Frances Perkins
...who were then arriving in Philadelphia in great numbers. These girls came in hope to get work, but most of the time they were preyed upon or robbed. Then in 1910 to 1912 she was an executive secretary of the Consumer’s League in New York City. Frances Perkins during this time had witnessed the horrible Triangle Fire, which was when about 600 women workers were trapped by fire in the upper floors of the Triangle Shirt Waist Company. She witnessed about 156 of those women trapped jump from the floor, because there was just no where else to go. Through witnessing this tragedy, Frances felt even stronger about helping in the efforts to get factory safety. After this, she became known as a social worker and active lobbyist for legislative reforms. Frances Perkins was so determined to get equality for women that, the year she was married she made a speech to an assembly in New York, which in the New York Times was described as “the first feminist mass meeting ever held.” Her theme was equality with men in marriage, at work, and in every area of human endeavor. When Franklin D. Roosevelt took office as Governor of New York in 1929, he made Frances Perkins his chief labor officer, also known as the State Industrial Commissioner. During her tenure, she pushed FDR towards the concept of unemployment insurance. In 1934 she was name Chairman of the Committee on Economic Security, which was established to investigate social insurance and report on its finding in six months. This report recommended unemployment insurance and old-age insurance, but omitted health insurance only because, as Frances Perkins said, “the experts couldn’t get through with health insurance in time to make a report on it.” She then after campaigned for social security until its passage. She was a very persistent person. In the tenure as Secretary of Labor, she always kept the cause of women at heart. She opposed the ERA, even though she believed in equal treatment of women. The working conditions for women were so poor that she felt they needed legislative protections in the workplace, and she feared that the ERA would not provide justification for reversing some of the labor protections for which she had struggled. In 1945 Frances Perkins resigned from Secretary of Labor, but she was quickly called back the next year to serve as one of three Federal Civil Service Commissioners. This position was held by her until 1952, when her husband died. From then on she continued to lead a life of teaching, public speaking, and writing. Then at the age of 80 she passed away. Even though Frances Perkins passed away, she will never be forgotten....