Frances Perkins at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire (March 25, 1911)

The noting of Social Security's 82nd birthday on August 14 prompted a few tips of the hat to Frances Perkins, in many ways the force behind Social Security.  Every year, I take time to read more about Frances Perkins and the origins of Social Security. Sometimes, I listen to Frances Perkins narrate the development of the Social Security Act in her own words and in her own voice.

I commend all of this to you. But if you have never heard Frances Perkins' eye witness description of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire on March 25, 1911, something she later referred to as the day the New Deal began, you should.