Frances Perkins (1880-1965) was the first woman appointed to a U.S. cabinet post and the longest-serving Secretary of Labor. Perkins had a long and illustrious record as a social activist: she reorganized New York state's factory inspections system, advocated the Workmen's Compensation Act, and promoted the legislative protection of women and child laborers. As U.S. Secretary of Labor under Roosevelt she helped develop major New Deal legislation, including the Social Security Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. Always regarded with some hostility by both organized labor and the business community, Perkins survived an attempt to impeach her in 1939. As one of the most distinguished and trailblazing women in the history of American government, Perkins is often studied in American history classes. Moreover, her career touched on issues key to our current debates about government and social policy. This book is richly illustrated with documents and rare photographs. Oxford Portraits is a new series of biographies for young adults. Written by prominent writers and historians, each of these titles is designed to supplement the core texts of the middle and high school curriculum with intriguing, thoroughly informative and insightful accounts of the lives and work of the notable men and women who helped shape history. Each book is illustrated with numerous graphics, photographs, and documents. A unique feature is the inclusion of sidebars containing primary source material, mostly excerpts from the subject's writings. A chronology, further reading list, and index rounds out every volume.

An engaging picture book biography of Frances Perkins, the activist and first female United States cabinet member who created the Social Security program. From award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson. At 31, Frances Perkins witnessed the Triangle Waist Factory fire in 1911, one of the worst industrial disasters in United States history. The event forever changed her, and she dedicated herself to the fight for workers' rights. When she became Secretary of Labor in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's administration, she had the opportunity to make real her bold vision of a country where no one is left out and everyone is protected. Thanks to her efforts, we have the Social Security program, a move that changed Americans' lives for generations to come. Deborah Hopkinson's energetic text and Kristy Caldwell's appealing illustrations unite to tell Perkins' fascinating story as well as introduce early concepts of financial literacy, the Social Security Act, and the New Deal. Back matter features more information about Frances Perkins, Social Security, and resources for economic education.

Frances Perkins (1880-1965) attended Mount Holyoke College, majoring in physics. In her final semester, she visited mills along the Connecticut River to see working conditions as part of a class in American economic history. She was horrified. Instead of teaching until she married, she earned a masters degree in social work from Columbia University. In 1910, Perkins became Executive Secretary of the New York City Consumers League. She campaigned for sanitary regulations for bakeries, fire protection for factories, and legislation to limit the working hours for women and children in factories to 54 hours per week. She worked mainly in New York State’s capital, Albany, where she befriended politicians and learned how to lobby. On March 25, 1911, Perkins was with friends in New York City when they heard fire engines. Running to see what was happening, they witnessed one of the worst workplace disasters in US history: the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire killed 146 people, mostly young women and girls. Perkins saw fire escapes collapse, firemen’s ladders unable to reach the women trapped by the flames and 47 workers leap to their deaths from the 8th and 9th floors. A year earlier these same women and girls had fought for and won the 54-hour work week and other benefits that Perkins had championed. Perkins at that moment resolved to make sure their deaths would not be in vain. Perkins became the secretary of a committee formed to study reforms in safety in factories. Besides fire safety, the committee took on all other health issues they could think of. By that time a respected expert witness, Perkins helped draft the most comprehensive set of laws regarding workplace health and safety in the country. Other states started copying New York’s new laws to protect workers. Perkins continued to work in New York for decades, until she was asked by President Elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 to serve as Secretary of Labor. She told him only if he agreed with her goals: 40-hour work week, minimum wage, unemployment and worker’s compensation, abolition of child labor, federal aid to the states for unemployment, Social Security, a revitalized federal employment service, and universal health insurance. He agreed and Perkins became America’s first woman Cabinet member, serving as Secretary of Labor from 1933 until 1945. One of her cabinet colleagues was Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes. Similar to what she achieved in New York State, her successes became the New Deal, and changed the country and its workers forever. “George Martin [has] produce[d] an almost totally absorbing book, one that not only brings Miss Perkins to life, but also one that quivers with the excitement that the New Deal generated in most Americans... Mr. Martin’s book is well‐researched... Madam Secretary is full of rewards, not the least of them being that it gives stature to a woman Americans will be richer for knowing.” — Alden Whitman, The New York Times “A sturdy biography of the first woman Cabinet member.” — The New York Times “George Martin’s volume is more than a biography... he has produced a volume that should rank high in the current literature of political science.” — Isador Lubin, Monthly Labor Review “[A] rich, scholarly account of the life of this remarkable woman... the biography has an immediate, conversational, almost autobiographical quality.” — Ronald L. Filippelli, Business History Review “[A] remarkably personal look at a very private woman... [a] comprehensive picture of [Frances Perkins].” — Sarah A. Morrison, Social Service Review “Martin does full justice to Perkins’ abilities as administrator, legislative guide and public spokesman... [a] valuable book.” — Kirkus Reviews

Eight research-based case studies are presented in this text, which seeks to present the contributions of women in public administration, as academics, government managers and activists. Each chapter relates the life and work of each subject to the broad issues faced by the public servants of today.

Working-class white and black women practiced the same Depression survival strategies across race. Archived 1930s interviews with 1,340 Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and South Bend women, and letters from domestic workers articulate common resourcefulness in employment, housework, and acquisition of relief. Institutionalized racism in employment, housing, and relief, however, assured that Black women worked harder, but fared worse.

“This book will give you an entirely new perspective on work in America.” —Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed In what has been described as “the crime wave no one talks about,” billions of dollars’ worth of wages are stolen from millions of workers in the United States every year—a grand theft that exceeds every other larceny category. Even the Economic Policy Foundation, a business-funded think tank, has estimated that companies annually steal an incredible $19 billion in unpaid overtime. The scope of these abuses is staggering, but activists, unions, and policymakers—along with everyday Americans in congregations and towns across the country—have begun to take notice. While the first edition of Wage Theft In America documented the scope of the problem, this new edition adds the latest research on wage theft and tells what community, religious, and labor activists are now doing to address the crisis—from passing state and local wage-theft bills to establishing mayoral task forces and tapping agencies that help low-wage workers in spotting wage theft. Citing hard-hitting statistics and heartbreaking first-person accounts of exploitation at the hands of employers, this updated edition of Wage Theft In America offers concrete solutions and a roadmap for putting an end to this insidious practice.