Tara Series: The Life and Legacy of Frances Perkins (Online)
Thu, May 07
|Zoom
A presentation on Frances Perkins's life and New Deal legacy, delivered by Frances Perkins Center Programs Coordinator Mary Reid.
Time & Location
May 07, 2026, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Zoom
About the event
The Life and Legacy of Frances Perkins
Join Frances Perkins Center Programs Coordinator Mary Reid for a presentation on the life and legacy of Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve on a presidential cabinet. A champion of workers' rights and safety, Frances Perkins was Secretary of Labor for the entirety of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidency, from 1933 to 1945. She was the architect of countless New Deal programs and policies, including Social Security, unemployment insurance, minimum wage laws, and bans on child labor. Frances Perkins' ancestral homestead in Newcastle, Maine, which she owned from 1927 to 1965, became a national monument in 2024. The Frances Perkins Center is now the official philanthropic partner to the Frances Perkins National Monument.
Speaker
Mary Reid joined the Frances Perkins Center in 2024. She double majored in history and biology at Bard College, graduating in 2021. She earned an M.Phil. in Early Modern History from Trinity College Dublin, focusing on gender and the history of science. Reid was born and raised in Edgecomb and has experience working, interning, and researching in nonprofit and academic settings.
Photo Source: Frances Perkins Center
This lecture is part of the program In the Spirit of Tara: A Celebration of Five Women Who Left a Lasting Legacy – Dorothy Day, Audre Lorde, Frances Perkins, Pauli Murray and Alice Austen, funded by a NY City Council Discretionary Initiative.
Free with RSVP