During  the Great Depression, the stock market crash of 1929 led to massive unemployment, foreclosed mortgages, and “One-third of a nation  ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.” And in 1933, what did the new president do?

He handed over the problems to a woman!

Frances Perkins (1880-1965), raised and educated in Worcester, was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s controversial Secretary of Labor, the first woman to serve in a Cabinet of the U.S. Government, (1933-45). Her tenure was an era of historic changes to the life of the average American worker, including Social Security.

The show highlights Perkins’ private and professional challenges, including her actual words.

Excerpts from The Roosevelt I Knew, by Frances Perkins, used by permission of Curtis Brown Ltd.all rights reserved.

Presented in partnership with Worcester Women's History Project

This is the fifth program Worcester Historical Museum is hosting as part of its PRETTY POWERFUL program series In preparation for the museum’s upcoming exhibition, PRETTY POWERFUL: 100 Years of Voting & Style, and in celebration of the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote through the changing roles of women and fashion.