Two women, in particular, have had an influence on my interest in public affairs and government, and my career in labor research. Eleanor Roosevelt and Frances Perkins epitomize true commitment to public service. One a globally acknowledged figure, the other, less publicly known but equally influential in her profession. Both had to balance personal and family challenges with their public positions. And both changed the norms of their time about women’s public leadership roles.

As a young girl, my earliest recollections of political awareness involved watching presidential party conventions on television. I kept track of every state vote on each ballot beginning in 1956. I knew about Eleanor Roosevelt, since she was in the news often and was the widow of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. At the 1960 convention, there was tremendous applause when she took her seat in the upper balcony, and that response and the respect she engendered piqued my interest. I read whatever I could about her. She transformed the role and office of First Lady with her radio broadcasts, speeches, projects, and leadership. She was often the public face of FDR, especially on labor issues (meeting with farmworkers, miners, veterans, and women) and influenced him in human rights and other areas. In her post-White House years, she was a delegate to the United Nations and was devoted to promoting women’s rights, workers’ rights, civil rights, and human rights. I later learned of the personal hardships and challenges she faced throughout her life. The personal difficulties never swayed her from public or political action. The image of her on the balcony as John F. Kennedy was nominated in 1960 has stuck with me.

Frances Perkins was also in the FDR sphere. She was more than just the first female cabinet member and the longest serving Secretary of Labor. She led or helped spearhead support for some of the most consequential social and economic programs in US history, such as Social Security, federal minimum wage and working hours rules, unemployment and workers’ compensation, occupational safety, and child labor regulations. Her Labor Department priorities built upon her earlier worker protection positions in government and non-government agencies in Philadelphia and New York, especially following the horrific fatalities in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911. I later learned she grew up in Worcester County, Massachusetts (as did I), and her earliest exposure to the plights of workers came from seeing and hearing about conditions in the local factories (till operating in the 1960s). Like Eleanor Roosevelt, Frances Perkins faced family and personal challenges, and she, too, was not deterred by these difficulties from her lifelong commitment to government, public policy, and public administration. She went on to serve on the Civil Service Commission until just before her death. When I worked in the Department of Labor’s Frances Perkins building in Washington, DC, I thought more about the woman and her exceptional leadership, commitment and accomplishments to strengthen worker protection and modernize the bureaucracy

I wonder today whether Frances Perkins and Eleanor Roosevelt collaborated on issues or shared their experiences with gender discrimination or family challenges. I do know that I and many others have been inspired by, and benefited from, their commitment to public service and effective government.

Demetra Smith Nightingale is an Institute Fellow and Director of the Evidence Forum at the Urban Institute, where she directs the Federal Evidence Forum and conducts research and evaluations on social, economic, anti-poverty and labor policies and programs. She is also a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, a Professorial Lecturer at George Washington University’s Trachtenberg School of Public Administration and Public Policy, previously taught at Johns Hopkins University’s Institute For Policy Studies, and was Chief Evaluation Officer at the US Department of Labor.