The Frances Perkins Homestead was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2018. Today, the Frances Perkins Center is seeking support to make the property a national monument. (LCN archive photo)
The Frances Perkins Centre, the non-profit organisation that manages the family home of the country’s first female cabinet minister, wants to make Frances Perkins’ former home in Newcastle a national monument.
The campaign is calling on President Joe Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to declare the homestead a national monument.
If the Frances Perkins Center’s wish is granted, the property would become part of the national park system and would be one of three national parks in Maine, along with Acadia National Park and Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The Frances Perkins Center would give the buildings and surrounding land to the federal government to be managed by the National Park Service. The nonprofit would retain a portion of the 57-acre property and build a visitor center there.
“We have the opportunity to build a new national monument here in Maine to honor one of the most influential women in U.S. history,” Giovanna Gray Lockhart, executive director of the Frances Perkins Center, said in a statement.
Frances Perkins plays with the family dog Balto outside her home in Newcastle. The Brick House was built in 1837 as a wedding present for Perkins’ grandparents and Perkins visited it during the summer as a child. (Photo courtesy of the Frances Perkins Center)
Although Perkins was born in Massachusetts, she spent her summers in Newcastle as a young girl.
Perkins served as Secretary of Labor under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt from 1932 until Roosevelt’s death in 1945. She is credited with helping to create New Deal programs such as Social Security, the minimum wage, and the 40-hour work week.
Perkins died in 1965 and is buried in Glidden Cemetery, just up River Road from the homestead.
The Newcastle and Damariscotta select committees have sent letters to President Biden supporting the idea. Both letters emphasize that designation as a national monument could bring additional tourism to the area.
“Designating this site as a national monument would also be important to the local economy of Lincoln County, Maine – an economy that is still recovering from the devastating damage to its coastline, infrastructure and port area following storms in 2023 and 2024,” State Senator Cameron Reny said in a statement. “Now more than ever, our economy benefits from ‘Vacationland’ tourism.”
The Frances Perkins Center has posted a petition on its website at francesperkinscenter.org asking for signatures in support of the proposal. The petition closes on Tuesday, August 20.
