FRANCES PERKINS COMES TO HOMESTEAD (1933)

In July 1933, Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, the first female cabinet officer in United States history, came to Homestead to urge political support for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s National Industrial Recovery Act. The law was the keystone of a flood of new legislation passed in the first one hundred days of the New Deal. It provided for industrial codes that would regulate minimum wages, hours of work, and asserted the right of workers “to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing … free from the interference, restraint or coercion of employers of labor or their agents.” Perkins received a cold reception from the all-Republican borough council and expressed a desire to speak to the large crowd of workers gathered outside.

Leaving the very building where Mother Jones had been jailed for speaking on the streets of Homestead, the mayor, John Cavanaugh, informed Secretary Perkins that he would not give her permission to speak to people he considered “undesirable reds.” Seeing the American flag flying over the Post Office across the intersection, she said she would “go to the flag” and address the crowd. Hundreds crowded into the building where “Madame Secretary” stood on a chair, gave a speech, and took comments from the workers. In 2006, the Pennsylvania Labor History Society proclaimed 9th and Amity Streets “Free Speech Corner” and dedicated two state historical markers to Mother Jones and Frances Perkins.

 Francis Perkins in Homestead ( 1933) marker, 9th Ave. & Amity St. at police station, Homestead