Biden establishes a national monument for Frances Perkins, the 1st female Cabinet secretary
President Joe Biden has signed a proclamation establishing a national monument honoring the late FDR-era Labor Secretary Frances Perkins
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday established a national monument honoring the late FDR-era Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve in a presidential Cabinet and a driving force behind Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs after the Great Depression.
Perkins is “one of America’s greatest labor leaders, and that’s not hyperbole,” Biden said. Perkins “cemented the idea” that “if you're working a full-time job, you shouldn't have to live in poverty,” Biden said.
The outgoing Democratic president signed the proclamation establishing the monument in Newcastle, Maine, after a speech at the Department of Labor as he seeks to burnish his legacy as a champion of women's and labor rights with just over five weeks left in his term.
The department's building is named after Perkins, who helped President Roosevelt formulate policies behind the 1930s New Deal agenda and create safeguards in the national economy following the Great Depression that began in 1929. Perkins was the longest-serving labor secretary in U.S. history and is credited with helping establish the Social Security Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act and the National Labor Relations Act, establishing workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively.
“Frances Perkins accepted the position as the first female Cabinet member only after President Franklin D. Roosevelt agreed to support her goals to improve working conditions for all people,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “She worked tirelessly to see them to fruition, and she set a standard of excellence that is a beacon for all of
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