- Summary
- Frances Perkins is no longer a household name, yet she was one of the most influential women of the twentieth century. Frances Perkins was named Secretary of Labor by Franklin Roosevelt in 1933. As the first female cabinet secretary, at the height of the Great Depression, she spearheaded the fight to improve the lives of America's working people while juggling her own family responsibilities. Perkins's ideas became the cornerstones of the most important social welfare legislation in the nation's history, including unemployment compensation, child labor laws, the forty-hour work week, and Social Security. Also, as head of the Immigration Service, she fought to bring European refugees to safety. Based on eight years of research, extensive archival materials, new documents, and exclusive access to family and friends, this 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.--From publisher description.
- Format
- Book
- Author/Creator
- Downey, Kirstin.
- Published
- New York : Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, ©2009
- Locale
- United States
- Contents
-
Childhood and youth
Becoming Frances Perkins
The young activist hits New York
The Triangle Shirtwaist fire
Finding allies in Tammany Hall
Teddy Roosevelt and Frances Perkins
A good match
Married life
Motherhood
The indomitable Al Smith
FDR and Al Smith
With the Roosevelts in Albany
FDR becomes president
Frances becomes Secretary of Labor
The pioneer
Skeletons in the Labor Department closet
Jump-starting the economy
At home with Mary Harriman
Blue Eagle: a first try at "civilizing capitalism"
Refugees and regulations
Rebuilding the house of labor
Labor shakes off its slumber
The union movement revitalizes and splits apart
Social Security
Family problems
Court-packing, wages, and hours
Impeachment
War clouds and refugees
Frances and Franklin
Madness, misalliances, and a nude bisexual water sprite
The war comes
Last days of the Roosevelt administration
Harry Truman
The Truman administration
Communism
End of the Truman era
Many transitions
Last days.
- Notes
-
Includes bibliographical references (pages 433-444) and index.
Childhood and youth -- Becoming Frances Perkins -- The young activist hits New York -- The Triangle Shirtwaist fire -- Finding allies in Tammany Hall -- Teddy Roosevelt and Frances Perkins -- A good match -- Married life -- Motherhood -- The indomitable Al Smith -- FDR and Al Smith -- With the Roosevelts in Albany -- FDR becomes president -- Frances becomes Secretary of Labor -- The pioneer -- Skeletons in the Labor Department closet -- Jump-starting the economy -- At home with Mary Harriman -- Blue Eagle: a first try at "civilizing capitalism" -- Refugees and regulations -- Rebuilding the house of labor -- Labor shakes off its slumber -- The union movement revitalizes and splits apart -- Social Security -- Family problems -- Court-packing, wages, and hours -- Impeachment -- War clouds and refugees -- Frances and Franklin -- Madness, misalliances, and a nude bisexual water sprite -- The war comes -- Last days of the Roosevelt administration -- Harry Truman -- The Truman administration -- Communism -- End of the Truman era -- Many transitions -- Last days.
