Mainers have more reason than most to celebrate Labor Day. In addition to a brief reprieve from tourists, many of the employment benefits we enjoy today were the life’s work of a brilliant woman who considered Maine her spiritual home.

Frances Perkins was a trailblazing visionary with a steadfast belief that the role of government was to provide the opportunity for the best possible life for all of its people. Her enormous legacy: unemployment compensation, minimum wage legislation, the 40-hour work week, Social Security, the establishment of labor unions, protections for child workers, and safety regulations, continues to impact the lives of Americans today.

Perkins worked long and hard for the American people. She was the first woman to serve in a U.S. Cabinet post as the secretary of labor under Franklin Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945. As one of FDR’s most trusted advisors, Secretary Perkins drafted groundbreaking pieces of legislation that were the hallmark of the New Deal. Perkins still holds the record as the longest serving secretary in that position.

Perkins’ personal link to Maine remained strong throughout her life. Her family lived for generations on a 1750’s saltwater farm on the banks of the Damariscotta River, in Newcastle, Maine, where she spent summers as a child. While her career took her far from Maine, she lived and worked in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., she always returned to Maine whenever she could to recharge her batteries.

Perkins died in 1965 at age 85 and was buried in the Glidden Cemetery, in Newcastle, after a long life serving the interests of working people.

It is also fitting that Labor Day coincides with the resumption of the school year for our children.

For hundreds of years, many children worked long hours in factories and in mines and on farms and ships and thus were denied the opportunity of getting an education. Their lives were bleak and dangerous.

Thanks to Frances Perkins, children were protected under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) which was enacted to ensure that when young people work, the work is safe and does not jeopardize their health, well-being or their educational opportunities.

An educated population is the foundation of our priceless democracy. So happy Labor Day and happy Back to School. And thank you Frances Perkins…a visionary Mainer.