Frances Perkins (April 10, 1880 - May 14, 1965) was the US Secretary of Labor from 1933-45, and the first woman appointed to the US Cabinet. She married Paul Caldwell Wilson in 1913 and kept her birth name, defending her right to do so in court. Prior to moving to Washington, D.C., Perkins held various positions in New York State government. During her term as Secretary of Labor, Perkins championed many aspects of the New Deal, including the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Public Works Administration and its successor the Federal Works Agency. With The Social Security Act she established unemployment benefits, pensions for uncovered elderly Americans, and welfare for the poorest. She pushed to reduce workplace accidents and helped craft laws against child labor. Through the Fair Labor Standards Act, she established the first minimum wage and overtime laws for American workers, and defined the standard forty-hour work week. Following her government service career, Perkins remained active as a teacher and lecturer at the NY State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University until her death in 1965 at age 85.