Frances Perkins, We Hardly Knew Ya

[From an article appearing in this month's Harper's, "On Courage" by Kevin Baker]

She was the first female cabinet member and--good God--did she set the bar high:

  • helped defeat child labor
  • Gave us union rights
  • Established the minimum wage
  • 40 hr work week
  • Overtime laws
  • Worker's compensation
  • Aid to families with dependent children.
  • Wrote most of the Social Security Act
...all this while having to tend to the needs of her bipolar husband and daughter.

Eleanor probably floated her name for Labor Secretary to FDR and he understood that the New Deal required Perkins' empathic and indefatigable activism. 

The article, however, was also about Elizabeth Warren and how she identifies with this woman. So much so that wherever she speaks, she will use a podium made from aged wood that was found on the Perkins' Homestead and fashioned by three female carpenters who modeled it after a podium Perkins had once used when speaking out against the conditions that led to the horrific Triangle Factory fire.

The Rich have every reason to fear a Warren presidency especially if Warren is the reincarnated Perkins but, hey, they survived the New Deal and came out even richer; now, it is time for another balancing act.

So, if we have the chance, let us run our hand down that podium and hope that there is more to this world than corporatism.

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