Homestead of Frances Perkins, ‘a titan of Maine,’ designated national monument

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the Department of Labor on Dec. 16, 2024, in Washington, DC. Biden signed an executive order establishing the Frances Perkins National Monument in Maine. Perkins was the first female Cabinet secretary and served as the labor secretary under Franklin Roosevelt. (Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images)

President Joe Biden on Monday designated the Frances Perkins Homestead in Newcastle, Maine, a national monument to honor the legacy of the first woman to serve in a presidential Cabinet and longest-serving secretary of labor.

The designation comes after a strong push from Maine’s congressional delegation as well as members of the public.

Under the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906, Biden’s decision will safeguard the 57-acre property along the Damariscotta River where Perkins spent her childhood summers and returned to throughout her career for respite.

“Frances Perkins’ values have shaped the American workplace,” said Keith Mestrich, chair of the board for the Frances Perkins Center. “From the 40-hour work week to the minimum wage, to workplace safety and fire prevention, to the abolition of child labor, to the creation of Social Security, Perkins remains one of the most influential women in U.S. history.”

Biden signed the proclamation at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., alongside Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who visited the homestead during a trip to Maine in August. Haaland also announced five other new national historic landmarks to increase representation of women’s history.

The other landmarks are the Charleston Cigar Factory in South Carolina, the Azurest South in Virginia, the Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth House and Studios in New Mexico, as well as the Furies Collective House and the Lucy Diggs Slowe and Mary Burrill House, which are both in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Sen. Angus King and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine were both present at the ceremony, along with Maine AFL-CIO President Cynthia Phinney. In a social media post, U.S. Rep. Jared Golden called Perkins “a titan of Maine,” adding that the national monument will ensure her legacy is remembered for generations.

During the ceremony Monday afternoon, Biden spoke about how Perkins witnessed the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, which killed nearly 150 workers and helped inspire her advocacy for workers’ rights.

“That fire ignited a passion in her to strengthen her resolve to fight even harder for working Americans and working families,” Biden said.

Serving in the cabinet of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Perkins was a leading architect of the New Deal. She sought to protect workers by helping to create Social Security and getting millions of Americans back to work during the Great Depression. As the longest-serving secretary of labor, she also established minimum wage, overtime pay, prohibitions on child labor, and unemployment insurance.

An outpouring of support

Back in March, Biden issued an executive order directing the U.S. Department of Interior to identify sites that recognize the contributions of women throughout U.S. history. That inspired the nonprofit Frances Perkins Center and the National Parks Conservation Association to launch a public campaign for the homestead to become a national monument.

Gov. Janet Mills wrote to Biden this summer echoing the calls to turn the homestead into a national monument. She also supported legislation in 2021 to allocate $100,000 to make structural repairs and accessibility improvements to the site to honor Perkins’ legacy.

“With this historic designation, the life and legacy of one of Maine’s most accomplished public servants and one of our nation’s strongest champions for working people will be forever preserved for the benefit of all future generations,” Mills said in a statement Monday.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins also wrote to the president in August underscoring her support for the designation, citing Perkins’ “resilient spirit and enduring impact.”

More than 5,000 people signed a petition asking Biden to make the homestead a national monument. It had broad support from Maine leaders as well as state lawmakers such as Maine Senate President Mattie Daughtry and state Sen. Rachel Talbot Ross.

Ashley Towle, director of the women and gender studies program and an assistant professor of history for the University of Southern Maine, said she was part of the effort this summer to get the national monument designation. Having worked on that campaign, she said the honor is “well-deserved and long overdue.”

Frances Perkins Center has managed the national historic landmark since it purchased the riverfront property in 2020 from Perkins’ grandson, Tomlin Perkins Coggeshall.

“Frances Perkins made the world a better place, and she learned the values that guided her life at our family’s homestead in Newcastle,” Perkins Coggeshall said. “While she is a figure of incredible historical importance, to me she was my grandmother and I treasured the time that we had together.”

He added that he is proud his grandmother is being honored and that her contribution is being recognized in this way.

The boundary of the national monument includes the entire property, but a little over two acres has been donated to the National Park Service and is reserved as part of the new monument. That space includes Perkins’ family home, known as the brick house, as well as a barn, gardens and part of the stone wall surrounding the property.

The rest of the property will be protected as part of the national monument, but was not part of the donation to the federal government.

This story was originally published by Maine Morning Star, which like the New Hampshire Bulletin is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.

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