National Monument Campaign
We are launching a campaign to ask President Biden to designate the Frances Perkins Homestead as a national monument and managed by the National Park Service. Please join us! Give your support by adding your name below.
Watch News Center Maine 207 television video feature. Click on Homestead sign to the left!
Frances Perkins
- First woman in a presidential cabinet
- Fought for working people with the creation of Social Security
- Driving force behind the New Deal
Perkins was known for her resilient spirit and enduring impact.
She formulated policies and programs that bolstered the economy and helped working people across the country such as Social Security, a minimum wage, and 40-hour work week, while serving as Secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945.
She became one of FDR’s closest and most highly regarded advisors and was one of only two cabinet secretaries to serve the entire length of his presidency.
In the early 1900s, she began her career as a social worker, advocating for better living conditions for the poor and unemployed and working to prevent the exploitation of women and children in factories.
She was a pioneering advocate for social justice, economic security, labor rights, and other contemporary policy issues.
Perkins was a trailblazing woman whose legacy continues to improve the lives of Americans today.
READ Campaign Press Release
Protecting Her Legacy
The ancestral home and place of respite and inspiration for Frances Perkins is located on 57 acres of picturesque woods and fields along the serene Damariscotta River in Newcastle.
The Frances Perkins Homestead National Historic Landmark is the only place fully dedicated to telling the story of this remarkable national icon. So far, that legacy has been recogized nationally: The 1837 Brick House and accompanying 57 acres were designated a National Historic Landmark in 2014.
While this is an important designation, this site deserves to be part of the National Park System.
At the Frances Perkins Homestead, visitors are invited to step into the shoes of a trailblazer who, despite humble beginnings, broke through gender barriers to improve the lives of working people across the country.
The Homestead offers a chance to learn about her enduring significance: it was the place and the people there that served as her earliest inspiration for work devoted to the betterment of society.
Surrounded by natural beauty with scenic walking trails and views of the river, the Homestead also offers a glimpse into Perkins’ private retreats to the place she returned to year after year to rest and rejuvenate before resuming her tireless work in Washington, DC.
Current Ownership
The experts at the Frances Perkins Center have been dedicated to highlighting Perkins’ achievements, telling the story of that work and relating it to American life today.
The Center purchased the property from her family in 2020 and would like to donate it to the National Park Service to finally provide Frances Perkins with the recognition she earned as a national leader. The Center would become the official interpretive and philanthropic partner upon designation to help support projects and programs at the site.
The Frances Perkins Homestead National Historic Landmark is the only place fully dedicated to telling the story of this remarkable national icon
Sign The Petition
I support designating the Frances Perkins Homestead National Historic Landmark as a national monument to honor the life and achievements of Frances Perkins.