exerted more influence over the formulation of FDR's New Deal or did more to implement the programs than Frances Perkins (1880-1965). As former Washington Post staff writer Downey makes plain in this deeply researched biography, the first female Cabinet member was the primary shaper of such new concepts as unemployment insurance, the 40-hour work week and-last but not least-Social Security. At a time when the United States stands at the brink of another economic meltdown calling for sweeping federal interventions, Downey provides not only a superb rendering of history but also a large dose of inspiration drawn from Perkins's clearheaded, decisive work with FDR to solve urgent problems diligently and to succeed in the face of what seemed insurmountable odds. Confronting family issues-a frequently institutionalized husband with severe psychiatric problems; a deeply secret lesbian relationship with Mary Harriman Rumsey (sister of Averell Harriman); a daughter from whom she was often estranged-Perkins nevertheless exhibited tireless grace under pressure again and again, always rising to the occasion in the name of every and any progressive cause. (Mar. 3) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Childhood and Youth 5Becoming Frances Perkins 16The Young Activist Hits New York 25The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire 33Finding Allies in Tammany Hall 37Teddy Roosevelt and Frances Perkins 46A Good Match 54Married Life 61Motherhood 67The Indomitable Al Smith 75Fdr and Al Smith 88With the Roosevelts in Albany 96Fdr Becomes President 106Frances Becomes Secretary of Labor 114The Pioneer 126Skeletons in the Labor Department Closet 138Jump-Starting the Economy 149At Home With Mary Harriman 160Blue Eagle: A First Try at "Civilizing Capitalism" 172Refugees and Regulations 187Rebuilding the House of Labor 197Labor Shakes Off Its Slumber 206The Union Movement Revitalizes and Splits Apart 218Social Security 230Family Problems 246Court-Packing, Wages, and Hours 256Impeachment 270War Clouds and Refugees 285Frances and Franklin 303Madness, Misalliances, and a Nude Bisexual Water Sprite 313The War Comes 319Last Days of the Roosevelt Administration 334Harry Truman 341The Truman Administration 352Communism 362End of the Truman Era 374Many Transitions 377Last Days 394Notes 399Bibliography 433Index 445
