U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a speech at the Department of Labor in Washington, DC on December 16, 2024. Biden signed an executive order establishing the Frances Perkins National Monument in Maine. Perkins was the first female Cabinet secretary and served as labor secretary under Franklin Roosevelt. (Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images)
President Joe Biden on Monday designated the Frances Perkins Homestead in Newcastle, Maine, as a national monument to honor the legacy of the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet and the longest-serving Secretary of Labor.
The appointment comes after strong push from Maine’s congressional delegation and members of the public.
Under the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906, Biden’s decision will secure the 57-acre estate along the Damariscotta River where Perkins spent her childhood summers and returned to for respite throughout her career.
“Frances Perkins values have shaped the American workplace,” said Keith Mestrich, chairman of the board of directors of the Frances Perkins Center. “From the 40-hour work week, to the minimum wage, to workplace safety and fire prevention, to the abolition of child labor, to the creation of Social Security, Perkins remains one of the most influential women in American history.”
Frances Perkins, who served as Secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in front of the brick house of her family home in Newcastle, Maine. (Photo courtesy of Frances Perkins Center)
Biden signed the proclamation at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., along with Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, who visited the homestead during a trip to Maine in August. Haaland also announced five other new National Historic Landmarks to increase representation of women’s history.
The other sights include the Charleston Cigar Factory in South Carolina, southern Virginia’s azure blue, the Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth House and Studios in New Mexico, as well as the Furies Collective House and the Lucy Diggs Slowe and Mary Burrill House, both of which are in Washington, DC
U.S. Senator Angus King and U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine both attended the ceremony, along with Maine AFL-CIO President Cynthia Phinney. In a social media post, U.S. Rep. Jared Golden called Perkins “a titan of Maine,” adding that the national monument will ensure her legacy is remembered for generations.
During the ceremony on Monday afternoon, Biden talked about how Perkins witnessed the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which killed nearly 150 workers and inspired her advocacy for workers’ rights.
“That fire ignited a passion within her to strengthen her resolve to fight even harder for working Americans and working families,” Biden said.
Perkins served in President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s cabinet and was a leading architect of the New Deal. She tried to protect workers by helping create Social Security and putting millions of Americans back to work during the Great Depression. As the longest-serving Secretary of Labor, she also established the minimum wage, overtime pay, the ban on child labor and unemployment insurance.
An outpouring of support
In March, Biden issued an executive order directing the U.S. Department of the Interior to identify sites that recognize the contributions of women in American history. That inspired the nonprofit Frances Perkins Center and the National Parks Conservation Association to launch a public campaign to have the homestead become a national monument.
Governor Janet Mills wrote to Biden this summer renewing calls to make the homestead a national monument. She also sponsored legislation in 2021 to allocate $100,000 for structural repairs and accessibility improvements to the site to honor Perkins’ legacy.
“With this historic designation, the life and legacy of one of Maine’s most talented public servants and one of our nation’s strongest advocates for our nation’s working people will be forever preserved for the benefit of all future generations,” Mills said in a statement Monday. declaration.
U.S. Senator Susan Collins also wrote a letter to the president in August underscoring her support for the nomination, citing Perkins’ “resilient spirit and lasting impact.”
More than 5,000 people signed a petition asking Biden to make the farm a national monument. It received broad support from Maine leaders and from state lawmakers such as Maine Senate President Mattie Daughtry and Senator Rachel Talbot Ross.
Ashley Towle, director of the women’s and gender studies program and assistant professor of history at the University of Southern Maine, said she was part of the effort this summer to get national monument status. After working on that campaign, she said the honor was “well deserved and long overdue.”
Frances Perkins’ homestead in Newcastle, Maine. (Courtesy of Frances Perkins Center)
Frances Perkins Center has managed the National Historic Landmark since it purchased the riverfront property in 2020 from Perkins’ grandson, Tomlin Perkins Coggeshall.
“Frances Perkins made the world a better place and she learned the values that guided her life on our family farm in Newcastle,” said Perkins Coggeshall. “Although she is a figure of incredible historical importance, to me she was my grandmother and I cherished the time we had together.”
He added that he is proud that his grandmother is being honored and that her contribution is being recognized in this way.
The national monument boundary includes the entire property, but just over two acres have been donated to the National Park Service and set aside as part of the new monument. That space includes the Perkins family home, known as the Brick House, as well as a barn, gardens and part of the stone wall surrounding the property.
The rest of the property is protected as part of the national monument, but was not part of the donation to the federal government.
This story was originally published by Maine Morning Star, which, like the New Hampshire Bulletin, is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
