Biden to Establish National Monument Honoring First Female Cabinet Secretary

President Joe Biden will sign a proclamation marking the creation of a national monument to honor Frances Perkins, the first woman Cabinet secretary in the United States and FDR’s Labor Secretary. 

It will be in Newcastle, Maine, on Perkins’ family farm and will honor her role in implementing policies that constituted the New Deal and dramatically altered American labor and social welfare legislation.

While creating legislation in her 12 years, Perkins was involved in the formation of the most significant legislation such as the Social Security Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, and National Labor Relations Act. These progressive polices defined basic workers rights and economic measures for the first time after the shock of the great depression. 

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland welcomed Perkins’ dedication to the cause, saying that she only accepted the Cabinet role when Roosevelt promised to back her desire for better working conditions for everybody.

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