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Happy Birthday to Frances Perkins, who was born on this day in 1880. The architect behind Social Security, the 40-hour work week, the minimum wage and unemployment benefits... millions of Americans rely on her programs today, but few know her name. https://cnn.it/2Vio8jZ ">https://cnn.it/2Vio8jZ&q...
In honor of her birthday, I will be tweeting some of her quotes that feel just as relevant today as they were in the Great Depression.
"The process of recovery is not a simple one. We cannot be satisfied merely w/ makeshift arrangements which will tide us over the present emergencies." — Frances Perkins, 1935
"We must devise plans that will not merely alleviate the ills of today, but will prevent, as far as it is humanly possible to do so, their recurrence in the future." — Frances Perkins, 1935
"It has taken the rapid industrialization of the last few decades, with its mass-production methods, to teach us that a man might become a victim of circumstances far beyond his control..."
"..and finally it “took a depression to dramatize for us the appalling insecurity of the great mass of the population, and to stimulate interest in social insurance in the United States.”
Read the full speech here: https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/social-security/social-security-a-radio-address-by-frances-perkins-1935/">https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/social-se...
"I came to Washington to work for God, FDR, and the millions of forgotten, plain common workingmen," Frances Perkins once said. And today, more than 80 years later, during coronavirus, millions of jobless Americans are still benefiting from her life& #39;s work.
"No one who is now employed can feel secure while so many of his fellows anxiously seek work." — Frances Perkins in 1935. Rings very true today, doesn& #39;t it?
So spare a thought for Frances Perkins today. Maybe even read this excellent biography by Kirstin Downey https://www.amazon.com/Woman-Behind-New-Deal-Unemployment/dp/1400078563">https://www.amazon.com/Woman-Beh...
Or this children& #39;s version. The illustrations by @AlexandraBye are excellent. https://www.amazon.com/Only-Woman-Photo-Frances-Perkins/dp/1481491512">https://www.amazon.com/Only-Woma...
And let& #39;s hope for more problem solvers in government, like Frances Perkins.
