Frances Perkins, the Heroine of the Great Depression The stock market crash of 1929 devastated America, a country built on traditional values and beliefs. During this traumatic era the future seemed disheartening. Though women were expected to play the traditional role of homemaker, one brave women displayed exceptional political courage as she stepped out of that role. Frances Perkins became the first female to serve as cabinet secretary, and the driving force behind Roosevelt’s New Deal which ended the Great Depression. Perkins soared above her humble beginnings, laying the foundation for the development of the middle class, and emerging as the voice of workers’ rights and safety. Frances Perkins was born several blocks from Boston Commons, …show more content…
To recruit for this program, Perkins established the National Reemployment Service. By April 1936, there were 2158 of these work camps employing approximately 157 people. The second program she and FDR implemented was the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (Downey, 2009). Through this program the government gave states money for public works such as repairing public buildings, parks, playgrounds, funding drought relief programs, shoring up bankrupt school districts, and implementing job and housing programs. The Federal Employment Relief Administration, Civil Works Administration and the Public Works Administration also quickly launched under the New Deal. By July 1934, The U.S. Employment Service had registered 12.5 million people and employed 26 million and on April 19, 1934 the social security act was passed. Perkins was also instrumental in creating the Federal Home Owners Loan Corporation and the National Housing Act of 1934 protecting middle class homeowners from foreclosure (Downey, 2009). In the coming years, thousands of middle income people could buy a home thanks to this