New National Monument Honors 'Incredible Trailblazer'

President Biden signed a proclamation Monday establishing a national monument honoring the late FDR-era Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, the first woman appointed to serve in a presidential Cabinet and a driving force behind the New Deal, according to the White House. Biden visited the Labor Department to make the announcement and sign the proclamation to establish the monument in Newcastle, Maine.

• As labor secretary, Perkins helped Franklin D. Roosevelt formulate policies behind the 1930s New Deal and create safeguards in the national economy following the Great Depression, the AP reports. During her 12 years as Roosevelt's labor secretary, she was credited with helping establish the Social Security Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the National Labor Relations Act that established workers' rights to organize, and collective bargaining.

• "Frances Perkins accepted the position as the first female Cabinet member only after President Franklin D. Roosevelt agreed to support her goals to improve working conditions for all people," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. "She worked tirelessly to see them to fruition, and she set a standard of excellence that is a beacon for all of us who serve."Haaland described Perkins as an "incredible trailblazer."
• Perkins and her family had deep roots in Newcastle, where she was buried after her death in 1965.. The monument will be established on her family homestead and managed by the National Park Service. The Frances Perkins National Monument is the 433rd addition to the National Park System, the Department of the Interior said.

• Biden was joined at the signing by Haaland, acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and other Cabinet members, as well as labor and women's rights leaders. The proclamation comes with just over five weeks left in Biden's presidency and as he seeks to burnish his legacy as a champion of women's and labor rights.
• Haaland on Monday also announced five new national historic landmarks recognizing women's history: the Charleston Cigar Factory in Charleston, South Carolina; the Furies Collective, and Lucy Diggs Slowe and Mary Burrill House, both in Washington, Azurest South in Petersburg, Virginia; and the Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth House and Studios in San Patricio, New Mexico.

(More President Biden stories.)