The Midcoast region has a newly published first time author in Ruth Monsell, of Damariscotta and Camden. Her book, Frances Perkins: Champion of American Workers, published by Histria Books, debuts on April 16. It is
the first full length biography in 15 years of Maine’s first female cabinet member.

Perkins was Secretary of Labor for 12 years under FDR, during which time she created Social Security and was the primary architect of much of the New Deal and America’s enduring social safety net.

“Perkins’ brilliant legacy is better known in Maine than in most places thanks to the Frances Perkins Center in Newcastle, based at Perkins’ ancestral family homestead between River Road and the Damariscotta River,” said Monsell, in a news release. 

Perkins considered it her “one true home.”

Monsell became inspired in 2012 when she first toured the homestead and heard Tomlin Perkins Coggeshall speak about his grandmother. Astonished that she had for decades given all the credit to FDR, Monsell set about on a mission to further bring Frances Perkin’s astonishing accomplishments to light. A former high school teacher of English and American history, She wrote her biography with the next generation in mind, for high school students and adults alike.

In July of 2022, Monsell was delighted to portray her hero onstage at Lincoln Theater as “Madam Secretary” in Teralyn Reiter’s play, “The Only Woman in the Room.” Previously she had the honor of being on the same stage in 2021, invited by the filmmaker to say a few words following the screening of the documentary, Summoned: Frances Perkins and the General Welfare.

A number of Midcoast events including a reading, talk, question and answer session and a slide show are being planned for the late spring and summer. They will include a presentation at the Camden Public Library on June 4, a book launch celebration at the Newcastle homestead in July, and signings at Shermans Books’ Damariscotta and Rockland stores.

Monsell welcomes additional invitations to speak about Frances Perkins.

For more information, photos, a book blog, and to order pre-publication signed copies, visit the author’s website at FrancesPerkins-ChampionofAmericanWorkers.com.