Above: Frances Perkins (1880-1965) was the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945. Perkins helped create our modern social safety net, for example, Social Security, unemployment insurance, and the minimum wage. Perkins once wrote: "What was the New Deal anyhow? Was it a political plot? Was it just a name for a period in history? Was it a revolution? To all of these questions I answer 'No.' It was something quite different... It was, I think, basically an attitude. An attitude that found voice in expressions like 'the people are what matter to government,' and 'a government should aim to give all the people under its jurisdiction the best possible life.'" Image above from personal collection.
For more information about Perkins, visit the website of the Frances Perkins Center.
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