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Artist
Samuel Johnson Woolf, 12 Feb 1880 - 03 Dec 1948
Sitter
Frances Perkins, 10 Apr 1880 - 14 May 1965
Date
1934
Type
Drawing
Medium
Charcoal and chalk on paper
Dimensions
Image: 32 × 29 cm (12 5/8 × 11 7/16")
Sheet: 65.1 × 50.2 cm (25 5/8 × 19 3/4")
Topic
Frances Perkins: Female
Frances Perkins: Literature\Writer
Frances Perkins: Education and Scholarship\Educator\Lecturer
Frances Perkins: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Social reformer
Frances Perkins: Politics and Government\Cabinet member\Secretary of Labor
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the artist's daughters, Muriel Woolf Hobson and Dorothy Woolf Ahern
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.87.110
Exhibition Label
Born Boston, Massachusetts
A longtime labor advocate and social reformer, Frances Perkins was the first woman appointed to a presidential cabinet post. She served as secretary of labor for twelve years (1933–45), from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s inauguration until after his death in office. During that time, she helped create two enduring legacies of Roosevelt’s expansive New Deal legislation: the Social Security Act (1935) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (1938). She also fought for the minimum wage, forty-hour work weeks, and unemployment compensation while opposing child labor.
Initially a teacher, Perkins was a social worker alongside notable Progressive Era leaders, including Jane Addams, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize (1931). However, it was an experience in New York City that foretold her political future. In 1911, she witnessed the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, where 146 workers died due to unsafe working conditions. Perkins later explained, “it was the day the New Deal was born.”
Nacida en Boston, Massachusetts
Defensora de causas laborales y reformas sociales, Frances Perkins fue la primera mujer en un gabinete presidencial. Fue secretaria del Trabajo por 12 años (1933–45), desde la investidura de Franklin D. Roosevelt hasta después de su muerte, siendo aún presidente. Perkins ayudó a crear dos legados de la amplia legislación del Nuevo Trato de Roosevelt: la Ley de Seguridad Social (1935) y la Ley de Normas Laborales Justas (1938). También luchó por el salario mínimo, la semana laboral de 40 horas y la compensación por desempleo, y se opuso al trabajo infantil.
Perkins fue maestra y luego trabajadora social junto a notables líderes de la era progresista, incluida Jane Addams, ganadora del Premio Nobel de la Paz (1931). Pero fue una experiencia en Nueva York la que presagió su futuro político. En 1911 presenció el incendio de la fábrica de blusas Triangle, donde murieron 146 obreros por condiciones de trabajo inseguras. Perkins luego afirmaría: “Ese fue el día en que nació el Nuevo Trato”.
