Meet Frances Perkins: The First Female U.S. Cabinet Secretary

Quincy Historical Society will mark Women’s History Month by welcoming back, historical performer, Janet Parnes in her new one-woman performance as Frances Perkins, the first woman to become a presidential cabinet member!

Perkins’ service as United States Secretary of Labor, from 1933 to 1945, was the culmination of a long series of groundbreaking accomplishments that made her one of the most influential Americans of the first half of the twentieth century. As Frances, Janet Parnes will escort us through her personal and professional trials and triumphs as suffragist, social and political reformer, wife, and mother, and discuss her skills in building alliances and overcoming male prejudice.

There is a Quincy connection to Frances Perkins’ story. She was a good friend of Molly Dewson, a Quincy native, who was a brilliant reformer and political operative and, like Perkins, a significant member of the New Deal. It was Dewson who organized and led the campaign that resulted in Perkins’ appointment as Secretary of Labor.

The program is free and open to all.

Janet Parnes has previously visited Quincy Historical Society for her performances on the life of Dolly Madison, 19^th Century Medicine, and Gilded-Age Etiquette.