Frances Perkins (April 10, 1880 - May 14, 1965), born Fannie Coralie Perkins, was the US Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, and the first woman appointed to the US Cabinet. She achieved statewide prominence as head of the New York Consumers League in 1
Frances Perkins (April 10, 1880 - May 14, 1965), born Fannie Coralie Perkins, was the US Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, and the first woman appointed to the US Cabinet. She achieved statewide prominence as head of the New York Consumers League in 1910 and in that position she lobbied with vigor for better working hours and conditions. She married Paul Caldwell Wilson in 1913. She kept her birth name, defending her right to do so in to moving to Washington, , Perkins held various positions in New York State government. In 1929 the newly elected New York governor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, appointed Perkins as the inaugural New York State Commissioner of Labor. During her term as Secretary of Labor, Perkins championed many aspects of the New Deal, including the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Public Works Administration and its successor the Federal Works Agency, and the labor portion of the National Industrial Recovery Act. With The Social Security Act she established unemployment benefits, pensions for the many uncovered elderly Americans, and welfare for the poorest Americans. She pushed to reduce workplace accidents and helped craft laws against child labor. Through the Fair Labor Standards Act, she established the first minimum wage and overtime laws for American workers, and defined the standard forty-hour work week. She and Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes were the only original members of the Roosevelt cabinet to remain in office for his entire presidency. Following her government service career, Perkins remained active as a teacher and lecturer at the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University until her death in 1965 at age 85.
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