Secretary Chao and Secretary Perkins: A Mount Holyoke Connection

David G. Frederickson, Ph.D.

Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of Labor

Since its inception in 1913, the United States Department of Labor has been served by 24 Secretaries of Labor. These men and women have come from many different backgrounds — but two have ties to South Hadley, Massachusetts and Mount Holyoke College.

If one were to casually remark upon a similarity between Elaine L. Chao, the Nation's current Secretary of Labor, and Frances Perkins, who held the same position seventy years ago, he or she may expect a few raised eyebrows. After all, these women came from quite different eras, backgrounds, and politics. Other than their job title, what could they have in common? A number of things, it turns out.

The inspiring story of her family's emigration from Taiwan notwithstanding, Secretary Chao's life after her childhood journey to America is similar to that of Frances Perkins in many respects. Both were raised in the northeast: New York was home to the former, Massachusetts to the latter. Both women attended Mount Holyoke College. While there,

Secretary Chao studied economics — and Frances Perkins studied economic history as part of her major in the natural sciences. Both subsequently received graduate degrees from Ivy League schools: a Master's in Sociology from Columbia University for Secretary Perkins; a Master's in Business Administration from Harvard University for Secretary Chao. Frances Perkins married Paul Caldwell Wilson in 1913; eighty years later, Elaine Chao married Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Both women kept their maiden names, although Secretary Perkins had to fight in court for this right.

Frances Perkins was of course not only the first woman to become Secretary of Labor, but also the first woman ever appointed to a Cabinet position — thus placing her in the presidential line of succession. Secretary Chao has made history as well — becoming the first Asian American woman to hold a seat in the Cabinet. Both women served — or, in Secretary Chao's case, will have served — longer than most who have held the position. In fact, Frances Perkins holds the record for being the longest-serving Secretary of Labor (1933 — 1945); she was one of two members of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Cabinet to retain their seats for the duration of his presidency (Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes being the other). Secretary Chao now claims a similar distinction, as she is the only original Cabinet member currently serving in the Bush Administration in the same role to which she was appointed. In addition, earlier this year, Secretary Chao surpassed Secretary James P. Mitchell (1953 — 1961) to become the fourth longest-serving Secretary of Labor in history — and the longest serving since Frances Perkins.

If one looked at the respective policies and achievements of Secretaries Perkins and Chao, one would see that many of their goals and ideals ran parallel. For example, Secretary Chao's concern for overtime protection and job skills training along with Secretary Perkins' shorter work week and minimum wage initiatives demonstrates the

impact of both women upon America's working families. Both, in their own way, kept in mind the plight of those too old to continue in the American workforce: In 2006, during Secretary Chao's tenure, President George W. Bush signed into law the Pension Protection Act, strengthening the safety of private-sector pension plans. Seventy years earlier, Secretary Perkins' efforts as the Chairwoman of the President's Committee on Economic Security culminated in the Social Security Act of 1935, the importance of which speaks for itself.

The two Secretaries' policy records also reveal profound empathy for the immigrant community. Frances Perkins' work with immigrant girls in Philadelphia gave her firsthand experience of the degrading conditions in which they were forced to live; as Secretary of Labor, she fought to alleviate their burdens by means of better worker protections and regulations. Likewise, as President George W. Bush said, "Elaine Chao believes deeply in the American dream because she has lived it."

Chemist and educator Mary Lyon founded Mount Holyoke College (then called Mount Holyoke Female Seminary) in 1837, nearly a century before women gained the right to vote. Today, her famous words — "Go where no one else will go, do what no one else will do" — still ring true. But two Mount Holyoke alumni embarked on similar paths — decades apart — and made an important historical impact on our Nation while serving as Secretary of Labor.