This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
Some materials in this collection have been digitized and available:
Correspondence, manuscripts, notes, drafts of speeches, appointment books, subject files, documents, photographs, memorabilia and printed materials. There are notes from her lectures on Sociology at Adelphi College in 1911-1912; papers from 1912-1932, when Perkins served on the Commission for Safety and on the Industrial Commission of New York State; the main body of the material is from the period of her cabinet office, 1933-1945; and some items from her days on the Civil Service Commission, 1946-1953. Also included are personal and family papers.
Major correspondents in this collection are: Grace Abbott; Arthur J. Altmeyer; Robert T. Amis; Clara M. Beyer; Maty W. Dewson; James A. Farley; Felix Frankfurter; Warner W. Gardner; Carter Goodrich; William Green; Sidney Hillman; Albert Ford Hinrichs; Cordell Hull; Harold Ickes; Hugh S. Johnson; Paul Kellogg; Mary LaDame; Herbert H. Lehman; Katharine F. Lenroot; John L. Lewis; Isador Lubin; Daniel W. McCormack; Frank W. Persons; Gerard D. Reilly; Eleanor Roosevelt; Franklin Delano Roosevelt; John R. Steelman; Lillian Wald; Henry A. Wallace; L. Metcalf Walling; Leo Wolman; and Mary E. Woolley.
Part I: Cataloged correspondence--Letters to Frances Perkins
Part II: Correspondence files, Uncataloged--Letters to Frances Perkins
For a list of names of correspondents found in Part II, consult the box with catalog cards that is shelved with the collection (Box A).
Part III: Cataloged Correspondence--Letters from Frances Perkins
Part V: Uncataloged Correspondence--Letters from F. Perkins--Carbons
For a list of names of correspondents found in Part V, consult the box with catalog cards that is shelved with the collection (Box A).
Part VIII: Franklin Delano Roosevelt--Letters, Memos, and Documents
Part XIII contains additional subject files, as well as clippings, photographs, scrapbooks, telegrams, biographical materials, and printed materials.
Perkins Papers Available on Microfilm (Parts I-V, VIII)
Parts I-V, VIII are also available on microfilm.
Selected materials cataloged; remainder arranged. Box 1-30: Cataloged & uncataloged correspondence; Box 31-41: Documents; Box 42-59: Speeches & articles; Box 60-63: FDR - Letters, memos& documents; Box 64-65: Desk calendars, 1931-1946; Box 66: Misc. documents, 1919-1933; Box 67-69: THE ROOSEVELT I KNEW, manuscripts; Box 70-93: Subject files; Box 94-99: Clippings; Box 100-101: Photographs; Box 102: Scrapbooks; Box 103: Telegrams, etc.; Box 104: Biographical materials; Box 105: Pamphlets, etc. COGGESHALL ADDITION: Box 106-106C: Cataloged correspondence; Box 107: Cataloged manuscripts & documents; Box 108-118B: Uncataloged correspondence; Box 119-133: Speeches & articles; Box 134: Unidentified manuscripts; Box 135: FDR; Box 136-137: THE AL SMITH I KNEW; Box 138-139: Subject files; Box 140-141: Colleges & universities; Box 142-148: Personal materials; Box 149-150A: Photographs; Box 151-161: Printed materials & audio tapes; Box 162: Address cards; Box 163: Books, Clippings and Scrapbook re: Frances Perkins; Flatbox 668, Oversize folder: Photographs & drawings by Frances Perkins
The Coggeshall addition must be checked in addition to the main sequence
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
Some materials in this collection have been digitized and available: Frances Perkins: The Woman Behind the New Deal and Digital Library Collection
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Frances Perkins papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins, 1955, Oral History Archives, Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins, 1955, Columbia University Libraries' Digital Collections. This interview is a digitized version of the interview held by the Oral History Archives, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, and includes both audio files and the transcript.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Parts I-V, VIII are also available on microfilm.
Papers: Source of acquisition--Perkins, Frances & Susanna Coggeshall. Method of acquisition--Gift.
Papers: Source of acquisition--Coggeshall, Susanna. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--11/17/1992. Accession number--M-92-11-17.
Gift of Frances Perkins, 1955.
Gift of Susanna Coggeshall, 1970-1983, 1985, 1988 & 1992.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Papers Entered in AMC 11/26/1990.
Papers Processed HR 02/16/1993.
2018-07-11 Restriction on family papers removed KWS
2020-12-04 EAD document created by CCR.
Government official for New York State and the federal government, including Industrial Commissioner of the State of New York, 1929-1932, and United States Secretary of Labor, 1933-1945.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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