Frances Perkins, FDR’s only Secretary of Labor and the first woman to serve as a cabinet secretary, was the driving force behind the New Deal, and was credited with formulating policies to shore up the national economy and helping to create the modern middle class. 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. She breathed life back into the nation’s labor movement. 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.
She was in every respect a self-made woman who rose from humble New England origins to become America’s leading advocate for industrial safety and workers’ rights. “I came to Washington to work for God, FDR, and the millions of forgotten, plain common workingmen.”
Our core book is well-written and organized, with extensive notes and a bibliography which should encourage additional research into each week's topics.
Week 1: Chapters 1-7: Childhood, the young activist, the Triangle shirtwaist fire, Tammany Hall, Teddy Roosevelt, marriage
Week 2: Chapters 8-13: Marriage & Motherhood, Al Smith, with FDR in Albany, FDR becomes president
Week 3: Chapters 14-18: Becomes Secretary of Labor, early problems, jump-starting the economy, Mary Harriman
Week 4: Chapters 19-23: Civilizing capitalism, refugees, labor revitalizes
Week 5: Chapters 24-27: Social security, family problems, court-packing, impeachment
Week 6: Chapters 28-32: War clouds, long service with FDR, the war comes, last days of FDR's administration
Week 7: Chapters 33-38: Truman, communism, transitions and last days
Kirsten Downey, The Woman Behind the New Deal, Doubleday 2009
Frances Perkins Center: https://francesperkinscenter.org/learn/her-life/
Excellent documentary: https://www.pbs.org/show/summoned-frances-perkins-and-general-welfare/
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library: https://www.fdrlibrary.org/perkins