This Labor Day we owe a lot to Frances Perkins.

You may never have heard of her. Most people haven’t.

Even so, in February 1933, when President-elect Roosevelt asked her to serve in his cabinet as Secretary of Labor, she outlined for him a set of policy priorities she would pursue: a 40-hour work week, a minimum wage, unemployment compensation, worker’s compensation, abolition of child labor, direct federal aid to the states for unemployment relief, Social Security, a revitalized federal employment service and universal health insurance. She made it clear to Roosevelt that his agreement with these priorities was a condition of her joining his cabinet.

Roosevelt said he endorsed them all, and Perkins became the first woman in the nation to serve in a Presidential cabinet.

In 1934, Roosevelt appointed Perkins to head the Committee on Economic Security, where she forged the blueprint of legislation finally enacted as the Social Security Act. Signed into law by the President on August 14, 1935, the act included a system of old-age pensions, unemployment compensation, workers’ compensation and aid to those in need and disabled.

In 1938, Congress enacted the Fair Labor Standards Act, also crafted with the support of Perkins, establishing a minimum wage and maximum work hours and banning child labor.

Perkins went up against powerful forces, always holding her ground and facilitating equitable solutions to pressing societal challenges.

On this Labor Day, we remember and honor the steadfast work of Frances Perkins.

For more, visit the Frances Perkins Center.