The woman behind the New Deal: the life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and his moral conscience
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.
Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | 40620530-eb48-1fee-cdbb-344184f3dd9f |
---|---|
Grouping Title | woman behind the new deal the life of frances perkins fdrs secretary of labor and his moral conscience |
Grouping Author | kirstin downey |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2023-09-18 21:59:18PM |
Last Indexed | 2023-09-22 05:00:27AM |
Solr Fields
Perkins, Frances, -- 1880-1965
United States. -- Department of Labor -- Biography
Women cabinet officers -- United States -- Biography
Women social reformers -- United States -- Biography
Women cabinet officers
Women social reformers
Solr Details Tables
item_details
Bib Id | Item Id | Shelf Loc | Call Num | Format | Format Category | Num Copies | Is Order Item | Is eContent | eContent Source | eContent URL | Detailed Status | Last Checkin | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ils:.b16784650 | .i25226332 | Superior Adult Nonfiction | 921 P4193d Perkins, Frances | 1 | false | false | Available | Feb 15, 2023 | suanf | ||||
ils:.b16784650 | .i25404143 | Manitowish Waters Adult Biography | B Per | 1 | false | false | Available | Jan 13, 2020 | mwabi |
record_details
Bib Id | Format | Format Category | Edition | Language | Publisher | Publication Date | Physical Description | Abridged |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ils:.b16784650 | Book | Books | English | Nan A. Talese | [2009] | xiii, 458 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm |
scoping_details_spooner
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ils:.b16784650 | .i25226332 | On Shelf | Available | false | true | true | false | false | false | 9999 | ||
ils:.b16784650 | .i25404143 | On Shelf | Available | false | true | true | false | false | false | 9999 |