Frances Perkins
Frances Perkins is the first woman appointed to the Cabinet. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College and a witness to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, Perkins goes on to lead the battle against the Great Depression as secretary of labor. In office for 12 years (longer than any other secretary of labor), Perkins is the principal architect of the Social Security Act of 1935, maximum hour laws and a federal minimum wage. She also oversees the creation of regulations on child labor and unemployment insurance.
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