This Letter was written by the President of Mount Hollyoke College, the Alma Mater of Frances Perkins. It is about the revision of our history to erase all notions of the struggle of labor vs corporations that is important to the understanding of our history.
March 29, 2011
The Honorable Paul LePage
Office of the Governor
1 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0001
Dear Governor LePage:
I write with grave concerns regarding your decision to remove this past weekend a mural depicting scenes
from Maine's labor history, including a depiction of Frances Perkins, an alumna of Mount Holyoke College
and one of the most important figures in American history. I am also concerned that you have ordered a
conference room named for Perkins, who has longstanding ties to Maine, to be renamed.
In some ways, the timing for this decision could not have been worse. Friday, March 25, marked the 100th
anniversary of the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. This event strongly influenced Perkins's lifelong
commitment to the well-being of working men and women, as well as to working children in those days of
rampant exploitation. But on an even larger scale, the Great Recession we are now struggling though--and
which has hit Maine particularly hard--has numerous historical parallels with the Great Depression. Labor
Secretary Frances Perkins, the first woman presidential Cabinet member, figured prominently in leading us
out of that cataclysm.
I was particularly surprised to read that you were influenced by an anonymous fax comparing the 11-panel
mural to North Korean political propaganda, because the act of removing images commemorating Maine's
history itself conjures thoughts of the rewriting of history prevalent in totalitarian regimes. If the U.S.
Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. is housed in the Frances Perkins Building, why can't she be
honored with a conference room in Augusta?
Perkins sets an example to the political figures of today of how service to our nation's working people must
always be at the core of our national enterprise. She is also the perfect role model for girls and women
seeking inspiration in a world that needs more women leaders.
On behalf of Perkins's alma mater, including many alumnae who share my concerns about efforts to
diminish the significance of one of our most distinguished sisters, I urge you to reverse course and to
celebrate this heroic woman and the notable achievements of working men and women in the great state of
Maine.
Sincerely yours,
Lynn Pasquerella
President,
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