Resources
FOR TEACHERS AND PARENTS
- The Only Woman in the Photo: Frances Perkins & Her New Deal for America by Kathleen Krull, 2020 (Picture Book)
- STEADFAST: Frances Perkins, Champion of Workers’ Rights, by Jennifer Merz, 2020 (Picture Book)
- A Young Person’s Guide to Social Security (PDF)
- Discussion Questions on Frances Perkins' Biography (Link)
- Social and political history of the Great Depression and CCC (Interactive Curriculum)
- More resources are available by request from the Frances Perkins Center (click here to see our programs)
IN HER OWN WORDS
Written by Frances Perkins
- Al Smith: hero of the cities: A political portrait drawing on the papers of Frances Perkins by Matthew Josephson
- The Roosevelt I Knew by Frances Perkins, 1947
- People at Work by Frances Perkins, 1934 (Full Text)
- The Cost of a Five-Dollar Dress by Frances Perkins, 1933
- Social Security Administration – Committee on Economic Security Report, 1937
Audio Files & Transcripts
- 1935: "Should we plan for Social Security?" Radio Address
- 1951-1955: Oral History Recorded by Dean Albertson of Columbia University
- 1960: Remarks at the 25th anniversary of Social Security and the importance of the IBM Machine
- 1962: “Roots of Social Security” Speech at SSA headquarters
- 1964: Lecture at Cornell and others’ oral histories on the Triangle Factory Fire
BIOGRAPHIES & MEMOIRS
Available at the Frances Perkins Center
- Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances Perkins’s Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany, by Rebecca Brenner Graham, 2025
- Frances Perkins: Champion of American Workers by Ruth Cashin Monsell, 2024
- The Courage to Meddle: The Belief of Frances Perkins, by Tom Levitt, 2020
- “Tread the City’s Streets Again: Frances Perkins Shares Her Theology,” by Donn Mitchell, 2018
- The Woman Behind the New Deal, by Kirstin Downey, 2009
Available from Libraries or Your Favorite Bookstore
- Fearless: A Novel of Frances Perkins and Social Security. by Jonna Higgins-Freese, 2023
- "The New Deal Began with My Grandmother Frances Perkins" by Tomlin Perkins Coggeshall and Charles Hoffacker. Chapter 2 of "Talking to the Girls: Intimate and Political Essays on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire," Edvige Giunta and Mary Ann Trasciatti, editors, New Village Press, 2022
- The New Deal as a Triumph of Social Work: Frances Perkins and the Confluence of Early Twentieth Century Social Work with Mid-Twentieth Century Politics and Government, by Stephen Paul Miller, 2016
- Frances Perkins: First Woman Cabinet Member, by Emily Keller, 2006
- Frances Perkins: Champion of the New Deal, by Naomi Pasachoff, 2000
- A Woman Unafraid: The Achievements of Frances Perkins, by Penny Colman, 1993
- Frances Perkins: That Woman in FDR’s Cabinet, by Lillian Holmen Mohr, 1979
- Madam Secretary, Frances Perkins, by George Martin, 1976
- Frances Perkins: A member of the Cabinet, by Bill Severn, 1976
- Frances Perkins, First Lady of the Cabinet, by Don Lawson, 1966
Available Online
- Frances Perkins: The Woman Behind the New Deal (Exhibit)
- AFL-CIO on Frances Perkins (Link)
- Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) on U.S. Labor Secretary Frances Perkins (Link)
- “No Refuge” by Rebecca Brenner Graham, former FPC intern, 2019 (Article)
- “Can We Thank Frances Perkins for the New Deal Arts Programs?” by Sarah Peskin, FPC Board Member, 2016 (Paper)
- "The Frances Perkins I Knew" by Christopher Breiseth, FPC Board Member, 1966 (Presentation Text)
FPC PUBLICATIONS
Available at the Frances Perkins Center
THE NEW DEAL ERA & POLICIES
Available at the Frances Perkins Center
FPC Intern Projects
Available from Libraries or Your Favorite Bookstore
Partner Organizations
- The New Deal: Looking Back, Moving Forward by the National New Deal Preservation Association, David Lembeck (editor), and Christopher N Breiseth (editor), 2024
- Nothing to Fear: FDR’s Inner Circle and the Hundred Days That Created Modern America, by Adam Cohen, 2010
- The Great Crash 1929, by John Kenneth Galbraith, 2009
- The New Deal: A 75th Anniversary Celebration, by Kathryn Flynn, 2008
- Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945, by David Kennedy, 1999
- The FDR Years: On Roosevelt and His Legacy, by William Leuchtenburg, 1997
- In the Public Interest: The Civilian Conservation Corps in Maine, A Pictorial History, by Jon Schlenker, 1988
Available at the Frances Perkins Center
