President Biden designates Frances Perkins National Monument in Maine

WASHINGTON D.C.-Today, President Biden designated the Frances Perkins National Monument in Newcastle, Maine, at the former homestead of Frances Perkins, who served as Secretary of Labor in the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. She was the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet.

As a champion for workers' rights, Perkins played a key role in advancing New Deal initiatives that benefit Americans today, including Social Security, minimum wage, unemployment insurance, and a ban on child labor. She navigated a period marked by significant economic and racial challenges. During her tenure in the FDR administration, her leadership helped lift many individuals out of poverty, a legacy that still persists. A deeper examination of Perkins' life and perspectives uncovers a concerning lack of recognition of the negative effects of racism, segregation, and disenfranchisement on the economic, social, and political lives of her fellow Black citizens. This, too, is part of her legacy.

"I am glad to see President Biden take this next step in recognizing Perkins's life, in all of its complexity, by designating her homestead as a national monument," said Jeremy Sheaffer, Maine state director of The Wilderness Society. "It is here where Perkins and her family spent generations building businesses and being part of the fabric of our communities. It can become a place to better understand her full and complete legacy."

The country's newest national monument, managed by the National Park Service, is nestled on Perkins' former wooded homestead, one of the last nearly untouched saltwater farms along the Damariscotta River. We applaud President Biden for designating this historic monument!