When Was Frances Perkins Appointed to the U.S. Cabinet? History & Legacy

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Table of Contents#

1. Quick Answer: Exact Date of Frances Perkins’ Cabinet Appointment
2. Context: Who Was Frances Perkins Before Joining the Cabinet?
3. Official Appointment & Confirmation Process
4. Key Achievements During Her 12-Year Cabinet Tenure
5. Lasting Legacy of Her Groundbreaking Appointment
6. Frequently Asked Questions
7. References

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Quick Answer: Exact Date of Frances Perkins’ Cabinet Appointment#

Frances Perkins was officially appointed to the U.S. Cabinet as Secretary of Labor on March 4, 1933, the same day Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) was inaugurated for his first term as U.S. President. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate via voice vote the same day, making her the first woman in U.S. history to hold a cabinet-level executive branch position.

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Context: Who Was Frances Perkins Before Joining the Cabinet?#

Perkins’ path to the cabinet was shaped by decades of on-the-ground advocacy for working people:

• Born in 1880 in Boston, Massachusetts, she began her career as a social worker in New York City in the early 1900s.
• A graduate of Mount Holyoke College (1902), she earned a master’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 1910, which deepened her expertise in labor economics and social reform.
• The 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which killed 146 mostly young, female immigrant garment workers, was a defining turning point. She led a state commission that investigated the disaster and pushed through 36 new factory safety regulations to prevent future deaths.
• When FDR was elected Governor of New York in 1929, he appointed Perkins as the state’s Industrial Commissioner. In this role, she rolled out unemployment relief programs, expanded factory safety rules, and advocated for low-wage workers during the first years of the Great Depression.
• When FDR won the 1932 U.S. presidential election, he invited Perkins to lead the U.S. Department of Labor. She agreed only on the condition that FDR would support her full policy agenda: a 40-hour work week, federal minimum wage, unemployment insurance, old-age pensions (Social Security), and a national ban on child labor. He accepted her terms.

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Official Appointment & Confirmation Process#

Perkins’ cabinet appointment was formalized alongside the rest of FDR’s first-term cabinet on inauguration day, March 4, 1933:

• The Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate, which had won a landslide majority in the 1932 elections, held an expedited confirmation hearing for all cabinet nominees the same day.
• Perkins faced no formal opposition, though some trade union leaders initially expressed skepticism that a social worker (rather than a union official) would prioritize worker interests. Their concerns faded quickly as she began rolling out New Deal labor protections.
• Media coverage of her appointment focused heavily on her status as the first woman in cabinet, but Perkins largely avoided personal publicity to keep the focus on policy priorities for unemployed and low-wage workers.

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Key Achievements During Her 12-Year Cabinet Tenure#

Perkins is the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of Labor in history, holding the role for 12 years and 4 months (from March 4, 1933 to June 30, 1945, spanning all four of FDR’s presidential terms). Her landmark policy wins include:

1. Social Security Act of 1935: She led the presidential committee that drafted the legislation, which created the U.S. Social Security system of old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, and aid for disabled people and low-income families with dependent children.
2. Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: This law established the first federal minimum wage, a 40-hour standard work week, mandatory overtime pay for hours worked over 40, and a national ban on child labor for workers under the age of 16.
3. New Deal work programs: She helped design and implement the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA), which put more than 15 million unemployed Americans to work during the Great Depression.
4. Workplace safety rules: She expanded federal oversight of factory conditions, mine safety, and worker protections for migrant and marginalized labor groups.

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Lasting Legacy of Her Groundbreaking Appointment#

Perkins’ cabinet appointment had both immediate and long-term impacts on U.S. public life:

• She broke the glass ceiling for women in executive branch leadership, paving the way for every subsequent female cabinet member (the second woman in cabinet, Oveta Culp Hobby, was appointed Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1953). As of 2026, more than 70 women have served in U.S. presidential cabinet or cabinet-level roles.
• The social safety net policies she designed remain the backbone of U.S. worker and retirement protections today: more than 90% of U.S. workers are covered by Social Security, minimum wage, and overtime rules first implemented under her leadership.
• Honors for her legacy include the naming of the U.S. Department of Labor headquarters as the Frances Perkins Building in 1980, her induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1982, and the designation of the Frances Perkins National Monument in Newcastle, Maine, by President Biden in December 2024.

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Frequently Asked Questions#

Q: Was Frances Perkins the first woman to hold any senior U.S. government role?#

A: No. Women had been elected to Congress and appointed to state and lower federal offices before 1933, but Perkins was the first woman to serve in the presidential cabinet, the top level of the U.S. executive branch.

Q: How long did she serve as Labor Secretary?#

A: 12 years and 4 months, making her the longest-serving Secretary of Labor in U.S. history. She left office on June 30, 1945, a few months after FDR’s death in April 1945, during the early weeks of Harry Truman’s presidency.

Q: Did she face discrimination while in office?#

A: Yes. She regularly faced criticism from male politicians and corporate lobby groups who dismissed her policy proposals because of her gender, but she continued to advance her agenda with strong support from FDR and working-class voters.

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References#

1. U.S. Department of Labor. (n.d.). Frances Perkins: The Woman Behind the New Deal. Retrieved from https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/perkins
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. (2018). Frances Perkins Cabinet Appointment. Retrieved from https://www.fdrlibrary.org/perkins
3. Library of Congress. (2020). Frances Perkins: First Woman Cabinet Member. Retrieved from https://guides.loc.gov/this-month-in-business-history/march/frances-perkins
4. National Women’s History Museum. (n.d.). Frances Perkins Biography. Retrieved from https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/frances-perkins