Part A-Plan of the Investigation
To what extent is Frances Perkins responsible for and involved in the economic and social policies during The Great Depression? Frances Perkins role in government through pre and post great depression is not as widely recognized as some her fellow cabinet members who also pushed the New Deal. The details of who was the driving force behind the New Deal have been skewed over the years. How did Frances Perkins influence the economic and social policies of the Great Depression? Do people only remember Perkins for being the first female cabinet member under Franklin D. Roosevelt or was she actually a visionary of her time. During the time of the New Deal and new government, involvement in economy and the welfare of its people was she a leader or just along for the ride.
Part B-Summary of Evidence
Frances Perkins attended the male high school of Worcester, went on in nineteen hundred-two to receive her undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College, and a Masters at Columbia where she studied sociology and economics (Severn 11). After finishing her education, Perkins moves to the state of New York to work for the government as a factory inspector (Mohr 32). In Albany she began to lobby for a bill that would limit a woman's workweek to fifty-four hours. Though met with great opposition, this cry for action got her noticed by Al Smith and Robert F. Wagner who she would work with closely later down the road (Severn 40). In defeat, she went to Manhattan and was an eyewitness to the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire on March 25, 1911. This inspired her to forerun on fire and working conditions regulations in New York, and was the “torch that lightened up the political scene,” in her favor. Having prev...
... middle of paper ...
... P. W. (2010). The woman behind the new deal: The life of frances perkins, FDR'S secretary of labor and his moral conscience. Historical Journal of Massachusetts, 38(2), 171-174. Retrieved from
Lawson, Don. Frances Perkins, First Lady of the Cabinet. London: Abelard-Schuman, 1966. Print.
Martin, George Whitney. Madam Secretary, Frances Perkins. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1976. Print.
Myers, Elisabeth P. Madam Secretary: Frances Perkins. New York: J. Messner, 1972. Print.
Pasachoff, Naomi E. Frances Perkins: Champion of the New Deal. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. Print.
Perkins, Frances. The Roosevelt I Knew. New York: Viking, 1946. Print.
Severn, Bill. Frances Perkins: A Member of the Cabinet. New York: Hawthorn, 1976. Print.
Toedtman, James C. "Remarks: Our Legacy from Frances Perkins." Personnel Journal (pre-1986) 59.000007 (1980): 538. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 29
Several of the new programs created by Roosevelt were shown. A couple examples were her brother who left to work for the Civilian Conservation Corps and a man working for the Works Progress Administration who painted murals in the post office. It also showed how hard it was to live in the country during this time. Many things were hard to come by and were rare. Neither side of Roosevelt’s New Deal is favored by the the author. Throughout the story, he expresses both good things and bad things about it, never taking a side. Peck never provided sources on his information to write the story but I believe the details to be
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was remembered as one of the most infamous incidents in American industrial history. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was owned by Max Blank and Isaac Harris. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory grew quickly as Max and Isaac moved their business from a little shop by 1901 to the new ten-story Asch building at the top three floors. There were approximately five hundred workers who worked in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company at the time while the fire broke out. The workers were mostly Jewish and Italian immigrant women (Campbell 210-212). The incident happened in Manhattan, New York City in March, 25, 1911; also, as one important event that held relevance in American .This incident was the deadliest industrial disaster. 146 workers died, and they either died from the fire or jumped from the window. They jumped out from the window because the fire trucks’ ladders could only reach up to the seventh floor. After the incident, there were demands for enhanced law to protect workers health and safety, including factory fire codes and child labor law that helped shape future labor laws; however, there was evidence that the fire wouldn’t have happened if the company owners had listened to the warnings, and the owners were found unfairly not guilty in the court.
In the book “The Triangle Fire: A Brief History with Documents” by Jo Ann E. Argersinger. In a short summary this book talks about the tragic factory fire that took lives of 146 workers in New York City, March 25, 1911. The tragedy happened during the great uprising of a women revolution, of many young females going to work to support their families. During this period many women wanted to be treated and work like how men worked. Having equal rights at jobs that were a risk to them, nothing stopped the uprising, until the fire became a change. Both sympathy and rage among all sectors of the American public got up to fight for a change. Argersinger examines in the context, trajectory, and impact of this Progressive Era event. During the Progressive Era, many big changes were being
Eleanor Roosevelt was a First Lady during the time of the Great Depression. She made huge differences in the lives of women, youth and minorities.
Life in the early 1900’s wasn’t easy. Competition for jobs was at an all time high, especially in New York City. Immigrants were flooding in and needed to find work fast, even if that meant in the hot, overcrowded conditions of garment factories. Conditions were horrid and disaster was inevitable, and disaster did strike in March, 1911. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York set on fire, killing 146 workers. This is an important event in US history because it helped accomplish the tasks unions and strikes had tried to accomplish years earlier, It improved working conditions in factories nationwide and set new safety laws and regulations so that nothing as catastrophic would happen again. The workplace struggles became public after this fire, and the work industry would never remain the same again.
The New Deal did not notably benefit the majority of people. Walter Procter, in a letter to FDR, wrote, “The American worker – manual or brain – is not a dumb brutalized self. He is a man…why should ‘opportunity’ mean only opportunity for ...
Schwarz, Jordan A. The New Dealers: Power Politics in the Age of Roosevelt. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993.
The New Deal was a set of acts that effectively gave Americans a new sense of hope after the Great Depression. The New Deal advocated for women’s rights, worked towards ending discrimination in the workplace, offered various jobs to African Americans, and employed millions through new relief programs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), made it his duty to ensure that something was being done. This helped restore the public's confidence and showed that relief was possible. The New Deal helped serve American’s interest, specifically helping women, african american, and the unemployed and proved to them that something was being done to help them.
Downey, Kirstin. The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life and Legacy of Frances Perkins- Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, and the Minimum Wage. New York: Random House Inc., 2009. Print.
In order to protect people’s benefits and provide a easeful life to people, Roosevelt started the New Deal followed his first inaugural address. When FDR gave his campaign speech at M...
The New Deal period has generally - but not unanimously - been seen as a turning point in American politics, with the states relinquishing much of their autonomy, the President acquiring new authority and importance, and the role of government in citizens' lives increasing. The extent to which this was planned by the architect of the New Deal, Franklin D. Roosevelt, has been greatly contested, however. Yet, while it is instructive to note the limitations of Roosevelt's leadership, there is not much sense in the claims that the New Deal was haphazard, a jumble of expedient and populist schemes, or as W. Williams has put it, "undirected". FDR had a clear overarching vision of what he wanted to do to America, and was prepared to drive through the structural changes required to achieve this vision.
...s leading up to the fire and the aftermath of the event that makes this event so influential and important. The reforms made afterwards within New York legislation soon spread across the nation, and to almost every manufacturer in the country. It changed how workers were treated, the conditions in which they worked, and other legalities that protected their rights as workers and as human beings. This event also lead to the changing of lives through recognition women within the workforce, to women holding office in national politics, and eventually women’s suffrage. The fire impacted reformers and thinkers who went on to create the ideals within the New Deal. The majority of the legislation that was passed because of the outcome of the fire is still in effect today, over 100 years later. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire changed the nation’s workforce completely.
"The New Deal." Social Welfare History Project. N.p., 30 Oct. 2017. Web. 17 Nov. 2017.
The New Deal, established by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, was a series of programs put into affect to fix the Great Depression that the United States was currently in. Beginning with the crash of the stock market on October 29, 1929, America was plunged into its most severe economic downturn yet. Roosevelt developed this plan to save the country. At this time the people of America were in a huge economic unrest. Most in America were homeless or unemployed. Roosevelt created his programs to help these exact people from poverty. He assured the people of America that his programs would help the crumbling economy, mass unemployment, and low wages. This chain of programs raised both nationalism and national character throughout America for a few years. The author of this excerpt had a very negative view of FDR’s work and critiqued every program within the New Deal. Roosevelt’s programs have many long-term consequences, some of which are still in effect today. Most of the programs still in action were modified in the 1960’s, these are the present day welfare programs that most people are accustomed to. While the New Deal was not entirely successful, Franklin D. Roosevelt did the best he could with the time and circumstances given.
Franklin Roosevelt’s “optimism and activism that helped restore the badly shaken confidence of the nation” (pg. 467 Out of Many), was addressed in the New Deal, developed to bring about reform to the American standard of living and its low economy. It did not only make an impact during the Great Depression. Although, many of the problems addressed in the New Deal might have been solved, those with the long lasting effect provide enough evidence to illustrate how great a success the role of the New Deal played out in America’s history to make it what it is today.