Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins was the First Woman to be a Member of aPresident’s Cabinet – From 1933 – to 1945.

President Joe Biden at the Designation of Secretary Frances Perkins’ Homestead  as a National Monument Today at the Department of Labor, in Washington, DC..

On the occasion of the designation of the Secretary Frances Perkins’ Homestead as a National Monument, cable news anchor Lawrence O’Donnell told the story of how the recent Mount Holyoke College graduate saw the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in Manhattan in 1911.

“That was the day the New Deal was born,” O’Donnell quoted  President Joe Biden as quoting the Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins.

That horrific fire changed the course of her life as well as improving the lives of workers across the nation.

Secretary Perkins was the first woman to be a member of a Presidential cabinet.  She became a member of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s cabinet where she helped implement social security, a 40-hour work week and many other protections for the members of the nation’s workforce.

Then Lawrence O’Donnell host of the MSNBC Last Word cable news program interviewed Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su who said:  “We have to put workers first.”

The long-sought after designation was supported by Governor Janet T. Mills (D) and by Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D) through statements they issued today.  The latter attended the celebration of the designation in Washington DC this afternoon.  Unfortunatelly, AW’OL Susan Collins (R) has made no comment on the designation., although this blogger requested a comment from annie clark her press chief early this morning.  Perhaps that’s  because Senator AWOL has earned a well-deserved reputation as being anti-worker – following the leadership of her mentors Trump and Musk – with the threat of being “primaried” in 2026 hanging over her decisions.  Or, in the alternative, a challenge by a popular Maine Dem waiting in the wings to replace her.  It could just be a matter of which of the qualified Dems in this deeply blue state will take her on.

For more information on this historic occasion, please visit the previous post herein.