Frances Perkins, Advocate for America’s Social Safety Net

The ABA Journal this month has a short piece especially relevant today, August 14, 2017.  Today is the 82nd anniversary of the signing of the Social Security Act in 1935.  Frances Perkins is highlighted in the article as “The Woman Behind America’s Social Safety Net.”  

By late 1934, Roosevelt was facing conservative resistance to his New Deal programs in Congress and the courts. Moreover, it would take years before those who had immediate needs would see any benefit from the social security [Secretary of Labor Frances] Perkins favored. Roosevelt confided to others that the timing might not be right for old-age insurance.

 

Perkins was furious and confronted him, arguing that the nation’s dire condition might provide the political opportunity for a bold initiative. When Roosevelt gave her a Christmas deadline, Perkins invited the committee to her home, placed a bottle of scotch on a parlor table, and told them they were not to leave until they had framed a legislative proposal….

Okay — admit it — how many of us first came to know the name of Frances Perkins in the movie Dirty Dancing?