Could the U. S. be a refuge to oppressed people? Did it want to be? Could it overcome its own prejudices to be the “golden door?” from Dear Miss Perkins by Rebecca Brenner Graham

American has a long history of anti-immigration, xenophobic, and racist sentiment. And yet I grew up with the myth of the American Melting Pot. This myth ignores cultural and religious differences, the legacy of slavery and the massacre of Indigenous people, exclusion laws against the Chinese and East Europeans suspected of being anarchists. And, the ingrained antisemitism that simmers away until it raises its ugly head at regular intervals. MAGA nationalism is in the ascendent, rejecting the “nation of immigrants” story, accusing refugees from south of be border as threats to society. We seem to love an ‘other’ to hate and fear.

Perkins said that volunteering at Hull House she knew that “social justice would be my vocation.” After her graduate studies she served on the New York State Industrial Commission and served on FDR’s gubernatorial cabinet, and he brought her with him when he was elected president as Labor Secretary—the first woman on a presidential cabinet.

Perkins came into office at a time when there were strict quotas and refugees were not a separate category of immigrants. It was a time when white Christian nationalism prevailed, and pseudoscience supported racism, and American policies including Jim Crow and removal of Indigenous populations inspired Hitler.

Perkins was appalled by the persecution of Jews under Hitler. With dedication and grit, with public sentiment in opposition, she managed to fund child refugees and provide foster homes. She extended visitor visas of German-Jewish refugees in America. She saved the lives of thousands fleeing Nazism.

Perkins faced impeachment for treason; anti-Communists accused her of not deporting an immigrant labor organizer. Perkins prevailed by affirmed her patriotism and noted that the Secretary of Labor had no power to deport aliens whose actions were unpopular.

Graham includes letters written to ‘Dear Miss Perkins’, including hate letters, and shares the stories of people she saved, including Bert Brecht. The immigration story of the Trapp Family Singers is an example of the preferred, white Christian, immigrant.

The idea of creating a German-Jewish settlement in the territory of Alaska was supported by Perkins; I first heard about the idea in Michael Chabon’s novel The Yiddish Policemen’s Union which imagines a Jewish settler colony in Alaska.

Graham continues with examples of the changing immigrant narrative, including Anne Frank’s diary, Elie Wiesel’s Night, and the novels and movies of Leon Uris’s Exodus and Schindler’s List.

The 1965 act signed by President Johnson swelled the number of immigrants. Most recently, as president Trump dropped the phrase “a nation of immigrants” from the U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services mission statement and in his second term promises mass deportation.

Perkins’s idealism is presented in context within the greater story of America’s shifting attitude towards refugees and immigrants.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

A great book makes you think about the world in a different light.
This book did that for me.

I love Franklin Delano Roosevelt, I read just about anything to do with him. Frances Perkins is an integral part of FDR and the New Deal.

I did not know that the immigration department was under the Labor Department until 1940 when it was moved to the Justice Department.
Just think about that. before 1940, Immigration was determined BY LABOR! When it moved to the Justice department it then became a crime! What a shift in mentality. It really changed my way of thinking about immigration.

This book covers a part of what I didn't know that much about, Ms Perkins position as Secretary of Labor. As such, she was able to control immigration visas.
People would write to her about Visas, especially for Jewish people fleeing from Europe. Frances responded to every single letter and tried to find a way to help more people.

This also led, indirectly, to her impeachment. She survived and continued to work as the Secretary of Labor, but wow! Things sure did get heated.

The book lost some of its appeal at the very end. When the author went on about how American's viewed the Holocaust throughout history.

The book would have been so much better if the author had stuck with what Frances Perkins did for immigration even AFTER it was moved from labor to the Justice Department.

Overall a good book detailing something I knew little about.

This excellent new book is a welcome addition to the literature on Frances Perkins, an under-recognized figure of American history. Author Rebecca Brenner Graham goes beyond previously published scholarship to reveal the behind-the-scenes workings of how public policy is made and how one individual dedicated her life to shaping government actions on behalf of the common good. With clear story telling and helpful references to popular culture, the author puts the Perkins legacy in context for readers who may not be familiar with 20th century history. Evidencing her painstaking research into the letters, speeches and writings of a public official who guarded her privacy but left no diary, the author explains the multiple efforts Perkins made to save the lives of Jewish and other refugees and details the successes and frustrations she faced as she persevered. Dear Miss Perkins while amply footnoted with references to its sources, is compelling and accessible enough to appeal to general readers and high school students alike. Rebecca Brenner Graham began her research for the book as an undergraduate and intern at the Frances Perkins Center on whose board I serve. We are delighted that she continued to pursue this project through her graduate studies and as a teacher, and pleased that this vital part of the Perkins legacy is receiving the attention it deserves.

Sarah Peskin 8.28.24

I wrote it! I've been a dedicated NetGalley reader for several years, and seeing my debut narrative nonfiction on this site feels really special. thank you so much for facilitating, and I hope that readers connect with the story like I did when I was researching & writing.