1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:03,559 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody. I don't know if you've heard, but we 2 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: have a book coming out finally, finally, after all these years. 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:10,120 Speaker 1: It's great, it's fun. You're gonna love it. It's called 4 00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: Stuff You Should Know Colon, an incomplete compendium of mostly 5 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:19,960 Speaker 1: interesting things, and it's twenty six jam packed chapters that 6 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:23,120 Speaker 1: we wrote with another guy named Knows Parker, who's amazing 7 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: and is illustrated amazingly by our illustrator, Carl Manardo. And 8 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: it's just an all around joy to pick up and read. 9 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: Even though we haven't physically held in our hands yet, 10 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: it's like we have Chuck in our dreams so far. 11 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:38,839 Speaker 1: I can't wait to actually see and hold this thing 12 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,880 Speaker 1: and smell it. And so should you, so pre order now. 13 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: It means a lot to us. The support is a 14 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: very big deal, So pre order anywhere books are sold. 15 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,199 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a production of My 16 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hey, And welcome to the 17 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: podcast Time Josh Clark, and there's Charles W. Chuck Bryant 18 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: and this is Stuff you Should Know. The amazing Unsong 19 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:12,959 Speaker 1: Woman Edition volume to at least more than two What 20 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: number would you say then? I don't know, but I'll 21 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,959 Speaker 1: tell you what if you want to take a vote 22 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: on maybe one of the most undersung while at the 23 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: same time being most influential Americans to ever live, Neil Diamond. 24 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,759 Speaker 1: He was very sung. I know, I'm not a big fan. Anyway, 25 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:39,200 Speaker 1: you would be hard pressed to overlook ms Perkins. Yeah, 26 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: miss Francis Perkins totally agree. Had never heard her name before, 27 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:45,800 Speaker 1: had never even known she existed. But yeah, the more 28 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: you dig into, the more you just like, it was 29 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: almost a crime that this this woman was virtually written 30 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 1: out of the history books. Yeah. And if you are 31 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 1: one of those people who was unfortunate to not be 32 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: able to work right now during quarantine and the effects 33 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: of COVID nineteen and you are um, not lucky enough, 34 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: but uh, you know, deservedly enough receiving unemployment insurance, you 35 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: can thank Francis Perkins for that. That's right. And every 36 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:20,639 Speaker 1: single person who's getting check as easily as they've gotten 37 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:25,919 Speaker 1: lately is getting one because of this system that Francis 38 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:30,639 Speaker 1: Perkins set up. And what's really I think worth noting too, 39 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: is this, this is exactly the kind of situation that 40 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: she got this past four that she helped design this 41 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: for because there's a quote. I can't remember exactly where 42 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 1: the quote was, but to paraphrase it, it's basically like, 43 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: we need to we need to always keep our eye 44 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 1: on the long term and playing for the worst case scenario. 45 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: While yes, there's a lot of immediate needs that we need, 46 00:02:57,360 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: but there's always going to be something that comes down 47 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: the road, and we have planned for it. We're way 48 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,800 Speaker 1: better off. Just imagine how disasters it would be on 49 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: top of the current disaster if there wasn't such a 50 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: thing as unemployment insurance and this is how we found 51 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,799 Speaker 1: out that we really kind of needed. Yeah, it would 52 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: be dark ages stuff in this country. Yeah. So if 53 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: you have gotten your unemployment insurance check and it has 54 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: helped you, thank Francis Perkins somehow. Yeah, And we want 55 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: to thank how stuff works. That's where part of this 56 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: research come came from. And some other places, but notably 57 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:33,920 Speaker 1: And I don't want to shout this out because this 58 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: is a library intern at the FDR Library who wrote 59 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: a paper called Honoring the Achievements of FDR Secretary of 60 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: Labor Jessica Brightman. This is really good stuff and and 61 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: she's a library intern, and we want to shout her out. Yeah, 62 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: she did great, or she was at the time. I 63 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: imagined she's moved on from that internship after after she 64 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: turned that essay in you bet your Pippy she did so. 65 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: Francis Perkins was born uh Fanny Corala Perkins in Boston 66 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: in eight but her relatives in her ancestors came from Maine. 67 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 1: And it's kind of funny here at the beginning of 68 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,920 Speaker 1: this how stuff works thing, it says she's so understung 69 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 1: the even residence of her hometown of Damera Scotta, Maine, 70 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: didn't seem familiar with her legacy. I think that says 71 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 1: more about Maine, right, They're like, oh, we don't need 72 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:30,280 Speaker 1: to help her put on airs. Well, then, just like 73 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:32,680 Speaker 1: you know, I don't ask, I don't tell, I just don't. 74 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: Whatever what she lives here, great good for her, I 75 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,159 Speaker 1: want to say. Also, before the residents of Newcastle bust 76 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: a vein in their forehead, she's also cited as um 77 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: a native of Newcastle, Maine. They're right across the demarro 78 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: Scotta River from one another. I think she's from Newcastle. 79 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: So is this like an Adidas Puma thing? Maybe? Maybe, 80 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:00,480 Speaker 1: except to imagine if neither town knew what us were 81 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: that would be for the accurate analogy. Oh boy, so 82 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 1: she uh yeah, she was. She came from really like 83 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: died in the wool Yankee stock. Um. Her family came 84 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:20,719 Speaker 1: over I think in the sixteen eighties. Her um she 85 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:24,359 Speaker 1: had like her family had built an outpost during the 86 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: French Indian War. Her grandmother, who had more of an 87 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:31,600 Speaker 1: influence on her, she said than anybody, had a cousin 88 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: who she was close to, UM who founded Howard University 89 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:41,839 Speaker 1: and fought for the rights of newly freed African Americans. Um. 90 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:43,920 Speaker 1: She came from like a long line of people who 91 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 1: like cared about other people. And yet UM. Surprisingly her 92 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:52,680 Speaker 1: parents were very conservative. They were in favor of, you know, 93 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,600 Speaker 1: helping the poor, but not mingling with them, helping them, 94 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,040 Speaker 1: like helping them by like you know, sending some money 95 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:03,280 Speaker 1: or something like that. At UM and they produced a child, 96 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:07,680 Speaker 1: Fanny Francis. She changed her name, I thinking I don't 97 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 1: know her twenties or thirties. Um, she she was the 98 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:16,599 Speaker 1: opposite way. She was like, no, like, like, people are people, 99 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 1: and they all deserve help, and there's a lot of 100 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: injustice in this world, and I want to change it 101 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: myself and she's one of those people who actually did 102 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 1: enact tremendous change for all the right reasons. Yeah, she said, 103 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:33,479 Speaker 1: people are people, so why should it be you and 104 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: I should get along so awfully? Which one was that? Mode? 105 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 1: Depeche Mode? I can't, baby, Hey, that's Emily's jam. I 106 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: mean she would. She probably has that tattooed on her 107 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:49,279 Speaker 1: body somewhere. Uh. In fact, we're both that none of 108 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: my business. We're both doing that that silly and I 109 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: never do these things on Facebook. But a time now 110 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: the top ten most influential albums, and I was like, 111 00:06:57,800 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 1: which one? Are you gonna pick? A New Order or 112 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 1: Depeche Mode for her? Because that's a that's a tough one. Well, 113 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:07,039 Speaker 1: I mean can't. She's got tend to choose from right. Yeah, 114 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: but I think for her those two are so inextricably 115 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:13,040 Speaker 1: tied that it was one or the other. I got you, 116 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: and she went with Depeche Mode because they were first 117 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 1: and thus probably more influential. Depeche Mode is before New Order. 118 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: Huh yes, I mean technically, if you count New Order 119 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 1: as an out outcropping of Joy Division, then they were first. 120 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: Oh so well, Joy Division was different, though it was 121 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 1: pretty different, different enough that they might as well be 122 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 1: two different bands, which they were. You know who we 123 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: need to to give us the judgment call is Francis Perkins, 124 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 1: who who apparently would not have enjoyed our banter. She 125 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: was very much known as like a dour, serious woman. 126 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: But from what I can tell, that's actually a public 127 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: persona that she wore to get men to take her seriously. Yeah, well, 128 00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: who can blame her because we'll see later on out her. 129 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: It's no accident that she's lost to history in many ways. 130 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:08,240 Speaker 1: But what she was also was highly educated. Um. She 131 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:12,440 Speaker 1: graduated from Mount Holyoke in nineteen o two, where she 132 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:16,520 Speaker 1: majored in chemistry in physics. Even though she made her 133 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:19,760 Speaker 1: name in economics, which is means she was a very 134 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: well rounded human and had a very large brain. And 135 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: apparently she had made it all the way through college 136 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,080 Speaker 1: and UM. In her senior year, I think she attended 137 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: an economics lecture by Florence Kelly, who was a huge 138 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:38,680 Speaker 1: um wage justice crusader UM and that just changed her life. 139 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: Yeah big time. Uh. In nineteen this is post college, 140 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 1: she went to Philly and she became general secretary of 141 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:50,200 Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Research and pro Protective Association. What did she 142 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:55,200 Speaker 1: do there, Well, she was in charge of investigating uh 143 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 1: employment agencies that were fake and that prayed on women, 144 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: immigrant women's specifically, and she had to sort of deal 145 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:05,960 Speaker 1: with the dregs of society and that job and did 146 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:10,080 Speaker 1: so very successfully, and then decided she wanted to keep 147 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: her education going. So while she was in Philly, she 148 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: went to the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at 149 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: the University of Pennsylvania because that's super easy in light learning, 150 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:24,720 Speaker 1: uh And then after that she went to Columbia where 151 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:28,680 Speaker 1: she earned uh m A and social economics in nineteen ten. 152 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 1: And we should say, like, she's getting all of this schooling, 153 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: but at the same time, she's also set herself off 154 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:38,439 Speaker 1: on a m what's that like, learned while you work 155 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: program called internship? I guess, so that's not exactly what 156 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 1: I'm looking for, but yeah, I mean it makes sense. 157 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: So she set herself up on a real world internship program. 158 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,560 Speaker 1: So while she wasn't Philly working for that that bureau, 159 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: she was investigating those those fake employment rackets. Like she 160 00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: was on the ground doing this stuff, like carrying out 161 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: these inspections, UM, investigating factories, like taking notes in like yeah, basically, yeah, 162 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:10,200 Speaker 1: while she's studying this stuff, she's also out doing and 163 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:14,480 Speaker 1: seeing the stuff firsthand that she's learning about, which from 164 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:17,320 Speaker 1: what I can tell, she really kind of digested and 165 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 1: held onto and it just kept driving her for the 166 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: rest of her life. What she saw. I think that's 167 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:24,440 Speaker 1: called the School of Hard Knocks. It is, but she 168 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:27,000 Speaker 1: enrolled in the Wharton School and the School of Hard 169 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:29,880 Speaker 1: Knocks at the same time, which is pretty impressive, that's right. 170 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: And after Columbia, after she got that masters, for two 171 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:36,920 Speaker 1: years she served as executive secretary of the Consumers League 172 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:41,080 Speaker 1: of New York And this is where she really felt 173 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:46,200 Speaker 1: her life calling to improve wages, improved working to conditions 174 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: because this was nineteen ten through nineteen twelve and things 175 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:56,440 Speaker 1: weren't great in factories at the time. We could do 176 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 1: a podcast on I don't know what the focus would be, 177 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 1: neces sarily because we've done labor unions, but just labor conditions. Yeah, 178 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:08,520 Speaker 1: maybe so I opening, But there's she did. She This 179 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:10,880 Speaker 1: is one of the things she did. There's very few, 180 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 1: uh more depressing words than these strong together. She improved 181 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:21,200 Speaker 1: working conditions for children. That was one of the things 182 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:24,120 Speaker 1: she did, and that was at the Consumers League of 183 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:26,560 Speaker 1: New York. And she got there and was like, yes, 184 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 1: I've I've achieved my one of my first goals, which 185 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: is working directly with the same Florence Kelly who gave 186 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:37,319 Speaker 1: the economics lecture that changed her life years before Mount Holyoke. 187 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:40,480 Speaker 1: That's right. Yeah, so she was one of those ones 188 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: who said I want to do this, and then would 189 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: do it and then would move on to the next thing. Yeah, 190 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: she wouldn't stand around and wait for the statue to 191 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:49,880 Speaker 1: be built in her honor. Exactly, yeah, exactly. So we 192 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: take a break. Uh, yes, all right, We're gonna take 193 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:57,679 Speaker 1: a break and talk about a pretty devastating fire in 194 00:11:57,679 --> 00:11:59,680 Speaker 1: New York City that changed the course of her life 195 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 1: right after this What fire, Chuck, I'm talking about the 196 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: Triangle shirtwaist fire. Uh in Manhattan, sort of near Washington 197 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:33,079 Speaker 1: Square Park in green It's right next to Washington Square 198 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:36,040 Speaker 1: Park in Greenwich Village. I think it's an n y 199 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: U building now it is, And I tried to pinpoint 200 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 1: if that was the building where I actually had my 201 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 1: film classes. Was it? I don't know, I can't quite tell. 202 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:47,600 Speaker 1: We gotta no, Chuck, I'll see if I can find out. 203 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: But a shirt waist was a woman's blouse, is what 204 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: they called it at the time. And this was a 205 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: factory that made women's blouses. If you worked there, you 206 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:02,079 Speaker 1: were probably a young woman. Uh, you might be an immigrant. 207 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,360 Speaker 1: You would work about fifty two hours a week. Oh 208 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:08,240 Speaker 1: I saw twelve hours a day, seven days a week. 209 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:12,839 Speaker 1: What does that math turn out to, Let's see seventy 210 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:19,440 Speaker 1: seven hundred and twenty Uh wait, I can't do math. Well, 211 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 1: let's say between fifty two and eighty hours a week. 212 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:24,679 Speaker 1: You know it was way more than that, twelve times 213 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:28,560 Speaker 1: seven eighty four. Yeah, that's what I said, eighty four 214 00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 1: hours a week. But like, even that doesn't sound that big. 215 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:35,880 Speaker 1: Twelve hour days, seven days a week, just to keep 216 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 1: your job, right, So I saw fifty two either way. Uh, 217 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,959 Speaker 1: they made between seven and twelve dollars a week. Uh, 218 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 1: making these blouses for women, which was not good even 219 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,720 Speaker 1: back then. Yeah, it wasn't good. And because this was 220 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:54,679 Speaker 1: a factory in New York in nineteen eleven, Uh, they 221 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 1: had the doors locked, they had the staircases locked. They 222 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:00,720 Speaker 1: thought it prevented theft if you were umber. What happened 223 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: to locked doors and stairwells. In our Hotel Fire episode, 224 00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:08,240 Speaker 1: the same thing happened here on March nineteen eleven when 225 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: the triangle shirt waist fire started because they think of 226 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:16,000 Speaker 1: a of a matt a cigarette but thrown into a 227 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 1: waist bin and it just, you know, everything in there 228 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:23,160 Speaker 1: was flammable. Practically that wasn't metal because of all these 229 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 1: fabrics like highly flammable. It went up really quick. It's 230 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:29,880 Speaker 1: one of the deadliest US workplace disasters of all time 231 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 1: to this day. UH. Four hundred and forty six workers died, 232 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:38,200 Speaker 1: a hundred and twenty three of which were women, UH 233 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: and girls between the ages of UH, generally between fourteen 234 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: and twenty three. The oldest was forty three, but that 235 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: was kind of an outlier. And sixty two of those 236 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 1: people jumped to their death in front of full view 237 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 1: of New York City, including UH Francis Perkins. Right in 238 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:58,480 Speaker 1: front of Francis Perkins. She didn't jump to her death, 239 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:02,640 Speaker 1: no, no no, no, so she Yeah, she's literally witnessing one 240 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 1: of the turning points in history as it happens seeing women, 241 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,320 Speaker 1: teenage girls jump out of the ninth floor of this 242 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 1: building because it's on fire. And not only is she 243 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 1: witnessing a fire that will change history. She is one 244 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:21,120 Speaker 1: of the people that will force history to change because 245 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: of this fire. The the the fate or the destiny 246 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 1: that that put her a block away from this fire 247 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: when it happened is it's just astounding to me that 248 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: she was there, because she went on to be one 249 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:37,600 Speaker 1: of the people who said this is never going to 250 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 1: happen again, and under her watch, it basically didn't. It 251 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 1: was the worst that it ever got and it never 252 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:49,440 Speaker 1: got that bad again because of the um the safeguards 253 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:53,360 Speaker 1: she forced the state and then later on other states 254 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 1: and the federal government to adopt. Yeah. I mean she 255 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: was already kind of headed down this road anyway. She 256 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 1: was already part of the Knee Ork State Factory Investigating Commission, 257 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:06,280 Speaker 1: and because of this fire, which she I don't think 258 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:09,480 Speaker 1: we said, she was just having team across the park there, 259 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 1: ran over and saw this. Uh. One of the things 260 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: she saw that at one point there were twenty people 261 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:17,920 Speaker 1: that had managed to get out a window onto a 262 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 1: fire escape, one of those tiny, little flimsy New York 263 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 1: fire escapes, and that all twenty of those people, uh, 264 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:27,000 Speaker 1: the thing collapsed and they all felt to their hundred 265 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,520 Speaker 1: feet to their death right in front of her face. Yeah, 266 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 1: we need to do an entire episode on that, at 267 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 1: the very least just to to shame the two owners, 268 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:39,680 Speaker 1: who's who were just totally responsible for all those deaths. Yeah. Absolutely, Um, 269 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:41,200 Speaker 1: but this was sort of just the way it was, 270 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 1: I mean, not absolving them. But she saw this as 271 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:48,400 Speaker 1: part of the bigger problem, not like these two owners 272 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 1: are responsible, but she was like, it was an indictment 273 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:53,600 Speaker 1: of the system. Yeah, it was. But at the same time, 274 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: those guys were particularly nasty examst for the system. They weren't. 275 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:01,560 Speaker 1: They weren't average by any mean from what I understand. No, 276 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,000 Speaker 1: but what was average was the fact that they didn't 277 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 1: have fire codes. And she's the person that brought that in. 278 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,199 Speaker 1: By the time she was in her early thirties, she 279 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:14,760 Speaker 1: had called for and successfully called for exit signs, UM 280 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:20,320 Speaker 1: occupancy limits, sprinklers, fire escapes, UM, unlocked doors and stairwells, 281 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 1: how wide the doorways had to be depending on your 282 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: factory floor, like all these sort of common sense things, 283 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 1: Like a lot of people saw this stuff happen and 284 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 1: and and saw this incident that day and were horrified. 285 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:36,440 Speaker 1: But Francis Perkins said, Nope, I'm gonna change it. I'm 286 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:40,360 Speaker 1: a woman in nineteen eleven and I'm in my early thirties, 287 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 1: but I'm gonna make this happen. And she did. She 288 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,720 Speaker 1: did um. She was appointed to the New York Committee 289 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: on Safety under the recommendation of Teddy Roosevelt, which says 290 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:51,240 Speaker 1: a lot because that means she had already made a 291 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,640 Speaker 1: name for herself in her twenties in New York City politics, 292 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 1: to to the point where Teddy Roosevelt would say, like, 293 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:00,119 Speaker 1: you really kind of need this woman on there. And 294 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:02,440 Speaker 1: then let's not forget the fact that he the operative 295 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: word here was woman as far as society was concerned 296 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:08,880 Speaker 1: at the time. And this, this legislation that she got 297 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,520 Speaker 1: passed through in New York, or that she helped get 298 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:13,800 Speaker 1: passed through New York, like I was saying, it became 299 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:17,359 Speaker 1: a model for other states and then eventually the federal 300 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:22,679 Speaker 1: fire codes um because of this, because of largely because 301 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: of her efforts, and she she made a name for herself. 302 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:27,199 Speaker 1: She had already made a name for herself, but this 303 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:29,720 Speaker 1: really kind of helps cement her name. And she started 304 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: working closely with a guy named alfredy Smith who was 305 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:38,240 Speaker 1: an assemblyman from New York, right, but um he uh, 306 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:41,920 Speaker 1: she won his respect um pretty easily. I think they 307 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:46,720 Speaker 1: worked on this um New York Committee on Safety together. Um. 308 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 1: And so when he became governor, she kind of um 309 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: rose along with him. She was appointed by him to 310 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:57,359 Speaker 1: New York States Industrial Commission, which made her the first 311 00:18:57,400 --> 00:18:59,879 Speaker 1: woman to be appointed to a state government position in 312 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:03,440 Speaker 1: the country. And with her eight thousand dollar salary, she 313 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:06,439 Speaker 1: was the highest paid woman to hold any office in 314 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,560 Speaker 1: the United States at the time. So she became important 315 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:12,400 Speaker 1: pretty quick. But she became important everybody. This is really 316 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:17,480 Speaker 1: important to remember by hard work and heart, which is 317 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:21,359 Speaker 1: a just a wonderful combination, Like amazing things happened in 318 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:26,360 Speaker 1: from people who have that combination. Yeah, and she um. 319 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:31,359 Speaker 1: She ingratiated herself to these male politicians a couple of 320 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,840 Speaker 1: different important times in her life. And the first one 321 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: was alfredy Smith, like you were saying, so she rose 322 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:40,439 Speaker 1: along with him because he knew he was like, man, 323 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,040 Speaker 1: i don't care if she's a woman or not. She 324 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:46,440 Speaker 1: works harder than anyone I know, and she gets the 325 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:49,240 Speaker 1: job done. So I'm just gonna bring her along with 326 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,760 Speaker 1: me and not just not just works harder. She was 327 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:55,679 Speaker 1: known as a policy expert about workers safety and um 328 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:58,720 Speaker 1: wage justice by this time too. Well, yeah, I mean 329 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:03,280 Speaker 1: I talked about her very large brain. In her higher education, 330 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 1: she was super super smart, like it said, she majored 331 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: in chemistry and physics, even though her real love was econ. 332 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 1: So it's like, are you kidding me? No, we're not 333 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 1: kidding at all. So um So, like you were saying, 334 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:20,040 Speaker 1: she first kind of rose to prominence with Alfred E. Smith, who, 335 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:22,600 Speaker 1: from what I could tell, I didn't get to research 336 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:25,240 Speaker 1: him very much, but the stuff that I ran across, 337 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:27,679 Speaker 1: the references to him, he seemed like a genuine, like 338 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:33,200 Speaker 1: true believer crusader in justice social justice as well. Um 339 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 1: So they were like a good a good pair. Um. 340 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:38,359 Speaker 1: And he made it as far as New York governor. 341 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 1: He ran for president uh and didn't win. Uh. And 342 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:45,360 Speaker 1: when he didn't win, he, I guess lost the governorship 343 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:50,720 Speaker 1: and was succeeded by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And so Roosevelt 344 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,000 Speaker 1: came in came into power in New York as the 345 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:56,919 Speaker 1: governor of New York uh. And Francis Perkins was already 346 00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:59,880 Speaker 1: there and had already built up a reputation, and Roosevelt 347 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:04,359 Speaker 1: recognized the kind of person she was pretty quickly, because 348 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,120 Speaker 1: a lot of people are you know, you can give 349 00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:09,399 Speaker 1: a lot of credit or a lot of vilification to 350 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 1: Roosevelt for his New Deal policies, depending on your political stripes. 351 00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:16,959 Speaker 1: But if you, you know, if you admire him for it, 352 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:21,439 Speaker 1: and I think most people should. He Um, it wasn't 353 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:26,120 Speaker 1: just him. One of his great talents was to recognize 354 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 1: talent in others and to bring those people together and 355 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:34,080 Speaker 1: then enact policies based on their expertise and their recommendations. 356 00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:37,120 Speaker 1: And one of those people was Francis Perkins, starting when 357 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:39,439 Speaker 1: he was Governor of New York and then also when 358 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:43,280 Speaker 1: he became president too. Yeah. So when he came into 359 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:46,520 Speaker 1: his governorship, she had already been named and was the 360 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:50,800 Speaker 1: chairperson called it a chairman back then in six of 361 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:54,120 Speaker 1: the State Industrial Board. Um. She was doing a great 362 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:57,680 Speaker 1: job there. And then in nine FDR appointed her as 363 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:01,399 Speaker 1: the Industrial Commissioner of the State of New York. And 364 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:06,680 Speaker 1: what happens. The stock market crashes, the Great Depression hits 365 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:10,959 Speaker 1: America like a punch in the face, and she was 366 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,760 Speaker 1: the one who stepped in and got in his ear 367 00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:16,639 Speaker 1: and said, you know what, like I know that we 368 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: have to to feed people right now, we have really 369 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: immediate needs. But like you mentioned earlier in the episode, 370 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:25,160 Speaker 1: she thought about the the big picture and long term goals. 371 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:29,000 Speaker 1: She said, we need to really take swift action here. 372 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,960 Speaker 1: So with her help, they created a committee unemployment. He 373 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:36,879 Speaker 1: appointed her the head of that, and then when he 374 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,840 Speaker 1: was elected president in nine he said, you know what, 375 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:42,159 Speaker 1: I'm gonna point you to be my Secretary of Labor 376 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:45,719 Speaker 1: that I've been working with you for twenty years, I 377 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:48,080 Speaker 1: trust you, and you're gonna do a great job. And 378 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:52,160 Speaker 1: the public roundly said, what a woman in the cabinet, 379 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:56,000 Speaker 1: they really did, I mean, like she she was the 380 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:59,440 Speaker 1: first cabinet, first woman to serve as a cabinet member. 381 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:02,000 Speaker 1: I mean women had just gotten the right to vote 382 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:06,040 Speaker 1: about thirteen twelve or thirteen years before, so you just 383 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: didn't vote until she was forty, I know. And yet 384 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:14,040 Speaker 1: she held public public appointed offices and still couldn't vote, 385 00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:17,919 Speaker 1: but wasn't allowed to vote for her boss, right exactly. Yeah, 386 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:22,080 Speaker 1: So it was a really big deal that FDR appointed 387 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:25,879 Speaker 1: a woman as a to a cabinet position, and an 388 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,879 Speaker 1: important cabinet position too. I mean, like, it's not like 389 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 1: there's any necessarily unimportant cabinet positions, but Secretary of Labor 390 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:39,080 Speaker 1: is pretty big, especially yeah, especially then, right, and especially um. 391 00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:42,120 Speaker 1: You know, at a time when this this emerging superpower 392 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:44,600 Speaker 1: too took a huge punch in the face and got 393 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 1: knocked on its But like the rest of the world 394 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:48,920 Speaker 1: by the Great Depression, this was important stuff that they 395 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:51,639 Speaker 1: were trying to figure out on the fly. But he 396 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:55,480 Speaker 1: he chose a really, really great person, Um who wasn't 397 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:57,960 Speaker 1: really accepted at first, not just by the public but 398 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:01,320 Speaker 1: by virtually anybody of the labor unions weren't happy she 399 00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:03,720 Speaker 1: was there because she had a background in social work 400 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:09,399 Speaker 1: and policy, yes, but she eventually won him over just 401 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,400 Speaker 1: by virtue of what she did. Like, the labor movement 402 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,800 Speaker 1: was on the ropes at the time. The Progressive era 403 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:20,199 Speaker 1: ran from I think about nineteen twenty, so by the 404 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:27,120 Speaker 1: time comes around, it's it's dying off the labor movement, 405 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:31,880 Speaker 1: but under her leadership as the Department of Labor secretary, 406 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:36,680 Speaker 1: she um revived it and and by the time she 407 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:40,359 Speaker 1: either died or left office, I can't remember. Um. I 408 00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 1: think a third of all Americans were members of unions yeah, 409 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: and and and pre the union stuff like kind of 410 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:48,680 Speaker 1: right after the Great Depression hit. One of the first 411 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 1: things they did together was created the Civilian Conservation Corps 412 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,080 Speaker 1: the c c C, which was a really big success, 413 00:24:57,480 --> 00:24:59,440 Speaker 1: one of the big early successes of the New Deal 414 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:02,119 Speaker 1: in that they said, you know what, we have all this, 415 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:07,440 Speaker 1: We have this workforce of these unskilled, unmarried men, and 416 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:11,760 Speaker 1: let's get these guys working in conservation. We have these 417 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:16,640 Speaker 1: this vast areas of rural land and natural resources, and 418 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:18,880 Speaker 1: let's send these guys out there to work on this stuff. 419 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 1: And they did, and it provided a ton of jobs 420 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,440 Speaker 1: through the Civilian Conservation Corps. It did, and it also 421 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:30,119 Speaker 1: helped reinforce and build out America's infrastructure too, because they 422 00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:32,159 Speaker 1: had all this labor that the government was putting to 423 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,760 Speaker 1: work doing it right. So she was in charge of 424 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:41,040 Speaker 1: overseeing that. UM and one of the one of the other, 425 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:43,480 Speaker 1: I guess. The next big thing I think it was 426 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:47,720 Speaker 1: before Social Security, was something called the Wagner Act and 427 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:50,840 Speaker 1: the Wagner Act. Think you mean the Wagner Act, the 428 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:56,680 Speaker 1: the the Wagner Wagner Act, depending on your persuasion. UM. 429 00:25:56,720 --> 00:26:00,280 Speaker 1: It gave workers the right to unionize in the right 430 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:05,280 Speaker 1: to collectively bargain and UM. One of her roles was 431 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 1: to go out and promote this stuff, not just to 432 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:12,200 Speaker 1: you know, other members of the government UM or members 433 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:16,040 Speaker 1: of industry, but to individual Americans too. So in n 434 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:20,080 Speaker 1: three alone, she gave a hundred different policy speeches in 435 00:26:20,119 --> 00:26:24,359 Speaker 1: just that one year on new deal projects, promoting them UM. 436 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:26,919 Speaker 1: And one of the speeches she gave, I don't know 437 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:28,879 Speaker 1: if it was in that year or not, but she 438 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:31,760 Speaker 1: went to Homestead, Pennsylvania, right across the river from Pittsburgh, 439 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:35,159 Speaker 1: where Carnegie Steel was headquartered, and she was going to 440 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:38,199 Speaker 1: inform these workers about their newly one rights through the 441 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:42,920 Speaker 1: Wagner Act, and Carnegie Steel and the local government would 442 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,199 Speaker 1: not give her any place to hold this this meeting. 443 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:48,720 Speaker 1: They wouldn't give the Secretary of Labor a place to 444 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 1: talk to voters. So she and there's apparently a famous 445 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 1: picture of her leading all of these steel workers um 446 00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:59,240 Speaker 1: on foot to a post office. She's like, oh, I 447 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:01,399 Speaker 1: can think of a play to where I can assemble legally, 448 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:03,520 Speaker 1: and that is the post office. So she gave her 449 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,400 Speaker 1: speech on the grounds of the Homestead Post Office two 450 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:09,240 Speaker 1: thousands of steel workers, informing them that they could legally 451 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:15,520 Speaker 1: um unionize and bargain collectively for workers rights. That's amazing. 452 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:18,919 Speaker 1: I feel like if I feel like we had to 453 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,200 Speaker 1: have talked about her in our union's episode, and if 454 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,600 Speaker 1: we didn't, shame on us, but also shame on the 455 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:27,760 Speaker 1: fact that she probably didn't pop up in our research, 456 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:30,840 Speaker 1: which is one of the problems. Yeah, mostly the second one. 457 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:35,480 Speaker 1: All right, So I'm gonna pass that buck right book 458 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:38,520 Speaker 1: stops over there. Well, we're making up for it now 459 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: either way, okay, Chuck. So we were staying at the 460 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:44,760 Speaker 1: outset that if you um got an unemployment check, thank 461 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,960 Speaker 1: Francis Perkins, or if you ever get an unemployment check, 462 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:49,879 Speaker 1: if you even like the idea of the fact that 463 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:53,960 Speaker 1: an unemployment insurance policies out there for you in case 464 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:56,800 Speaker 1: you ever need it, thank Francis Perkins. And the reason 465 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:01,280 Speaker 1: you thank Francis Perkins is because she basically oversaw the 466 00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:05,640 Speaker 1: creation of the legislation that became the Social Security Act 467 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:10,159 Speaker 1: of nineteen five UM. And when I say oversaw the 468 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:15,719 Speaker 1: creation of that legislation, like she that was it. She 469 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:20,120 Speaker 1: was the head of this cabinet level committee that was assigned, 470 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:25,679 Speaker 1: um the task of coming up with a social insurance policy, 471 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:28,800 Speaker 1: a social safety net for the country, and they came 472 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:33,160 Speaker 1: up with this within six months, this full policy report. 473 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:36,960 Speaker 1: Within two days of delivering the report, FDR turned around 474 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:42,120 Speaker 1: and unveiled the social security program idea to Congress, and 475 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:47,560 Speaker 1: another six months or so later, maybe eight, passed into law. Yeah, 476 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:50,600 Speaker 1: and boy, we should do one on social security at 477 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:55,960 Speaker 1: some point, I agree. I think we have. Man, I'm positive, yeah, 478 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,760 Speaker 1: it really rings a bell. Go ahead, I'm looking at 479 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,160 Speaker 1: at No, I'm gonna have our little our assistant that 480 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:05,080 Speaker 1: we here check that. Can you go and check on that? Okay, 481 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:09,600 Speaker 1: they're on it? Who is Tommy Chong? Like we've ever 482 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:12,720 Speaker 1: had anyone that worked for us. That's the funny thing 483 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: is when we get emails over the years that like, 484 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:18,680 Speaker 1: well to Josh and Chuck and Jerry or whoever on 485 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:22,160 Speaker 1: your staff is reading this, It's like, yeah, it's pretty 486 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:26,200 Speaker 1: much us. Yeah. While we're we're reading these emails while 487 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:29,280 Speaker 1: we're having to sweep up the studio. Well, I want 488 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:30,920 Speaker 1: to be fair. To be fair, we work for a 489 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:34,200 Speaker 1: big podcasting network and there are a lot of people 490 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:35,960 Speaker 1: that help us get stuff out in the world, But 491 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:38,120 Speaker 1: we have never had like a stuff you should know 492 00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:41,160 Speaker 1: staff of eight people who only work for us in 493 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:43,280 Speaker 1: research for US and all that stuff. And I feel 494 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 1: like it really shows in the podcast, like I'm glad 495 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: you said that, because I felt like I was patting 496 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,840 Speaker 1: ourselves on the back for a second there the opposite 497 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:55,160 Speaker 1: you dash that very fast self deprecation, Chuck. That's our specialty. 498 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 1: That's right. So social security, what we're talking about in general, 499 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:04,240 Speaker 1: everyone knows what this is is UM basically a system 500 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:09,480 Speaker 1: where um, younger, hardy people working hard in this country 501 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:14,760 Speaker 1: help out older people, retired people, perhaps disabled people, people 502 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:18,320 Speaker 1: that have had work related accidents, people who wear funny hats, 503 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:22,040 Speaker 1: people who wear funny hats, um, and and pay into 504 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:24,960 Speaker 1: this system that uh, ideally, and you know we're not 505 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:26,560 Speaker 1: going to get into the weeds here that that would 506 00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 1: come on our Social Security podcast. But ideally, then when 507 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,080 Speaker 1: you are old or in need, then you have that 508 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:35,160 Speaker 1: same money waiting for you because of the younger generation 509 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,840 Speaker 1: and the younger workforce. Right. That's the brilliance of the 510 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:41,600 Speaker 1: whole thing is it's a transfer payment system to where 511 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: you are directly funding the people who have retired now, 512 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:48,960 Speaker 1: but it's on the premise that people behind you are 513 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,920 Speaker 1: going to fund into this to support you later on. 514 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:57,320 Speaker 1: It's beautiful. It's a genius idea. And apparently FDR sent 515 00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:02,160 Speaker 1: her Francis Perkins to study um the British system of 516 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:05,240 Speaker 1: unemployment insurance even before he was president, back when he 517 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:07,720 Speaker 1: was governor of New York, and he became the first 518 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:12,520 Speaker 1: public official to commit to developing an unemployment insurance plan. 519 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:15,800 Speaker 1: And it was at the persistent behest of Francis Perkins 520 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 1: that he did that. Yeah, and it's not like, uh, 521 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:22,520 Speaker 1: I mean, he he didn't run for office with social 522 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:25,520 Speaker 1: security on his list of things to do. Well, Yeah, 523 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:27,520 Speaker 1: that's the thing a lot of people say, like, if 524 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:30,680 Speaker 1: it weren't for her, no joke, this stuff probably wouldn't exist, 525 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,160 Speaker 1: certainly not in the form that it does now. And 526 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 1: that's not necessarily fair. There are like there were programs 527 00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:42,000 Speaker 1: that had like Social Security type programs among the states, 528 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:47,040 Speaker 1: including unemployment programs, but they were ad hoc, they were patchwork. 529 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 1: Most states didn't have them. And it's the kind of 530 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:55,280 Speaker 1: the the the beauty of this the federal program is 531 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:57,360 Speaker 1: they're basically like, Okay, states do this, but we're going 532 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:01,240 Speaker 1: to oversee and organize it and and how fund it. Yeah, 533 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:03,479 Speaker 1: And It's not like I was saying that all the 534 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:06,320 Speaker 1: FDR was like not a champion of it or was 535 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,360 Speaker 1: just lazy. He was he had a bunch of stuff 536 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:10,920 Speaker 1: going on, and he had a bunch of irons in 537 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:14,840 Speaker 1: the fire, so he needed her to come in and say, hey, listen, 538 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:17,800 Speaker 1: this is all great because we're in a in a 539 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:20,120 Speaker 1: a tragic situation right now, Like we're trying to put 540 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:22,360 Speaker 1: out a fire, but what I want to do is 541 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:25,720 Speaker 1: make sure another fire doesn't happen in the future. Yes, 542 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:28,640 Speaker 1: And that was like her whole thing, like, we do 543 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,280 Speaker 1: need to make sure that people get peanut butter sandwiches 544 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:33,800 Speaker 1: because their families are going to starve. Like, yes, these 545 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:36,880 Speaker 1: immediate needs have to be met, but we also simultaneously 546 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:40,440 Speaker 1: have to plan for the future too. It was it 547 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:44,640 Speaker 1: was just this persistent drum that she'd be like, we're 548 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:47,680 Speaker 1: going to continue to have problems, let's plan for him now. 549 00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:51,800 Speaker 1: Like the level of visionary nous um in this in 550 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:54,760 Speaker 1: this person was you just don't see that. I can't 551 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:56,560 Speaker 1: think of too many other people who have come and 552 00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,600 Speaker 1: gone in the federal government in the United States at 553 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:04,160 Speaker 1: least had that level of I guess awareness of looking 554 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:06,720 Speaker 1: down the line that far rather than just you know, 555 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:09,760 Speaker 1: four years out or to the next election. Yeah. And 556 00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:11,440 Speaker 1: she also, you know, we talked about some of the 557 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:14,080 Speaker 1: things she did earlier in terms of of her career 558 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:17,480 Speaker 1: in terms of fair labor practices, but once she was 559 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:21,080 Speaker 1: Secretary of Labor, she had real teeth to make real change, 560 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:24,840 Speaker 1: and during her tenure UM she helped craft the Fair 561 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:29,240 Speaker 1: Labor Standards Act. Um, she helped establish minimum wage laws, 562 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:32,920 Speaker 1: maximum work hours laws, and she finally said, you know what, 563 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,440 Speaker 1: maybe we shouldn't make labor for children better. Maybe we 564 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: should not bring our children to work and make them work. 565 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:42,920 Speaker 1: So let's just get rid of child labor altogether. And 566 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:45,360 Speaker 1: you can make the case, Chuck, that she is the 567 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:49,600 Speaker 1: woman who gave America's kids the concept of a childhood. 568 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:54,920 Speaker 1: At the very least, she extended it by many, many years. Um. 569 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:58,640 Speaker 1: I've got another amazing fact about her. She I believe 570 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:03,520 Speaker 1: is the first cabinet member UM who Congress ever sought 571 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:08,280 Speaker 1: to impeach. Oh really, yes, I'm almost positive that's correct. 572 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:10,239 Speaker 1: I know that they did try to impeach her, and 573 00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:12,799 Speaker 1: they failed in the impeachment, not just the conviction. She 574 00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:16,319 Speaker 1: they couldn't get enough support for articles of impeachment. But 575 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:20,520 Speaker 1: it was because she refused to deport a an Australian 576 00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:24,160 Speaker 1: longshoreman who had successfully organized a general strike in San 577 00:34:24,160 --> 00:34:29,200 Speaker 1: Francisco and the anti common Communist elements in Congress because 578 00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:32,080 Speaker 1: he suspected that this guy was a Communist and wanted 579 00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:35,560 Speaker 1: him out. And she said, you know, I don't think 580 00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:39,239 Speaker 1: very highly of this guy. I don't really agree with 581 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:42,840 Speaker 1: a lot of what he stands for. But um, I 582 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:45,360 Speaker 1: don't think that you have really good evidence, and I 583 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:47,960 Speaker 1: think this is all retaliation for the strike you organized. 584 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:50,879 Speaker 1: So I'm not going to deport him. And you might say, well, 585 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:53,719 Speaker 1: what did this lady have to do with deporting? Apparently, 586 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:57,920 Speaker 1: back in the day, the immigration the power of immigration 587 00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:00,720 Speaker 1: or control of immigration was up to the the Department 588 00:35:00,719 --> 00:35:03,520 Speaker 1: of Labor. So the Secretary of Labor was also in 589 00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:06,120 Speaker 1: charge of immigration, which really kind of gives you an 590 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:10,359 Speaker 1: idea of where America's immigration policies. You know, where their 591 00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:13,239 Speaker 1: mind was at that it was about importing you know, 592 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:17,680 Speaker 1: good um good and good workers, or also controlling who 593 00:35:17,719 --> 00:35:22,959 Speaker 1: came in to keep competition for jobs down. But she's 594 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,080 Speaker 1: so she was in charge of immigration, which, as we'll 595 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:28,120 Speaker 1: see later on she used to great effect, is that 596 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:30,160 Speaker 1: our little uh is that our cherry on top at 597 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:32,840 Speaker 1: the end? Yeah? I think so, okay, that's a good idea. 598 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:35,279 Speaker 1: It's it's the kid with the last question in Q 599 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:39,279 Speaker 1: and a man uh, and not the drunk guy. I 600 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:45,080 Speaker 1: hate that guy. So when FDR passed away, she was 601 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:48,439 Speaker 1: the longest serving Labor Secretary uh and one of only 602 00:35:48,440 --> 00:35:51,840 Speaker 1: two cabinet members UM to serve the entire length of 603 00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:56,240 Speaker 1: his super super long presidency, and she held over into 604 00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:58,960 Speaker 1: Truman as well. He was like, if it ain't broke, 605 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:01,799 Speaker 1: don't fix it. So you're welcome to stay, which you 606 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:05,680 Speaker 1: don't see a lot of that anymore. Um. She published 607 00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:09,560 Speaker 1: a biography, a bestseller about FDR called The Roosevelt I 608 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:13,239 Speaker 1: Knew and UH. Here a few other just sort of 609 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:16,799 Speaker 1: uh career feathers in her cap. She was the head 610 00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:20,400 Speaker 1: of the American delegation to the International Labor Organization in Paris. 611 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:25,480 Speaker 1: Truman appointed her to the US Civil Service Commission, which 612 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:29,840 Speaker 1: was a position she held till nineteen fifty three, and 613 00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:33,960 Speaker 1: she basically accomplished every single one of her goals while 614 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:37,360 Speaker 1: she was Secretary of Labor except for one thing. She 615 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:39,720 Speaker 1: went in there wanting to do, which was universal access 616 00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:43,719 Speaker 1: to healthcare. Yeah, which is kind of a bummer. Some 617 00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:47,359 Speaker 1: people might say it's a bummer. Some people might say good. Sure. 618 00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:50,800 Speaker 1: She also played drums for Dockin for a brief time, 619 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:53,520 Speaker 1: for a little bit. She did it all and all 620 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:58,080 Speaker 1: while wearing a frumpy tricornered hat. That's right. Uh. And 621 00:36:58,120 --> 00:36:59,840 Speaker 1: then after that she did what a lot of people 622 00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:02,640 Speaker 1: and UM public policy do. She went on to teach 623 00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:05,520 Speaker 1: and lecture at the New York State School of Industrial 624 00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:10,279 Speaker 1: and Labor Relations at Cornell University. She did that too, 625 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:12,320 Speaker 1: until she was eighty five years old when she passed 626 00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:16,359 Speaker 1: away in n Yes, there are a couple of other 627 00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:19,920 Speaker 1: things to throw into Both her husband and her daughter 628 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:23,719 Speaker 1: suffered from what we today called bipolar disorder. She cared 629 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:30,880 Speaker 1: for them their entire lives. Um that little thing. Yeah right, No, 630 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:33,719 Speaker 1: while she's doing all this other stuff, she she made 631 00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:35,680 Speaker 1: sure that they were cared for, took care of them 632 00:37:35,719 --> 00:37:39,279 Speaker 1: directly herself. UM. And one of the other things I 633 00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:42,880 Speaker 1: think is worth mentioning too that while before um FDR 634 00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:45,239 Speaker 1: became president, while she was working in New York, she 635 00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:51,600 Speaker 1: was already known publicly UM before she became secretary of 636 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:55,839 Speaker 1: labor because she was the first public official to call 637 00:37:55,920 --> 00:38:00,560 Speaker 1: Hoover out on his BS when he was downplaying obelossness 638 00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:05,600 Speaker 1: numbers and unemployment figures, um and just general terrible economic 639 00:38:05,680 --> 00:38:08,160 Speaker 1: news and pretending things were way better than they were. 640 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:10,880 Speaker 1: She was the first person to step up and publicly 641 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:15,200 Speaker 1: contradict him and made national news for that, and um, 642 00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:17,400 Speaker 1: you know, again, this is a woman doing this in 643 00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:20,879 Speaker 1: like n thirty, So just that alone makes snational news. 644 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:23,120 Speaker 1: But she was also calling him out on his BS. 645 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:26,000 Speaker 1: And one thing that we have to say, um, before 646 00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:29,120 Speaker 1: you you finished with the cherry on top, Chuck, she 647 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:33,240 Speaker 1: had guys figured out. She had a folder called Notes 648 00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:36,080 Speaker 1: on the Male Mind, and she would just take notes 649 00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:38,400 Speaker 1: on guys and men that she worked with and just 650 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:41,279 Speaker 1: kind of try to get an understanding of them. And 651 00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:46,480 Speaker 1: she she realized that the way to get male colleagues 652 00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:50,120 Speaker 1: to treat you normally or maybe even respect you is 653 00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:54,040 Speaker 1: to remind them of their mother. And that's what it takes, 654 00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:58,520 Speaker 1: apparently to get a guy to treat a woman with 655 00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:01,480 Speaker 1: respect at work. Well, and you know, we mentioned why 656 00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:05,560 Speaker 1: she's undersung there. You know, history is written by men. 657 00:39:05,640 --> 00:39:07,440 Speaker 1: We all know this, and a lot of those New 658 00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:11,279 Speaker 1: Deal histories in the seventies and eighties didn't even mention her, 659 00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:14,600 Speaker 1: which is just staggering that you can write a history 660 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:17,120 Speaker 1: of the New Deal and not mentioned Francis Perkins. It's 661 00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:19,960 Speaker 1: just like a black eye on on any author that 662 00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:23,160 Speaker 1: did something like that. It almost seems malicious in a 663 00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:25,480 Speaker 1: weird way, like I I'd like to think that that's 664 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:30,920 Speaker 1: not the case, but it's nuts. It's weird. So the 665 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:34,640 Speaker 1: cherry on top here at the end is World War Two. 666 00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:36,640 Speaker 1: She um World War two was not a cherry on 667 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:41,319 Speaker 1: the top. But she was watching Hitler uh do his 668 00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:44,040 Speaker 1: thing in Germany and got really worried. She's like, man, 669 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:48,400 Speaker 1: that guy's cranked. She was read about anti Semitism and 670 00:39:48,440 --> 00:39:51,200 Speaker 1: everything that was going on with the violence there, and 671 00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:55,320 Speaker 1: she wanted to help German refugees escape. And at the time, 672 00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:59,960 Speaker 1: the Coolidge administration the immigration laws that came through his administration, 673 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:03,680 Speaker 1: and we're really tough, and Americans were very fearful that 674 00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:07,920 Speaker 1: relaxing these laws would increase the job competition and that 675 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,000 Speaker 1: Americans were going to have these jobs. And she said, 676 00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:14,520 Speaker 1: you know what, I don't agree. Um. The Immigration services 677 00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:17,640 Speaker 1: under the Department of Labor and so I am going 678 00:40:17,719 --> 00:40:20,480 Speaker 1: to put some quotas down to get some of these 679 00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:23,160 Speaker 1: refugees here and to aid them. And she did that 680 00:40:23,239 --> 00:40:26,319 Speaker 1: to great success. Yes, she made sure that about at 681 00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:32,200 Speaker 1: least fifty five thousand UM Jewish German immigrants made their 682 00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:35,040 Speaker 1: way into the United States through these Department of Labor 683 00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:39,320 Speaker 1: Immigration quotas uh and another I think two hundred thousand 684 00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:43,560 Speaker 1: people in general were rescued from Europe as as World 685 00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:46,440 Speaker 1: War two was starting to develop over there because of her. 686 00:40:46,840 --> 00:40:49,120 Speaker 1: Just on top of everything else, she also saved a 687 00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:51,680 Speaker 1: bunch of tens of thousands of Jewish people from Hitler 688 00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:58,160 Speaker 1: in World War two. Amazing, amazing chick. I guess that's 689 00:40:58,160 --> 00:41:01,600 Speaker 1: it for Francis Perkins. Huh Ti, Well, if you want 690 00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:03,920 Speaker 1: to know more about Frances Perkins, go start reading about her, 691 00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:06,560 Speaker 1: because there's even more detail to her life than we 692 00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:10,560 Speaker 1: captured here, and she's worth reading about. Very admirable person. 693 00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:15,879 Speaker 1: Since I said admirable, it's time for listener mail. I'm 694 00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:19,040 Speaker 1: gonna call this helping a helper uh. And this is 695 00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:22,920 Speaker 1: from a Tawny. Tony says this. Hey, guys have been 696 00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:26,040 Speaker 1: sewing face masks for almost a month now, and I'm 697 00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:31,120 Speaker 1: close to my one mask. It's a lot I have 698 00:41:31,239 --> 00:41:34,640 Speaker 1: given and donated to friends, family, co workers. I'm a 699 00:41:34,719 --> 00:41:38,680 Speaker 1: nine one one dispatcher by the way, healthcare workers, retail workers, 700 00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:42,000 Speaker 1: delivery people, postal workers and other essential workers. And people 701 00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:45,080 Speaker 1: wearing funny hats, be pouring funny hats, and complete strangers. 702 00:41:45,719 --> 00:41:48,880 Speaker 1: Now that face masks have become mandatory here in San Diego, 703 00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:52,200 Speaker 1: the need has grown substantially. And through all of this, 704 00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:55,920 Speaker 1: you three have been with me and keeping me company. 705 00:41:56,880 --> 00:42:01,200 Speaker 1: Should Cherry too, Well, yeah, okay, she wasn't talking about 706 00:42:01,239 --> 00:42:05,239 Speaker 1: Tommy Chong. I'll tell you that old episodes and new 707 00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:09,160 Speaker 1: have entertained me through the tedious hours of cutting fabric, ironing, pinning, 708 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:11,719 Speaker 1: and sewing. I started listening to your podcast while I 709 00:42:11,760 --> 00:42:14,319 Speaker 1: was in the Navy, and soon introduce you guys to 710 00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:16,719 Speaker 1: my husband, who was still in the military. We have 711 00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:20,839 Speaker 1: both listened um and learned through the years together. Thank 712 00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:23,520 Speaker 1: you for continuing your show and helping the helpers of 713 00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:27,520 Speaker 1: the world. Side note love Dispatcher episode and thank you 714 00:42:27,560 --> 00:42:30,239 Speaker 1: for clearing up the pizza order myth. Second side note, 715 00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:33,800 Speaker 1: I wrote my master's thesis on the use of body 716 00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:37,280 Speaker 1: Warren cameras by law enforcement and I decided to focus 717 00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:42,160 Speaker 1: on that tap topic after listening to that awesome episode. Yeah, 718 00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:44,600 Speaker 1: that's pretty cool. All three of you are thanked and 719 00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:48,759 Speaker 1: mentioned in the thesis. Even when I'm tired and don't 720 00:42:48,960 --> 00:42:51,960 Speaker 1: want to sew anymore, I think of this quote from 721 00:42:52,040 --> 00:42:55,400 Speaker 1: Mr Rogers head Down. When I was a boy and 722 00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:57,719 Speaker 1: I would see scary things in the news, my mother 723 00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:00,839 Speaker 1: would say to me, look for the helper. You will 724 00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:04,360 Speaker 1: always find people who are helping. Go to them and 725 00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:07,319 Speaker 1: they will help you. And that is from Tanny And 726 00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:10,000 Speaker 1: that's a great quote, Tonny. I'm gonna and use that 727 00:43:10,160 --> 00:43:12,719 Speaker 1: my own house. It's kind of like, um, if you're 728 00:43:12,719 --> 00:43:15,480 Speaker 1: afraid of flying, watch the flight attendants and as long 729 00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:18,000 Speaker 1: as they're not freaking out, you're fine. It's the exact 730 00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:20,920 Speaker 1: same thing he's saying when the S. When the s 731 00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:26,719 Speaker 1: goes down, there's people helping. So that's always good. God 732 00:43:26,719 --> 00:43:30,600 Speaker 1: bless Mr Rogers and man man. Yep, thanks a lot, 733 00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:33,680 Speaker 1: is it, Tony, Tawny t a w n Y. I 734 00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:35,640 Speaker 1: couldn't tell if you were just putting a little mustard 735 00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:39,680 Speaker 1: on the Tony No, like Tawny Kitaine. Sure. Yeah, from 736 00:43:39,760 --> 00:43:44,160 Speaker 1: the White Snake video. That cultural icon. Well, thanks a lot, Tawny, 737 00:43:44,360 --> 00:43:49,319 Speaker 1: I apologize for Chuck calling you Tawny Kitain. Okay, can 738 00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:52,719 Speaker 1: I apologize for you? Okay, well I'm gonna do that. 739 00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:56,400 Speaker 1: If you want to get me to apologize for Charles, 740 00:43:56,440 --> 00:43:59,000 Speaker 1: let's see if you can do it. You can send 741 00:43:59,040 --> 00:44:01,400 Speaker 1: us an email, wrap it up, spanking on the bottom, 742 00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:04,040 Speaker 1: and send it off to Stuff Podcasts at i heeart 743 00:44:04,120 --> 00:44:09,640 Speaker 1: radio dot com. Stuff you Should Know is a production 744 00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:12,320 Speaker 1: of i Heeart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more podcasts, 745 00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:15,239 Speaker 1: for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 746 00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:20,200 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H