Author

Kirstin Downey

Kirstin Downey's Latest Articles

Those Crucial Jobless Benefits? Thank Frances Perkins

By Kirstin Downey ● Commentary ● May 12, 2009

Great national pain is reflected in the latest U.S. jobless numbers. But Kirstin Downey says we can thank Frances Perkins–the unsung architect of unemployment insurance–for helping us get through these tough times.

New Deal Began With Her, That Chilly Night in 1933

By Kirstin Downey ● Arts & Culture ● May 11, 2009

February 1933: A woman jots down the conditions she needs to become the first female secretary of labor and the president agrees. From the prologue of Kirstin Downey’s new book.