President Biden Designates National Monument for Maine Native, Frances Perkins

President Joe Biden today, Dec. 16, established the Frances Perkins National Monument in Newcastle, Maine. It is the 433rd addition to the National Park System.

The new national monument reflects efforts under the President’s Executive Order to strengthen the recognition of women’s history in national parks and historic landmarks across America and honor the legacy and contributions of women and girls to the nation.

The Frances Perkins National Monument, designated under the Antiquities Act, recognizes the accomplishments of the first woman to serve in a Presidential Cabinet. Serving as Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Perkins engineered sweeping reforms in workers’ rights and labor standards, including the implementation of safety standards, a minimum wage, paid overtime, Social Security benefits, and child labor laws.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said:

Frances Perkins was an incredible trailblazer. I am grateful to President Biden for taking this step to ensure that current and future generations will learn about her body of work. Frances Perkins accepted the position as the first female Cabinet member only after President Franklin D. Roosevelt agreed to support her goals to improve working conditions for all people. She worked tirelessly to see them to fruition, and she set a standard of excellence that is a beacon for all of us who serve. Today, we’re taking a step to ensure that children growing up across America know the name Frances Perkins and understand the impact she has had on our country.

Born in 1880, Perkins was an advocate, scholar, teacher, wife, mother, suffragist, author and social worker with decades of experience in New York state government as a safety, consumer and workers’ advocate prior to her historic appointment to Roosevelt’s Cabinet, much of it accomplished before women obtained the right to vote in 1920. Her efforts to champion workers’ rights and ensure safe working conditions in the state served as a model for what she would accomplish on the national level.

During her tenure as the longest-serving Secretary of Labor, Perkins was an instrumental force in Roosevelt’s New Deal policies that aided recovery from the Great Depression. Perkins and Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes were the only members of Roosevelt’s Cabinet to serve through the duration of his presidency. Together, they created public works programs that employed millions of people, including the Civilian Conservation Corps.

More for the Department of the Interior HERE.

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