The lawn and wildflower gardens of the Perkins homestead in Newcastle was the perfect setting for the fifth annual Frances Perkins Garden Party, Aug. 14, where dignitaries gathered to celebrate and honor those individuals carrying on the legacy of Perkins’ work.
This year, the Frances Perkins Foundation awarded the second Open Door Award to Lynn Pasquerella, president of Mount Holyoke College, Perkins’ alma mater, (Class of 1902).
The award is named for the advice given to Perkins by her grandmother, “that when a door opens to you, you must walk through it.”
Upon receiving the award, Pasquerella commented on the irony of the sitting governor of Perkins’ home state, in 2011, ordering the removal of mural in the Maine Department of Labor office, depicting Maine’s labor history, which included an image honoring Perkins, the first woman Cabinet Secretary, and a champion of labor.
Acknowledging the many Mount Holyoke alumni in the audience, Pasquerella said the all women college continues to be dedicated to women attaining, future leadership roles, and encourages, as Perkins did, pursuing careers in public service.
The event also was the setting to announce a new endowed fund, the Mount Holyoke College/Frances Perkins Center Internship program, to allow a Mount Holyoke College student to have a paid internship working on a priority project for the Frances Perkins Center each summer.
According to board member Sarah Peskin, the internship might include museum or archival work, public history, communications, cultural landscape assessments, social policy or other areas consistent with the mission of the Frances Perkins Center.
Peskin also announced the endowed fund is beginning with an anonymous donation of a $25,000 grant, and the first internship is slated for summer 2014 in Washington, D.C.
Additionally, the goal of the internship is to give a leg up to a deserving student interested in pursuing public service.
It was not by accident that the Frances Perkins Garden Party fell on Aug. 14 – as that date was the 78th anniversary of the signing of the Social Security Act of 1935 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, fought for by Secretary Perkins.
According to the website Moyers & Company, (http://www. billmoyers.com), in acknowledging the landmark law, Moyers wrote, “Today, the program benefits 57 million Americans, one-third of whom rely on it for at least 90 percent of their income. It also lifts 21 million Americans – more than half of the elderly population – out of poverty.”
A panel discussion on Perkins and the legacy of the New Deal and Social Security included an historian and the descendants of individuals who enjoyed special relationships with Perkins during her years as Cabinet Secretary.
On the distinguished panel was Prof. William Leuchtenburg, a leading scholar on the life and career of FDR. The author of more than 20 books on American History, most notably “Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1932-1940,” Leuchtenburg said that without the diligence and tenacity of Perkins, there wouldn’t be Social Security.
Frances Perkins Center board member Hon. Leah Sprague reminded the audience about taking part in the Social Security Stories Project, where, through the Frances Perkins website (http://www.francesperkinscenter.org) individuals are invited to share their stories of the importance Social Security to their lives and families.
Stories submitted will be posted to the website, through social networking sites and some stories will become part of a published document or book, featuring essays from leading Social Security experts, historians and policy experts. Stories may also be submitted via YouTube.
The Perkins homestead is not open to the public, but the Frances Perkins Center is at 170 Main Street, Damariscotta and for more information, visit http://francesperkinscenter.org, or call 563-3374.
