Dear Church, the beloved of Christ, Let us pray:
Loving God, we bless your Name for Frances Perkin who, in faithfulness to her baptism, envisioned a society in which all might live in health and decency. Help us, following her example and in union with her prayers, to contend tirelessly for justice and for the protection of all, that we may be faithful followers of Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Frances Perkins was the first woman to serve a President of the United States as a member of the cabinet.
Born in Boston in 1880 and educated at Mount Holyoke College and Columbia University, Perkins was passionate about the social problems occasioned by the continuing effects of industrialization and urbanization.
As a young adult, she discovered the Episcopal Church and was confirmed at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest, Illinois, on June 11, 1905. She was a faithful and active Episcopalian for the remainder of her life.
After moving to New York, she became an advocate for industrial safety, and a persistent voice for the reform of what she believed were unjust labor laws. This work got the attention of two of New York’s governors, Al Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt, in whose state administrations she took part.
President Roosevelt appointed her to a cabinet post as Secretary of Labor, a position she would hold for twelve years. As Secretary of Labor, Perkins would have a major role in shaping the “New Deal” legislation signed into law by President Roosevelt and which had great impact upon the nation as it emerged from the Great Depression of the early 1930s.
During her years of public service, Frances Perkins depended upon her faith, her life of prayer, and the guidance of her church for the support she needed to assist the United States and its leadership to face the enormous problems of the time. During her time as Secretary of Labor, she would take time away from her duties on a monthly basis and make a retreat with the All Saints’ Sisters of the Poor in nearby Catonsville, Maryland.
Following her public service, she became a professor of industrial and labor relations at Cornell University. She remained active in teaching, social justice advocacy, and in the mission of the Episcopal Church until her death in 1965. (Holy Women, Holy Men)
In his article about Secretary Perkins, Father Charles Hoffracker noted her frequent recitation of the Augustine prayer: ‘My God, I love thee above all others, and I love my neighbors as myself.’ He concluded his article:
“One function of saints is to make us uncomfortable, to challenge us, and at the same time to give us hope. Recent saints, those still within the living memory of our contemporaries, do this in a special sense. While saints from centuries past who lived in exotic places sometimes seem distant to us, it is harder to dismiss a 20th-century saint who walked the streets of New York and Washington and loved the wilds of Maine. In the face of our nation’s contemporary economic and political shortcomings and our sometimes dim faith and languid prayer, blessed Frances Perkins appears, both to unsettle and to encourage.”
Who are the saints? They are the followers of Jesus the Christ, living lives following His teachings. Some Christian traditions define sainthood by miracles attributed to faithful Christians, or extraordinary acts of faith such as martyrdom; our Episcopal traditions include the faithful who bore their faithful witness in their public lives. I appreciate Father Hoffracker reminding us, “it is harder to dismiss a 20th-century saint who walked the streets of New York and Washington and loved the wilds of Maine.” May we remember and be inspired by this remarkable person and 20th-century saint, Secretary Frances Perkins.
Blessings Be,