Chatham Public Library Fall 2009 Newsletter

Written by: Kirsten Downey
Reviewed by: The Bookworm

The new President saw his friend standing in the doorway with a small piece of paper held tightly in her hands.   The year was 1933, and the President Elect was Franklin Delano Roosevelt.   The friend was Frances Perkins, who had worked for Roosevelt as Chairman (sic) of the New York State Industrial Commission.   The scene was Roosevelt's home in New York City, and Franklin had just asked Frances to be Secretary of Labor, which would make her the first woman to ever serve in a President's Cabinet.   This was no ordinary Presidential vetting interview because on that scrap of paper was a list of nine demands that Miss Perkins wanted FDR to agree to before she would accept the cabinet appointment, regardless of the historic significance of his offer.
Perkins' agenda was not only breathtaking but totally out of the experience of most Americans, particularly when one notes that the Great Depression had shaken the country's financial institutions to its very roots.     Frances wanted Franklin to agree to support ALL of the following: a forty-hour workweek, a minimum wage, worker's compensation, unemployment compensation, a federal law banning child labor, direct federal aid for unemployment relief, Social Security, a restructured public employment service, and health insurance.   "Nothing like this has ever been done in the United States before," she said.   "You know that, don't you?"
FDR "studied the plain, matronly woman sitting before him. No one was more qualified for the job as Secretary of Labor.   She knew as much about labor law and administration as anyone in the country.   He'd known her for twenty years.   He trusted her.   But placing a woman in the labor secretary's job would expose him to criticism and ridicule.   Her list of proposals would stir heated opposition"... For example    "The eight-hour day was a standard plank of the Socialist Party."
"He said he would back her".
So begins the new biography by Kirstin Downey, entitled THE WOMAN BEHIND THE NEW DEAL, copyright 2009.   This work deals with one of the most important political characters of the 20th Century, a woman who forever changed America.   And yet Frances Perkins, a household name in the 1930's and 1940's, like that of Eleanor Roosevelt's, is hardly known today.
This book will alter your opinion of FDR from a brilliant strategist who helped the nation overcome the Great Depression to a clever politician who surrounded himself with great minds but who was not an original thinker himself.   Certainly, one of the greatest minds in the President's inner circle was that of Frances Perkins.    Her ideas continue to influence us today in so many ways.   For example, 50 million senior citizens get Social Security every month in the United States, 5 million Americans are receiving unemployment insurance during the present "Great Recession".   And of course we are still discussing health care, one of Perkins' most cherish hopes to protect the American people.
THE WOMAN BEHIND THE NEW DEAL is not only for history buffs or lovers of a well written biography, it is for those who believe there must be an important role for women in today's world.   This bio will inspire humanists who believe that government has an important function to play in preventing abuses in our nation.   Lastly, and most important, as Downey reveals in her work, this book should be read by those who believe that citizens in a free society should have a strong "Moral Conscience" for others.   Like Frances Perkins, we can play a part in improving the lives of those in society less fortunate than ourselves.   Happy reading.
Signed: The Bookworm
Note: The Bookworm is in real life Al Vinck.   Al serves as a Board member for the Friends of the Chatham Library.   With his first book review we begin a program of reviews for Chatham readers. Books reviewed can be found at the Chatham Public Library.   If you wish to share your literary thoughts with your own book review, please contact us.   A member of the Friends will get back to you to talk about your book selection.