FRANCES PERKINS

SECRETARY OF LABOR, 1933 – 1945

VISITING LECTURER AT CORNELL, 1957 – 1965

ITHACA STATUE – AUGUST 2024

On August 17, the Ithaca Historic Statues Steering Committee unveiled two streetcorner statues in downtown Ithaca, one of Lucy J. Brown at 301 South Geneva Street and the other of Frances Perkins at 100 West Seneca Street. The genesis of these sculptures was the 2021 offer by an anonymous donor to provide a gift of $500,000 for creation, and then display in Ithaca, by a well-regarded sculptor of representations of two people who had made significant community contributions but whose gender or race had been underrepresented in the world of public art, in particular public statuary.

The commemorative booklet that accompanied the unveilings describes the choices of Frances Perkins and Lucy J. Brown -- one an historic national figure and the other an extraordinary local one -- to be the subjects of these sculptures. It also describes the choice of Meredith Bergmann to be the sculptor:

“Early in the process, the Committee identified Frances Perkins as an ideal subject: the first woman to serve as a U.S. Cabinet Secretary, a driving force behind Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, and, in the twilight of her career, a lecturer at Cornell University and resident of Ithaca. Perkins personified a woman who understood the needs of the nation’s poor, working people and the elderly. When given the opportunity, she brought to life the social and economic safety net we enjoy today.

“The subject to be honored in the companion statue emerged quickly. Lucy J. Brown, co-founder of Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services and a lifelong Ithacan deeply involved on the local level to advance civil rights, affordable housing, and social justice was a perfect complement to Perkins and her work on the national level.

“To then find a sculptor, the Committee reached for the top in recruiting an artist. Having recently seen the Women’s Rights Pioneers statue in New York City’s Central Park, [Tompkins County Historian] Carol Kammen contacted its nationally renowned sculptor, Meredith Bergmann, to explain the vision for the Ithaca project. Ms. Bergmann quickly agreed to accept the Ithaca commission.”

An online display of Meredith Bergmann’s statuary, including her Ithaca statues, is available at www.meredithbergmann.com.

Our Class of 1961 was among those who during Miss Perkins’ 1957-1965 Cornell years enjoyed the benefits of her teaching and presence. That certainly was true of classmates in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations where she co-taught with I.L.R. Professor Alice Cook a course on the history of labor and government, with a special focus on the New Deal. She also gave University wide lectures. A recent biographer noted: “Frances spent much of the regular school year in Ithaca teaching her popular and well-attended classes…. She entered campus life with gusto.” Kirstin Downey, The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life and Legacy of Frances Perkins – Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, and the Minimum Wage, at p. 383 (2009). An earlier biographer recounted: “On the campus she shared with the historian Dexter Perkins (no relation) a remarkable surge of affection from the students. Her duties were not burdensome, and she had time for everyone, in the classroom and on the sidewalk.” George Martin, Madam Secretary -- Frances Perkins, at p. 486 (1976). From 1960 until her passing in 1965, she resided as a faculty guest at Telluride House and was an active participant there.

Several ideas unify the two statues. In each, the subject is seated on a bench, inviting passersby or visitors to sit and join in conversation. Each is holding a pencil or pen to take notes. For Lucy Brown, that was part of her routine of walking through and observing conditions in Ithaca’s neighborhoods, to then do what could be done to address them.

For Frances Perkins, the pen or pencil in her right hand, together with the sheet of paper in her left hand, are part of a significant event in American history. In February 1933, as F.D.R. prepared to come to Washington, D.C. from New York for his inauguration, Roosevelt asked Perkins to meet with him, a meeting she described in her memoir, Frances Perkins, The Roosevelt I Knew, at pp. 143-145 (1946). His purpose was clear. He wanted to ask her to join his Administration as Secretary of Labor.

She was doubtful. Labor leaders would likely prefer a male Secretary, and indeed one of their own. And her husband had been ill for a long time. She knew, however, that if Roosevelt insisted, given the state of the country in those deep Depression years, she would have to say yes. It would then be important that he know what she intended to achieve if she became Labor Secretary, and that she should know that he approved.

The list in her left hand, resting on the park bench, represents the goals she presented to Roosevelt:

40 hour work week

Minimum Wage

Unemployment Insurance

Workers’ Compensation

Abolish Child Labor

Federal Employment Svc.

National Health Insurance

Social Security

As described by her biographers and supported by her oral history recorded by Columbia University in the 1950s, Roosevelt asked questions, pointed out some potential problems, but then said OK, he approved her proceeding. With that, a significant part of the New Deal was launched. In the Perkins sculpture, a piece of artistic emphasis is shown about the list. There are check marks signifying goal achieved next to every item but one, national health insurance.

By each Ithaca statue, there is a place to scan a QR Code in order to connect with Talking Statues and receive a call from Frances Perkins (an actor) or Lucy Brown (her own voice) describing her life and values. This can also be done from home by linking to nyts.de/fp for Frances Perkins and nyts.de/lb for Lucy Brown.

Cornell’s Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives has a treasure trove of Perkins material including transcripts and audio of her Cornell lectures. An example of that audio is her September 30, 1964 lecture to I.L.R. students that is part of a large online exhibit of Kheel Center documents about the 1911 Triangle Fire, which are available at trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu. The lecture provides an opportunity to hear in her own voice about that tragedy, an event that set her on the path to be a reform leader in New York and then Secretary of Labor.

Michael Davidson

Cornell Class of 1961