Frances Perkins's Legacy Alive

“I had to do something about the unnecessary hazards of life, unnecessary poverty … the circumstances of the life of the people of my generation was my business, and I ought to do something about it."--Frances Perkins, MHC class of 1902

BEN BARNHART

Columbia University professor of history Alice Kessler-Harris, social essayist Barbara Ehrenreich, and Mary Renda, MHC assistant professor of history, enjoying themselves at the Frances Perkins symposium.

Frances Perkins is a legendary figure—on and off MHC's campus. Not only was she this country's first female Cabinet member, serving as secretary of labor from 1933 to 1945, but her steadfast commitment to social justice and reform and her pioneering advocacy for worker's, women's, and children's rights established her as one of the most vital activists of the twentieth century. Frances Perkins and Her Legacies: Labor, Women, and the Unfinished Business of the New Deal, a symposium held March 8 and 9 at the College, brought distinguished scholars from around the country to Mount Holyoke to examine Perkins's legacy in the context of the contemporary political climate.

The New Deal, Franklin Roosevelt's domestic program initiated in 1933, was created to counteract the devastation of the Great Depression through economic relief as well as widespread social reform. Frances Perkins was central to the establishment and implementation of the administration's relief and employment programs. Her ideas about public works, federal aid for the unemployed, minimum hourly wages, safe working conditions, and child labor laws served as the basis for what would become the New Deal's most important social welfare and labor legislation.

On March 8, New York University professor of history Linda Gordon launched the symposium with a keynote lecture detailing Perkins's progressive political vision and her struggle to transform government for the benefit of the American people. Part of that transformation involved reliance on data collected by government-appointed “experts." The assumption, said Gordon, was that “data collected and presented by these experts would form the basis of public policy. The progressives had the idea that expertise could resolve the seemingly unresolvable." Gordon's lecture was sponsored by the class of 1958.

Events resumed on Friday morning with a talk by Mount Holyoke professor and chair of history Dan Czitrom. In his lecture, “Contesting Our Past: Mount Holyoke's Hidden History," Czitrom examined the right-wing accusations that Mary Woolley, Mount Holyoke president from 1901 to 1937, was involved in Communist activity—accusations that arose as a result of her feminism and commitment to liberal political views. Citing Woolley and Perkins as role models for social activism, he challenged the audience to question prevailing political assumptions and to “use the power of the institution for the better good." Czitrom encouraged students in particular to “think about Mount Holyoke's close and often contradictory connections to broader movements for social justice. By contesting the history of Mount Holyoke College, we can get a handle on how we got to where we are today and also empower our current efforts at making a better college and a more just society."

A panel discussion followed. Titled “The Unfinished Business of the New Deal," it included Smith College assistant professor of history Jennifer Klein, Florida State University professor Jill Quadagno, and University of California professor of politics Gwendolyn Mink. Addressing many of the issues with which Frances Perkins grappled during her Cabinet tenure, the panelists discussed the disparity between the ideals and the realities of social security, health insurance, and welfare reforms.

The afternoon's events were led by social essayist Barbara Ehrenreich, who detailed her investigation to determine for herself how difficult it is to make a living in an entry-level job. Starting in 1998 and continuing through last summer, she undertook three month-long experiments in living as an entry-level worker. Facing difficulties paying for food and rent, she was forced to recognize the discrepancy between wages and the cost of living. She acknowledged the additional obstacles of transportation and child care costs facing many low-wage working women, noting that efforts to reform welfare are not working well enough. “Welfare reform is the most pressing women's issue we have before us today. In its design there was a catch that no one thought of: it costs money to hold a job," she said. Ehrenreich was followed by Columbia University professor of history, Alice Kessler-Harris. The symposium ended that evening with award-winning writer Penny Colman's engaging “sights and sounds" presentation, which included recordings of Frances Perkins's voice.

The symposium was presented by the Harriet L. and Paul M. Weissman Center for Leadership, the Frances Perkins Program, and the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Association. Karen Remmler, codirector of the Weissman Center, summed up the two-day event. “For Frances Perkins, leadership meant more than being the first female secretary of labor; it meant compassion, commitment to social justice, and speaking eloquently and forcefully across political, social, generational, and gender divides. The symposium created a forum for celebrating this ideal of leadership at all levels of public engagement."