[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 244 (Thursday, December 19, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 103617-103624]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-30485]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 244 / Thursday, December 19, 2024 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 103617]]
Proclamation 10873 of December 16, 2024
Establishment of the Frances Perkins National
Monument
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Few Americans have had deeper influence in shaping
labor and social policy in the United States than
Frances Perkins. Perkins became the first woman to
serve as a Cabinet Secretary when President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt appointed her as the Secretary of
Labor in 1933. During the subsequent 12 years,
Secretary Perkins played a pivotal role in constructing
the New Deal and helping to guide the country out of
the Great Depression by designing and leading the
implementation of sweeping labor and economic reforms
that have made life better for generations of
Americans. The longest serving Secretary of Labor in
United States history, Secretary Perkins was the
architect of many programs and standards--including a
minimum wage, overtime pay, unemployment insurance, and
prohibitions on child labor--that have endured as the
backbone of Federal support for workers and families
and continue to benefit millions of Americans today.
Secretary Perkins chaired President Roosevelt's effort
to investigate the benefits of social insurance and
then worked to achieve passage of the Social Security
Act, which became one of the most successful programs
in the United States to prevent poverty among older
adults. When the United States and other nations
initially failed to face the horrors of the Holocaust,
Secretary Perkins demonstrated leadership on behalf of
immigrants and refugees by actively working to bring
Jewish children and adults from Europe to the United
States to ensure their safety.
The Perkins Homestead in Newcastle, Maine, played a
pivotal role in Frances Perkins' life and supported her
work to deliver lasting protection and benefits to
American workers and families. The rural setting of the
Perkins Homestead on the Damariscotta River was the
place she felt most at home. She spent her childhood
summers there and returned frequently for respite
throughout her career. Continuously owned by her family
for over 260 years, the Perkins Homestead remains much
as it was during Secretary Perkins' lifetime, including
the buildings, structures, gardens, and paths where she
spent substantial time throughout her life. The core
area contains historic structures including a brick
house, an attached barn, a gravel driveway, a garden,
and portions of a stone wall. The surrounding landscape
of the Perkins Homestead contains additional portions
of the stone wall, an ice pond, walking trails, a
family cemetery, foundations of the 18th and 19th
century Perkins Homestead buildings, and remnants of a
pre-Revolutionary era garrison. Visitors to the Perkins
Homestead today can wander through these places where
Perkins returned time and again during her Government
service. They can view the stone wall where she sat
listening to the radio on September 1, 1939, when it
was reported that the Germans invaded Poland, prompting
her to rush back to Washington, DC, to assist the
President. Preserving the core area of the Perkins
Homestead and its associated historic objects will
ensure that current and future generations have the
opportunity to learn about Secretary Perkins'
foundational contributions to the Nation's social and
labor policy through the place that helped shape her as
a person and support her throughout her extraordinary
career.
Frances Perkins was born in Boston as Fannie Coralie
Perkins in 1880. At the age of 25, she changed her name
to Frances Perkins, which she
[[Page 103618]]
used for the rest of her life, even after marriage. She
graduated in 1902 from Mount Holyoke College in
Massachusetts, where she credited a class trip to a
nearby mill with inspiring her early interest in
improving working conditions for women and children.
After college, Frances Perkins worked with social
service organizations in Chicago and Philadelphia,
including settlement houses for poor and unemployed
people and an organization to support and protect
immigrant and Black women and girls from labor and
sexual exploitation they faced upon arrival in these
cities looking for work. These experiences deepened her
resolve to help reduce poverty and support the working
poor.
In 1911, while employed at the New York City Consumers'
League, Frances Perkins heard the sirens of fire
engines racing to put out flames that had engulfed the
nearby Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Running to the site
of the fire, she witnessed the horrific scene of
workers, mostly young women, jumping to their deaths
after being locked in the factory. In total, 146 people
died in the fire--including many immigrant workers.
Perkins later cited that tragic day as the impetus for
policies that would become central to the New Deal.
Perkins' subsequent work at the New York Factory
Investigating Commission, where she investigated and
advocated for worker health and safety reforms, led to
33 new State laws that improved worker safety,
workplace sanitation, and working conditions; provided
workers' compensation; and placed limits on child
labor. These were some of the first workplace health
and safety standards in the Nation, and they became
models that other States and the Federal Government
adopted.
In 1919, Perkins was named to the New York State
Industrial Commission, making her the first woman
appointed to serve in a New York State government
administration. In 1929, newly elected Governor
Franklin Delano Roosevelt asked Perkins to become the
State's Industrial Commissioner and oversee the labor
department. As the United States careened toward the
Great Depression, Perkins used her position to shine a
national spotlight on rising unemployment while also
helping workers in New York and elsewhere by connecting
them to jobs through a State employment service and
inviting surrounding States to participate in an
unemployment insurance system. Her early warnings
regarding the depth of the Nation's economic problems
and her work to develop solutions established Perkins
as a national leader in the 20th century employment and
labor reform movements.
When President Roosevelt formally asked Perkins to join
his Cabinet as Secretary of Labor, she responded by
saying that if she accepted the position, she intended
to execute an ambitious plan of action that included
establishing maximum hours and minimum wages, ending
child labor, developing unemployment relief through
public works, providing unemployment insurance, and
creating an old-age pension and a national health
insurance program. After detailing her plan, she asked
if President Roosevelt was sure he wanted this list of
policies put in place, explaining that, ``you won't
want me for Secretary of Labor if you don't want those
things done.'' President Roosevelt responded that he
would back her; he had promised the American people
that he would improve their lives, and he intended to
keep his promise.
At a time when few women were in leadership positions
and just 13 years after the 19th Amendment granted
women the right to vote, Frances Perkins became
Secretary of Labor. During an unprecedented 12 years in
the position--from 1933 to 1945--Secretary Perkins
achieved hard-fought social and economic reforms, often
over vocal opposition and personal attacks from
critics. She summarized her work in a five-page letter
to President Roosevelt, describing the reforms as ``a
turning point in our national life--a turning from
careless neglect of human values and toward an order .
. . of mutual and practical benevolence within a free
competitive industrial economy.'' The list of
accomplishments detailed in her letter encompasses many
programs and laws that continue to undergird the
Nation's economy and social
[[Page 103619]]
safety net, including establishing Social Security and
contributing to the development of the Fair Labor
Standards Act and the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts
Act. She also helped create millions of jobs across the
country through the novel Civilian Conservation Corps
and Public Works Administration.
As Secretary of Labor, Perkins often supported the
rights of workers to organize unions and to negotiate
with employers through collective action, laying the
foundation for the rebirth of American labor--including
through helping write recovery legislation that
provided a right to collective bargaining and laid the
groundwork for the National Labor Relations Act of 1935
(also known as the Wagner Act). She used her post not
only to advance labor protections in national policy,
but also to call personally for workers' fair treatment
and access to the halls of power. She persuaded
President Roosevelt not to deploy Federal troops to
quell the 1934 San Francisco General Strike, and
instead encouraged the parties to settle their
differences, which was accomplished within a week, and
she frequently advised President Roosevelt to help
resolve contentious strikes for the benefit of workers.
At the close of her time at the Department of Labor,
Perkins had accomplished nearly all of the items in the
ambitious plan she laid out for President Roosevelt
when he asked her to serve, but she lamented the one
exception: health care benefits for American workers.
Historians have also noted that, because of deep racial
inequities and injustices of the time--including
segregation--the benefits of the New Deal were not
available to all Americans initially.
When her time as Secretary of Labor concluded, Perkins
continued in public service as President Harry Truman's
appointee to the United States Civil Service
Commission, a post she held from 1945 until 1953. She
then became a lecturer at the New York State School of
Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, a
role she held until her death in 1965.
When Secretary Perkins died, the Secretary of Labor at
the time, W. Willard Wirtz, recognized her legacy as
central to the New Deal, stating that ``every man and
woman in America who works at a living wage, under safe
conditions, for reasonable hours, or who is protected
by unemployment insurance or social security is her
debtor.'' The final resting place of Secretary Perkins
is near her daughter, husband, sister, parents, and
grandparents in the Glidden Cemetery, located a half
mile north of the Perkins Homestead in Newcastle,
Maine.
Throughout Perkins' life and career, the Perkins
Homestead served as a place of rejuvenation and
reflection, including during her time as Secretary of
Labor. Throughout her working life, she continued the
family tradition of summer visits to Maine, often
living there with her daughter from August into
September. Perkins and her sister became joint owners
of the property in 1927 and it stayed within the family
until 2020. Perkins wrote about how the woods
surrounding the brick house and the shoreline at the
Perkins Homestead's edge restored and comforted her,
and how the brick house provided a place for her to
relax and to recover from her work as Secretary of
Labor.
The Perkins Homestead, originally over 200 acres, was
settled by Perkins' great-great grandfather in the
early 1700s. A mid-18th century garrison existed on the
property that was in use for 3 years during the French
and Indian War.
The core area, on the west end of the Perkins
Homestead, has a brick house built by the Perkins
family in 1837 along with a connected barn. The two-
story home is constructed of bricks manufactured on
site at the family brickyard. The east end of the
Perkins Homestead borders the Damariscotta River and
has a family cemetery, foundations of the 18th and 19th
century Perkins Homestead buildings, the remains of the
brick kilns, wharves, and a clay pit from the 19th
century brickyard, as well
[[Page 103620]]
as the remains of the garrison. Agricultural fields,
pastures, woodland, and planted trees connect the two
sides of the Perkins Homestead.
The National Park Service first documented the Perkins
Homestead through the Historic American Buildings
Survey in 1960, while Secretary Perkins still occupied
the home. In 2009, the National Park Service listed the
Brick House Historic District on the National Register
of Historic Places; the Brick House Historic District
included the brick house, adjacent structures, and the
wooded and agricultural lands extending to the
shoreline of the Damariscotta River. In 2014, the
Secretary of the Interior designated this same 57 acres
as the Perkins Homestead National Historic Landmark,
recognizing the property's historic importance and
nationally significant association with Frances
Perkins.
The Perkins Homestead contains several objects that
reflect Secretary Perkins' lifelong commitment to
supporting and protecting American workers. Hanging
above a doorway in the brick house is a custom ``No
Smoking'' sign that reflects the lasting influence the
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire had on Perkins. It
reads: ``Please Do Not SMOKE In Any Part of This
Building. DANGEROUS. F. Perkins.'' The brick house also
includes Secretary Perkins' Award for Distinguished
Service, which the Department of Labor presented to her
on March 4, 1963, on the occasion of the Department's
50th anniversary. The Award citation reads: ``For her
courage in entering an arena previously considered a
masculine domain; for her strength in guiding the
Department through a dozen years of domestic stress and
international travail; for her spirit in waging the
good fight for good objectives; and finally, for
herself.''
Conserving the Perkins Homestead will ensure that the
family home and surrounding landscape that were a
constant source of support for Secretary Perkins will
remain protected and accessible in perpetuity for the
benefit of all people to learn about her life, her
unparalleled contributions to labor and social policy
that would eventually benefit generations of Americans,
and core principles at the heart of the New Deal that
she championed: economic security and dignity for
workers.
WHEREAS, section 320301 of title 54, United States Code
(the ``Antiquities Act''), authorizes the President, in
the President's discretion, to declare by public
proclamation historic landmarks, historic and
prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic
or scientific interest that are situated on land owned
or controlled by the Federal Government to be national
monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof parcels of
land, the limits of which shall be confined to the
smallest area compatible with the proper care and
management of the objects to be protected; and
WHEREAS, the Perkins Homestead was designated a
National Historic Landmark on August 25, 2014,
establishing its national significance as the ancestral
home and lifelong summer residence of Frances Perkins,
the first woman to serve as a Cabinet Secretary and one
of our Nation's most influential and effective public
servants whose legacy includes the historic New Deal;
and
WHEREAS, the Frances Perkins Center has been managing
and preserving the approximately 57-acre Perkins
Homestead, including the objects identified above and
additional archives and collections illustrating the
historic value of this site, and has expressed support
for inclusion of the Perkins Homestead in the National
Park System; and
WHEREAS, the Frances Perkins Center has donated to the
Federal Government for the purpose of establishing a
unit of the National Park System fee interest in the
core area comprising approximately 2.3 acres of land in
Newcastle, Maine, which includes several historic
objects associated with the Perkins Homestead and
Perkins' life located on this site, including the brick
house, the connected barn, and portions of the stone
wall; and
WHEREAS, in support of the establishment of a national
monument to be administered by the National Park
Service, the Frances Perkins Center
[[Page 103621]]
has also indicated its intent to develop a partnership
with the National Park Service to help manage, oversee,
interpret, maintain, and protect the Perkins Homestead
(including the core area) and the historic objects it
contains as appropriate; and
WHEREAS, the Frances Perkins Center has indicated an
interest in donating a majority of the remaining
approximately 54.7 acres of the 57-acre Perkins
Homestead to the Federal Government in the future; and
WHEREAS, the designation of a national monument to be
administered by the National Park Service would
recognize the historic significance of Frances Perkins
and her role in the New Deal, particularly her
contributions to social welfare, safe working
conditions, and protection of workers' health and well-
being, and would provide a national platform for
preserving and interpreting this important history; and
WHEREAS, I find that all the objects identified above,
and objects of the type identified above within the
area described herein, are objects of historic interest
in need of protection under section 320301 of title 54,
United States Code, regardless of whether they are
expressly identified as objects of historic interest in
the text of this proclamation; and
WHEREAS, I find that the boundaries of the monument
reserved by this proclamation represent the smallest
area compatible with the proper care and management of
the objects of historic interest identified above, as
required by the Antiquities Act; and
WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to preserve and
protect the objects of historic interest associated
with the Perkins Homestead in Maine;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by the authority vested
in me by section 320301 of title 54, United States
Code, hereby proclaim the objects identified above that
are situated on lands and interests in lands owned or
controlled by the Federal Government to be part of the
Frances Perkins National Monument (monument) and, for
the purpose of protecting those objects, reserve as
part thereof all lands and interests in lands owned or
controlled by the Government of the United States
within the boundaries described on the accompanying
map, which is attached to and forms a part of this
proclamation. The monument's boundaries are coextensive
with the Perkins Homestead National Historic Landmark
boundaries, and the reserved Federal lands and
interests in lands within the monument's boundaries
comprise approximately 2.3 acres.
All Federal lands and interests in lands within the
boundaries of the monument are hereby appropriated and
withdrawn from all forms of entry, location, selection,
sale, leasing, or other disposition under the public
land laws, including withdrawal from location, entry,
and patent under the mining laws, and from disposition
under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal
leasing.
The establishment of the monument is subject to valid
existing rights. Specifically, the Frances Perkins
Center retains reserved rights to occupy and use the
premises; complete preservation, maintenance, and
renovation work; and store and maintain artifacts
currently located in the brick house. These reserved
rights shall expire not later than 25 years after the
date of this proclamation.
If the Federal Government acquires any lands or
interests in lands not owned or controlled by the
Federal Government within the boundaries described on
the accompanying map, such lands and interests in lands
shall be reserved as part of the monument, and objects
of the type identified above that are situated upon
those lands and interests in lands shall be part of the
monument, upon acquisition of ownership or control by
the Federal Government.
The Secretary of the Interior shall manage the monument
through the National Park Service, pursuant to
applicable legal authorities and consistent
[[Page 103622]]
with the purposes and provisions of this proclamation.
For the purpose of preserving, interpreting, and
enhancing the public understanding and appreciation of
the monument, the Secretary of the Interior, through
the National Park Service, shall prepare a management
plan for the monument. The management plan shall ensure
that the monument fulfills the following purposes for
the benefit of present and future generations: (1) to
preserve the historic objects and other resources
within the boundaries of the monument, and (2) to
interpret in its entirety the story of Frances Perkins
and the history of the New Deal, including the impact
Perkins had as the first woman Cabinet Secretary; the
complexities of Perkins as an individual and of her
ideas, perspectives, and views; and her role in
advancing hallmark labor, economic, and social reform
within the historical and political context of the
early-to-mid 20th century.
The National Park Service shall consult with
appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies; local
communities; nongovernmental organizations; and the
general public in the region of the monument--including
the Frances Perkins Center and the Damariscotta River
Association--in developing the management plan for the
monument, which shall include resource management,
interpretation and education, visitor access, and
services at the monument. The National Park Service
shall also consult on all aspects of the management
plan with the Penobscot Nation and other Wabanaki
Peoples, whose ancestral lands include areas in Maine
near the monument.
The National Park Service is directed, as appropriate,
to use applicable authorities to seek to enter into
agreements with other entities, including the Frances
Perkins Center, to address common interests and promote
management efficiencies, including the provision of
visitor services, interpretation and education,
establishment and care of museum collections, and
preservation of historic objects.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke
any existing withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation;
however, the monument shall be the dominant
reservation.
Warning is hereby given to all unauthorized persons not
to appropriate, injure, destroy, or remove any feature
of the monument and not to locate or settle upon any of
the lands thereof.
If any provision of this proclamation, including its
application to a particular parcel of land, is held to
be invalid, the remainder of this proclamation and its
application to other parcels of land shall not be
affected thereby.
[[Page 103623]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
sixteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
ninth.
(Presidential Sig.)
Billing code 3395-F4-P
[[Page 103624]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD19DE24.026
[FR Doc. 2024-30485
Filed 12-18-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 4310-10-C