March 4, 1933: Francis Perkins becomes Secretary of Labor

Fannie Coralie Perkins was born in Boston, Massachusetts on April 10, 1880. She spent most of her childhood in Worcester, graduating from Classical High School in 1898. She attended Mount Holyoke College, earning a Bachelor's in Chemistry and Physics. After graduation, she began teaching and changed her name to Francis. In 1910, she graduated from Columbia University with a Master's in Political Science. She then went on chair the New York Consumer League in 1911. That year would prove to be a pivotal year in Francis's life.

On March 25, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in downtown Manhattan erupted into flames. Francis joined the gather crowd as they looked up in horror at the conflagration. She watched as countless women and girls jumped to their deaths in order to escape the burning building. After that day she swore that she would do everything in her power to never let something like that from ever happening again. Already attuned to the politics of the day, she lobbied the New York state legislature hard to pass laws that protected workers. She made many enemies, and many friends. A young state legislator from Hyde Park by the name of Franklin D. Roosevelt grew extremely fond of her tenacity. For her efforts, she was appointed to the newly formed Industrial Commission of the State of New York in 1919. The Commission was tasked with improving conditions for workers throughout the state. Perkins was later made the head of the Commission by then Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt. As commissioner, she championed an end to child labor, a minimum wage and relief for workers affected by the Great Depression.

In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President of the United States. In creating a cabinet, he selected Francis Perkins as his Secretary of Labor (making her the first woman to ever appointed to a Cabinet). As Secretary, she fought for a national minimum wage and helped President Roosevelt draft the Social Security Act. When F.D.R. died in 1945, the new President, Harry S. Truman appointed her to the Civil Service Commission.She left the civil service in 1952 and began lecturing at Cornell University. She died there on May 14, 1965.

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