Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor During the FDR Administration.
“The Woman Behind the New Deal,” by Kirstin Downey, is Must Read for All Interested in the Life and Legacy of Secretary Frances Perkins. It’s Avaiflacble in Paperback.
The Frances Perkins Center, Damariscotta, has received funding in support of its marketing efforts according to a press release issued late last week through the Tourism Marketing & Development Recovery Program. The grant is in the amount of $165,830. It will be used to support a range of tourism marketing, product development and training programs designed to attract and increase visitation in areas impacted by the pandemic.
“Frances Perkins contributed significantly to social and economic transformation that enabled our nation not only to survive a period of economic desperation, but also continue to provide for our well-being today, including Social Security, unemployment insurance, the minimum wage, a maximum work week and child labor laws. Throughout her career, she would retreat to New Castle to recharge and reclaim the inner strength to continue her remarkable public service. We are honored to be the stewards of her ancestrial home in Maine and thanks to funding from the Maine Office of Tourism for Development of a Heritage Tourism Plan for the Center, we will be able to share this important National Historic Landmark with more visitors to our great state,” said Giovanna Gray Lockhart, Executive Director of the Frances Perkins Center, Damariscotta, who was recently hired for this position.
Secretary Perkins was Secretary of Labor (1933 – 1945) for the entire tenure of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She was the driving force behind many of the social service safety nets we still have today as detailed above by Executive Director Lockhart. She was also the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet.
The Secretary was born in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from Mount Holyoke College. She spent summers throughout her life at her father’s home on the River Road, in Newcastle. Her grandson Tomlin Coggeshall, was the force behind the creation of the Frances Perkins Center, located on Main Street, Damariscotta.
One of the best biographies this blogger has ever read is the paperback edition of Secretary Perkins’ life shown above right. It was written by Kirstin Downey, formerly a staff writer for “The Washington Post.”
This blogger has written numerous posts herein about Perkins and the Frances Perkins Center, Damariscotta and the family homestead on River Road, New Castle. Some of those posts include: September 9, 2020, October 30, 2018, August 13, 2017, March 25, 2001. Posts herein more recently include July 14, 2021and July 24, 2023.