You probably think you have the patience of a saint for all you put up with in HR. Well, according to the U.S. Department of Labor newsletter of April 11, 2013, a past Secretary of Labor was just voted the “Golden Halo” in an online contest.
Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, recently won the honor in the “Lent Madness” contest, beating out Saint Luke. Although she was a layman, she was added to the Episcopal Church calendar in 2009 for “optional commemoration” for good works, including assisting FDR in creating and/or implementing the New Deal, Social Security, unemployment insurance, wage and hour issues, labor and child labor laws, and workplace safety laws.
Not only was Perkins the first female Cabinet secretary, but she had the longest tenure of any Secretary of Labor—12 years.
According to the website Forward Movement, cosponsor of the contest, Secretary Perkins was nominated for the honor by blogger Heidi Shott, canon for communications and social justice in the Episcopal Diocese of Maine, who said she was “thrilled, and not a little bit stunned, that Frances Perkins made her way to the Golden Halo.”
Mary Jo Curtis, director of media relations for Mount Holyoke College, said the college community is very proud of its alumnae because “[we] always knew she was an extraordinary and special woman, and now others know it, too.”
While Perkins initially worked as a teacher, she eventually held state jobs in New York, where she caught the attention of then-Governor Roosevelt. After the Roosevelt administration, Perkins served in other positions for President Truman. She eventually went back to teaching at Cornell University and wrote several books.
So, you may have thought that your job was heavenly, but now you know for sure.