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Lauren Masi (NYMetro)'s avatar

Today’s letter gives me such pause on a personal, familiar yet arm’s length level. My grandmother and all of her sisters were expected to leave school at pre-teen age to go to work in the factories as seamstresses (NY Metro area) at least until they could maneuver into a coveted job at the phone co. as an operator. Her sister lost her husband when her daughter was 2 years old (circa 1935) and worked to support them in the pajama/lingerie factory. Every Xmas Eve we spent together and were gifted w/new PJs or nightgown. I started noticing a distinctive label “ILGWU”— it looked kind of funny to a kid so I asked my great aunt about it—I was around the same age she would’ve had to stop school to work. She explained it was her “union”—the “International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union” and I sensed her passion and dedication to whatever that meant as well as I could comprehend it. Each year I would open the gift and say, “Oh, does it have your label?” and the convo would start again. Remem being mesmerized that these PJs came from the place where she made these things. So, finally I chose it as topic of a “book report” in grade school noting how lucky I was to get to just write about it at the same age she had to quit school to work in the factory and it was far from something to glamorize. These girls—and I mean girls not yet women—really lived/struggled this era of Dr. Heather’s letter today. My grandmother parlayed her skill into her own biz; my Mom worked in it sewing her way thru college to become a teacher—I suppose it was that or a nurse or secretary in the 40s/early 50s although a couple of her friends became CPAs in that era. I was fortunate enough to earn one of those “yuppie” MBAs two generations later. Today’s post brought this context all back with familiarity b/c as a child spent so much time with these women —only wish I could’ve comprehended more fully back then what I can see more clearly through today’s lens as an adult. And now, unbelievably, the struggle continues to hold onto what was so hard won > 80 years ago. Happy Labor Day~

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Peter Ralston's avatar

Good morning everybody, and Happy Labor Day from here in Maine where the Bangor Daily news recently ran this piece about Secretary Perkins AND our beloved HCR. (I have shortened it for brevity). Please pay particular attention to the third paragraph:

“NEWCASTLE — The Frances Perkins Center will celebrate the life and work of Frances Perkins with a virtual Garden Party and awards ceremony on Sunday, Aug. 15.

This year’s annual Garden Party and awards ceremony celebrates the Center’s receiving a prestigious $500,000 grant from the National Park Service’s Save America’s Treasures grant program to preserve and restore the Frances Perkins Homestead National Historic Landmark, and a $100,000 appropriation from the State of Maine, “An Act To Conserve the Frances Perkins Homestead National Historic Landmark,” to ensure the public has safe and accessible access to the Frances Perkins Homestead.

Honored at this year’s event will be historian Dr. Heather Cox Richardson, who will receive the Center’s Intelligence and Courage Award, and social activist Juana Rodriguez-Vazquez, who will receive the Open Door Award.

Donations from the event will support the Center’s vision to protect Frances Perkins’ beloved home and transform it into a national center for learning and discourse that addresses 21st century economic and social issues.”

Amen, amen, amen to these two awards.

My heart overflows with quiet, deep respect, pride and gratitude for the work and lives of all three women and I am resolved to learn more about Juana Rodriguez-Vazquez and what she is doing.

My wife and I will be making a gift to the Perkins Center in honor of Heather who, like Secretary Perkins and, I’m certain, Juana Rodriguez-Vazquez, is a true National Treasure. Their goal, as stated above, could not be more worthy.

Maine is blessed in so many ways, this among them.

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