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59-594: The Townsend movement began in September 1933 when Dr. Francis Townsend , a California physician, first published his plan for an Old-Age Revolving Pension (OARP) in a letter to the editor of his local newspaper, the Long Beach Press-Telegram . According to Townsend's 1943 memoir, his plan originated when he saw two old women, dressed in once-nice, tattered clothes, picking through his garbage cans looking for food. Townsend's letter called for all Americans over

118-575: A hay farming business. The business was not successful, and Townsend enrolled in Omaha Medical College when he was 31. After graduating, Townsend worked in the medical field in Belle Fourche, South Dakota , and met a nurse and his future wife, Wilhelmina "Minnie" Bogue. At age 50, Townsend enlisted as a doctor in the army one year before the end of World War I . After the war ended in 1918, Townsend moved to Long Beach, California , to run

177-458: A bachelor of arts degree. There are approximately 140 Frances Perkins scholars each year. A plaque honoring Perkins was dedicated at Boston's Logan Airport. A mural depicting Perkins was displayed in the Maine Department of Labor headquarters, the native state of her parents. On March 23, 2011, Maine's Republican governor, Paul LePage , ordered the mural removed. A spokesperson for

236-629: A dry ice factory. After that business quickly failed, Townsend worked for real estate agent Robert Earl Clements in Midway City, California . Clements later masterminded the Townsend Plan. In 1930, at the start of the Great Depression , Townsend became a Long Beach city public health officer at age 63, but lost his job three years later. Townsend died in Los Angeles on September 1, 1960. He

295-486: A feast day on 13 May. Perkins is a minor character in the 1977 Broadway musical Annie , in which she, alongside Harold Ickes, is ordered by Roosevelt to sing along to the song Tomorrow with the title character. It is during this scene in the show that Roosevelt's cabinet comes up with the idea of the New Deal. In the 1987 American movie Dirty Dancing , the lead character Frances "Baby" Houseman reveals that she

354-694: A figurehead while the Plan expanded to thousands of clubs in many states. Townsend was born just outside Fairbury, Illinois , where he is memorialized by a post office named in his honor. Francis Everett Townsend was born the second of six children on January 13, 1867, in Fairbury, Illinois. After Townsend contracted swamp malaria as an infant, the Townsend family moved to Nebraska where Townsend had two years of high school education. In 1898, Townsend borrowed $ 1,000 from his father and moved to Southern California to develop

413-549: A historical marker honoring Perkins was dedicated in Homestead, Pennsylvania , at the southwest corner of 9th and Amity. On October 30, 2024, a plaque honoring Perkins was unveiled at 121 Washington Place in Greenwich Village , where Perkins once lived. Perkins remains a prominent alumna of Mount Holyoke College , whose Frances Perkins Program allows "women of non-traditional age" (i.e., age 24 or older) to complete

472-596: A long list of labor programs for which she would fight, from Social Security to minimum wage. "Nothing like this has ever been done in the United States before," she told Roosevelt. "You know that, don’t you?" Agreeing to back her, Roosevelt nominated Perkins as Secretary of Labor . The nomination was met with support from the National League of Women Voters and the Women's Party. The American Federation of Labor criticized

531-650: A long work record. There were no gender or racial restrictions, though the recipients had to be "free from habitual criminality." In January 1934, Townsend, his brother Walter, and his former employer, real estate agent Robert E. Clements, established Old Age Revolving Pensions, Ltd. The first local Townsend club was established in Huntington Beach, California in August 1934; local organizers, either volunteer or paid, would establish chapters once one hundred members had been secured. The organization expanded beyond California and

590-714: A memoir of her time in the Roosevelt administration entitled, The Roosevelt I Knew (1946, ISBN   9780143106418 ), which covered her personal history with Franklin Roosevelt, starting from their meeting in 1910. Following her government service career, Perkins remained active and returned to educational positions at colleges and universities. She was 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. She also gave guest lectures at other universities, including two 15-lecture series at

649-534: A pivotal event in her life. The factory employed hundreds of workers, mostly young women, but lacked fire escapes. In addition, the owner kept all the doors and stairwells locked in order to prevent employees from taking breaks. When the building caught fire, many workers tried unsuccessfully to escape through the windows. Just a year before, these same women and girls had fought for the 54-hour work week and other benefits that Perkins had championed. One hundred and forty-six workers died. Perkins blamed lax legislation for

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708-453: A result of the investigation, membership and income stalled, and Clements was forced to resign. The organization was renamed Townsend National Recovery Plan, Inc. Nevertheless, the organization quickly recovered and reached its peak recorded membership in 1939. In January 1935, Representative John S. McGroarty of California proposed the OARP plan as a bill before Congress. Under McGroarty's bill,

767-531: A speech at the International Labour Organization in which she called on the organization to make its contribution to the world economic recovery, while avoiding being dragged into political problems. She also defended the participation of the United States in the ILO, which it had joined in 1934 . In 1939, she came under fire from some members of Congress for refusing to deport the communist head of

826-502: A woman to the cabinet had been rumored in the four previous administrations, with Roosevelt being the first to follow through. Roosevelt had witnessed Perkins's work firsthand during their time in Albany. With few exceptions, President Roosevelt consistently supported the goals and programs of Secretary Perkins. Perkins played a role in the New Deal by helping to write legislation. As chair of

885-746: Is buried in Woodlawn Memorial Park in Compton, California. The Townsend Plan proposed that every person over 60 be paid $ 200 per month. The Old-Age Revolving Pension fund was to be supported by a 2% national sales tax aiming to stimulate the economy. There were three requirements for beneficiaries under the scheme: In September 1933, Townsend wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper (the Long Beach Press-Telegram ), and launched his career as an old-age activist. According to Townsend's autobiographical memoir, New Horizons (1943), his plan originated when he looked out his window one morning in

944-493: The Episcopal church in 1905. In 1907, she moved to Philadelphia and enrolled at University of Pennsylvania 's Wharton School to learn economics, and spent two years in the city working as a social worker. Shortly after, she moved to Greenwich Village , New York, where she attended Columbia University and became active in the suffrage movement. In support of the movement, Perkins attended protests and meetings, and advocated for

1003-674: The Frances Perkins Building in 1980. Perkins was honored with a postage stamp that same year. Her home in Washington, D.C. from 1937 to 1940, and her Maine family home are both designated National Historic Landmarks . The Frances Perkins Center is a nonprofit organization located at the Frances Perkins Homestead in Newcastle, Maine, which was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2014. On April 10, 2003,

1062-459: The Great Depression . Known as the " Townsend Plan ", this proposal would pay every person over age 60 $ 200 per month, with the requirement it all be spent quickly. It was never enacted but the popularity of the Plan influenced Congress to start the Social Security system, which involved much smaller amounts. The Plan was organized by real estate salesman Robert Clements, who made Townsend only

1121-697: The United States Conciliation Service . She dealt with numerous labor issues during World War II , when skilled labor was vital to the economy and women were moving into jobs formerly held by men. Fannie Coralie Perkins was born in Boston , Massachusetts, to Susan Ella Perkins (née Bean; 1849–1927) and Frederick William Perkins (1844–1916), the owner of a stationer's business (both of her parents originally were from Maine ). Fannie Perkins had one sister, Ethel Perkins Harrington (1884–1965). The family could trace their roots to colonial America, and

1180-522: The National Townsend Plan would be shut down by the end of February that year, with only state chapters surviving, and that by then it had a "dwindling and aging membership." A Congressional committee was established in February 1936 to investigate Townsend. One of the findings was that the Townsend organisation had raised over a million dollars and that Townsend had received a salary of $ 12,000 for

1239-467: The OARP national organization claimed that 20 million persons nationwide had signed petitions to promote the plan, but by the time these petitions were presented to Congress in 1936, Townsend claimed only 10 million signatures, which were never counted. Evidence indicates that membership increased in late 1935, after the plan initially failed before Congress. After the failure of the 1935 bill and Townsend's refusal to answer certain questions before Congress,

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1298-878: The President's Committee on Economic Security, she was involved in all aspects of its advisory reports, including the Civilian Conservation Corps and the She-She-She Camps . Her most important contribution was to help design the Social Security Act of 1935. Perkins created the Immigration and Naturalization Service . She sought to implement liberal immigration policies but some of her efforts experienced pushback, especially in Congress. Perkins went to Geneva between June 11 and 18, 1938. On June 13, she gave

1357-605: The Roosevelt administration prepared witnesses for deposition, the expert testimony for the McGroarty bill was a resounding failure. The McGroarty bill was subsequently amended to make payments only as the tax revenue allowed, but it was voted down 56 to 206, with many Western Democrats abstaining for fear of going on the record for or against the bill. The Social Security Act passed in August 1935, temporarily suspending calls for OARP. The Townsend Plan continued for four decades, but did not really have much influence after 1950. In 1978,

1416-626: The United States , the federal minimum wage, and federal laws regulating child labor. In 1967, the Telluride House and Cornell University 's School of Industrial and Labor Relations established the Frances Perkins Memorial Fellowship. In 1982, Perkins was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame . In 2015, Perkins was named by Equality Forum as one of their 31 Icons of the 2015 LGBT History Month . In 2019, she

1475-646: The University of Illinois Institute of Labor and Industrial relations in 1955 and 1958. At Cornell, she lived at the Telluride House where she was one of the first women to become a member of that renowned intellectual community. Kirstin Downey, author of The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience , dubbed her time at the Telluride House "probably

1534-635: The West Coast International Longshore and Warehouse Union , Harry Bridges . Ultimately, Bridges was vindicated by the Supreme Court . After the death of President Roosevelt in April 1945, Harry Truman replaced the Roosevelt cabinet, naming Lewis B. Schwellenbach as Secretary of Labor. Perkins's tenure as secretary ended on June 30, 1945, with the swearing in of Schwellenbach. Following her tenure as Secretary of Labor, in 1945, Perkins

1593-525: The age of sixty to receive $ 200 ($ 4,707 in 2023) at the start of each month, if they refrained from work and spent the $ 200 by month's end. According to Townsend, the pension was intended to decrease labor supply and competition by removing the aged from the workforce and would increase spending to stimulate economic recovery from the Depression. Besides the age and spending requirements, the plan had few restrictions. Recipients did not have to be poor or build up

1652-434: The bill before Congress, but his testimony was ineffective. He admitted that the tax would likely not cover the cost of the program, that 75 years old was a more viable retirement age, and that the transactions tax was in effect a sales tax. At one point in his testimony, Townsend refused to testify by getting up from his seat and walking out while being questioned. By contrast to the competing Economic Security bill , for which

1711-517: The birth of her daughter, but returned after her husband's illness to provide for her family. According to biographer Kirstin Downey , Susanna displayed " manic-depressive symptoms", as well. Perkins shared the Georgetown, D.C. home of an old friend, Mary Harriman Rumsey , who had founded the Junior League in 1901, for less than a year, until Rumsey's death in 1934. Rumsey and Perkins' arrangement

1770-537: The career of her husband, then the secretary to the New York City mayor. She defended her right to keep her maiden name in court. The couple had a daughter, Susanna, born in December 1916. Less than two years later, Wilson began to show signs of mental illness. He would be institutionalized frequently for mental illness throughout the remainder of their marriage. Perkins had cut back slightly on her public life following

1829-551: The cause on street corners. She earned a master's degree in economics and sociology from Columbia in 1910. In 1910 Perkins achieved statewide prominence as head of the New York office of the National Consumers League and lobbied with vigor for better working hours and conditions. She also taught as a professor of sociology at Adelphi College . The next year, she witnessed the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire ,

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1888-451: The delay in Perkins's confirmation was not due to her gender, some state senators pointed to Perkins's not taking her husband's name as a sign that she was a radical. Perkins was confirmed on February 18, 1919, becoming one of the first female commissioners in New York, and began working out of New York City. The state senate-confirmed position made Perkins one of three commissioners overseeing

1947-536: The early depth of the Depression and saw two old women, dressed in once nice, now tattered clothes, picking through his garbage cans looking for food. Within two years of his putting forward his plan, over 3400 Townsend Plan Clubs were organized all over America and began exerting pressure on Congress to pass an old-age pension. Frances Perkins , President Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor, in her memoir, The Roosevelt I Knew (p. 294) says that Roosevelt told her, "We have to have it [Social Security]. Congress can't stand

2006-430: The governor said he received complaints about the mural from state business officials and an "anonymous" fax charging that it was reminiscent of "communist North Korea where they use these murals to brainwash the masses". LePage also ordered that the names of seven conference rooms in the state department of labor be changed, including one named after Perkins. A lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court seeking "to confirm

2065-523: The halls of power after her. Perkins had a cool personality that held her aloof from the crowd. On one occasion, however, she engaged in some heated name-calling with Alfred P. Sloan , the chairman of the board at General Motors. During a punishing United Auto Workers strike, she phoned Sloan in the middle of the night and called him a scoundrel and a skunk for not meeting the union's demands. She said, "You don't deserve to be counted among decent men. You'll go to hell when you die." Sloan's late-night response

2124-548: The happiest phase of her life". Perkins is buried in the Glidden Cemetery in Newcastle, Maine . She was also known locally as "Mrs. Paul Wilson" and is buried by that name. Perkins is famous for being the first woman cabinet member, as well as from her policy accomplishments. She was heavily involved with many issues associated with the social safety net including, the creation of Social Security, unemployment insurance in

2183-413: The industrial code, and the supervisor of both the bureau of information and statistics and the bureau of mediation and arbitration. The position also came with an $ 8,000 salary (equivalent to $ 141,000 in 2023), making Perkins the highest-paid woman in New York state government. Six months into her job, her fellow Commissioner James M. Lynch called Perkins's contributions "invaluable," and added "[f]rom

2242-733: The loss. As a consequence of this fire, Perkins left her position at the New York office of the National Consumers League and, on the recommendation of Theodore Roosevelt , became the executive secretary for the Committee on Safety of the City of New York, formed to improve fire safety. As part of the Committee on Safety, Perkins investigated another significant fire at the Freeman plant in Binghamton, New York , in which 63 people died. In 1912, she

2301-563: The movement was subject to thorough investigation on charges of contempt of Congress . A bipartisan House select committee was established, chiefly for the purpose of investigating the Townsend organization. Though no additional charges were brought, the investigation revealed that the Townsend National Weekly was a for-profit publication and enormous commissions were given to some state organizers and Clements, who personally received upwards of $ 70,000 ($ 1.54 million in 2023). As

2360-680: The mural's current location, ensure that the artwork is adequately preserved, and ultimately to restore it to the Department of Labor's lobby in Augusta ". As of January 2013 , the mural resides in the Maine State Museum , at the entrance to the Maine State Library and Maine State Archives. In 2022, Frances Perkins was officially added to the Episcopal Church liturgical calendar with

2419-461: The national Townsend Plan was shut down, with only state chapters surviving, and that by then it had a "dwindling and aging membership." Frances Perkins , President Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor, in her memoir, The Roosevelt I Knew (p. 294) says that Roosevelt told her, "We have to have it [Social Security]. Congress can't stand the pressure of the Townsend Plan unless we have a real old-age insurance system." As Roosevelt said, Social Security

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2478-538: The plan's costs, which estimated at $ 24 million annually ($ 533 million in 2023), would be funded by a two-percent national tax on all transactions, a "multiple" sales tax. The bill was subject to criticism from academic economists, who thought the plan unworkable, and opposed by politicians of all persuasions: leftists who opposed the tax as regressive, conservatives who opposed all further taxation and spending, and moderates who found alternative insurance and assistance programs more palatable. Dr. Townsend testified for

2537-484: The pressure of the Townsend Plan unless we have a real old-age insurance system." As Roosevelt said, Social Security was passed by Congress substituting a pay-as-you-go "insurance" scheme for Townsend's far more generous pension plan, but as he told Perkins, it was the Townsend Clubs that forced Congress to act at all. The movement continued beyond Townsend's death in 1960. In 1978, The Associated Press reported that

2596-413: The previous 12 months. While being questioned Townsend became angry at the questioning and stormed out. He was prosecuted for contempt of Congress and sentenced to 30 days in prison. However, in 1938, just as he entered jail to serve his sentence, he was granted a pardon by President Roosevelt. Frances Perkins Frances Perkins (born Fannie Coralie Perkins ; April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965)

2655-452: The respect of various political factions, Perkins helped put New York in the forefront of progressive reform. She expanded factory investigations, reduced the workweek for women to 48 hours, and championed minimum wage and unemployment insurance laws. She worked vigorously to put an end to child labor and to provide safety for women workers. In 1933, Roosevelt summoned Perkins to ask her to join his cabinet. Perkins presented Roosevelt with

2714-507: The selection of Perkins because of a perceived lack of ties to labor. As secretary, Perkins oversaw the Department of Labor . Perkins went on to hold the position for 12 years, longer than any other Secretary of Labor and the fourth longest of any cabinet secretary . She also became the first woman to hold a cabinet position in the United States, thus she became the first woman to enter the presidential line of succession . The selection of

2773-611: The state. In 1919, she was added to the Industrial Commission of the State of New York by Governor Al Smith . Her nomination was met with protests from both manufacturers and labor, neither of whom felt Perkins represented their interests. Smith stood by Perkins as someone who could be a voice for women and girls in the workforce and for her work on the Wagner Factory Investigating Committee. Although claiming

2832-681: The suffrage movement. She was named class president. One of her professors was Annah May Soule , who assigned students to tour a factory to study working conditions; Perkins recalled Soule's course as an important influence. After college, Perkins held a variety of teaching positions, including one from 1904 to 1906 where she taught chemistry at Ferry Hall School (now Lake Forest Academy ), an all-girls school in Lake Forest, Illinois . In Chicago, she volunteered at settlement houses , including Hull House , where she worked with Jane Addams . She changed her name from Fannie to Frances when she joined

2891-528: The western United States in the summer of 1935. Typically, a local club would meet weekly to hear speakers and advocate for the OARP plan. Membership dues were one quarter, of which ten cents went to the national organization and five cents to regional, state, and congressional district organizers. Almost all club members were of old age. An exact membership size is difficult or impossible to identify because of lack of data, exaggeration by organization leaders, and unclear definition of membership. In February 1935,

2950-579: The women had a tradition of work in education. She spent much of her childhood in Worcester, Massachusetts . Frederick loved Greek literature and passed that love on to Fannie. Perkins attended the Classical High School in Worcester. She earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry and physics from Mount Holyoke College in 1902. While attending Mount Holyoke, Perkins discovered progressive politics and

3009-399: The work which Miss Perkins has accomplished I am convinced that more women ought to be placed in high positions throughout the state departments." In 1929, the newly elected New York governor, Franklin Roosevelt, appointed Perkins as the inaugural New York state industrial commissioner. As commissioner, Perkins supervised an agency with 1,800 employees. Having earned the co-operation and

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3068-483: Was an American workers-rights advocate who served as the fourth United States Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position. A member of the Democratic Party , Perkins was the first woman ever to serve in a presidential cabinet . As a loyal supporter of her longtime friend, President Franklin D. Roosevelt , she helped make labor issues important in the emerging New Deal coalition . She

3127-597: Was announced as among the members of the inaugural class of the Government Hall of Fame. Also that year, Elizabeth Warren used a podium built with wood salvaged from the Perkins Homestead . As the first woman to become a member of the presidential cabinet, Perkins had an unenviable challenge: she had to be as capable, as fearless, as tactful, and as politically astute as the other Washington politicians, in order to make it possible for other women to be accepted into

3186-604: Was asked by President Truman to serve on the United States Civil Service Commission , which she accepted. In her post as commissioner, Perkins spoke out against government officials requiring secretaries and stenographers to be physically attractive, blaming the practice for the shortage of secretaries and stenographers in the government. Perkins left the Civil Service Commission in 1952 when her husband died. During this period, she also published

3245-419: Was for practical reasons, as a December 1933 Washington Post columnist had criticized Perkins for not meeting social obligations, due to her apartment accommodations. Later Perkins shared a home with Caroline O’Day , a Democratic congresswoman from New York. Prior to moving to Washington, D.C., Perkins held various positions in the New York state government. She had gained respect from the political leaders in

3304-523: Was instrumental in getting the New York legislature to pass a "54-hour" bill that capped the number of hours women and children could work. Perkins pressed for votes for the legislation, encouraging proponents including Franklin D. Roosevelt to filibuster, while Perkins called state senators to make sure they could be present for the final vote. In 1913, Perkins married New York economist Paul Caldwell Wilson. She kept her maiden name because she did not want her activities in Albany and New York City to affect

3363-447: Was one of irate indignation. Her achievements indicate her great love of workers and lower-class groups, but her Boston upbringing held her back from mingling freely and exhibiting personal affection. She was well-suited for the high-level efforts to effect sweeping reforms, but never caught the public's eye or its affection. President Jimmy Carter renamed the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C.,

3422-412: Was one of two Roosevelt cabinet members to remain in office for his entire presidency (the other being Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes ). Perkins' most important role came in developing a policy for social security in 1935. She also helped form government policy for working with labor unions , although some union leaders distrusted her. Perkins' Labor Department helped to mediate strikes by way of

3481-512: Was passed by Congress substituting a pay-as-you-go "insurance" scheme for Townsend's far more generous pension plan, but as he told Perkins, it was the Townsend Clubs that forced Congress to act at all. Francis Townsend Francis Everett Townsend ( / ˈ t aʊ n z ən d / ; January 13, 1867 – September 1, 1960) was an American physician and political activist in California. In 1933, he devised an old-age pension scheme to help alleviate

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