Commemorating Frances Perkins: Legacies of the New Deal in Maine and the Nation
A Two-Day, Interdisciplinary Conference
The University of Southern Maine
Sponsored by
Southern Maine Community College Office of the President
Maine Humanities Council
Margaret Chase Smith Library
University of Southern Maine (USM) Office of the President
USM Office of the Provost
USM Women's Studies Program
USM History Department, Economics Department, and Labor Studies
Friday March17, 2006
Registration and Coffee
Glickman Family Library
Seventh Floor
8:00am to 9:00am
Opening Plenary
9:00 to 10:15 a.m.
University Special Events Room
Introductions, Margaret Spratt, Grierson scholar, Smith College
“Legacies of the New Deal”
Laura Fortman, Commissioner, Maine Department of Labor
“Meet Frances Perkins”
Kirsten Downey, reporter, Washington Post
Annie Valliere, Singing Labor Songs
Session I
10:30 to 12:00 p.m.
Panel: Creating Community in the 1920s and 1930s
Room 423
Howard Segal, University of Maine at Orono, Department of History
“Recasting the Machine Age: Henry Ford’s Village Industries in Michigan”
Nathaniel Beaudoin, Tufts University, Department of History
“Frances Perkins and the Development of the She-She-She Camps”
Moderator: Greg Gallant, Margaret Chase Smith Library
Workshop: Not for Teachers Only—The Depression and the New Deal on-line
Room 518
Barbara Mann, Coordinator of Information Literacy, University of Southern Maine
Roundtable Discussion: Equal Pay
Room 424
Sarah Standiford, Maine Women's Lobby
Anne Houle, YWCA
Leslie Manning, Deputy Director, Bureau of Labor Standards, Maine Department of Labor
Moderator, Edward Collom, University of Southern Maine, Department of Sociology
Luncheon & Keynote Address
University Special Events Room
12:15 to 1:45 p.m.
Susan Ware, editor Notable American Women
“Women in the New Deal: Old and New Perspectives”
Session II
2:00 to 3:30 p.m.
Panel: Activists and Icons: Social Change and its Representations
Room 423
Mazie Hough, University of Maine at Orono, Women and the Curriculum
Carol Toner, University of Maine at Orono, Maine Studies.
“Knights, Wobblies, and Socialists: Women and Class Struggle in Maine Before the New Deal”
Eileen Eagan, University of Southern Maine, Department Of History
"Public Monuments to New Deal Women: Statues of Mary McLeod Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt"
Moderator: Molly Chancey, Southern Maine Community College, Department of English
Workshop: Not for Teachers Only: Teaching Frances Perkins with
Public Projects
Room 424
Allison Hepler and students, University of Maine at Farmington, History
Session III
3:45 to 5:15 p.m.
Panel: Predecessors of the New Deal
Room 423
Allison Hepler, University of Maine at Farmington, History
“The National Consumers’ League, Frances Perkins, and Industrial Health”
Annie Valliere, Great Niece of Rose Schneiderman
“Meet Rose Schneiderman”
Moderator: Patricia Finn, University of Southern Maine, Department of History
Panel: The New Deal and Internationalism
Room 424
Nancy Lopez, Attorney at Law, Houston Texas.
“Perkins v. Dies: the Battle over the Deportation of Harry Bridges”
Abraham Peck, Historian, University of Southern Maine
“The New Deal and Jewish Refugees”
Moderator: Eileen Eagan, University of Southern Maine, Department of History
Roundtable Discussion: Meet the Press—How New Deal Reporting Influences Reporting Today
University Special Events Room
John F. Bauman, University of Southern Maine, Muskie School of Public Service
Donna Galuzzo, SALT, Portland Maine
Linda Fullerton, Portland Press Herald
Moderator: Jeannine Guttman, Portland Press Herald Editor
Welcome Reception
Sponsored by Southern Maine Community College, Office of the President
5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Woodbury Campus Center Amphitheatre
Frances O’Perkins Women’s History Month Dinner
6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Woodbury Campus Center Dining Room
Vignettes from the Federal Theater Project, Assunta Kent and Students, University of Southern Maine, Department of Theatre
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Registration and Coffee
9:00 to 10:00 a.m.
Glickman Family Library, Seventh Floor
Session IV
10:15 to 11:45 a.m.
Panel: Gender & New Deal Policies: Implications for Today
Room 423
Susan Feiner, University of Southern Maine, Women’s Studies and Department of Economics.
“How Ideology and the Household Division of Labor Shape Social Policy”
Luisa Deprez, University of Southern Maine, Women’s Studies and Department of Sociology
"The Shifting Sands of Poor Women's Citizenship Rights from the New Deal to the Present"
Moderator: Barbara Fraumeni, University of Southern Maine, Muskie School of Public Service
Roundtable: The Wagner Act (NLRA) at 70
Room 424
Ed Gorham, President, Maine AFL-CIO
Jack McKay, President, Bangor Central Labor Council
Jeff Young, McTeague, Higbee Law Firm
Moderator: Lydia Savage, University of Southern Maine, Department of Georgraphy
Workshop: Teaching History through Biography: Women and Social Change
Woodbury Campus Center Amphitheatre
Polly Kaufman, University of Southern Maine, Department of History.
Cally Gurley, Maine Women’s Writers Collection
Katharine Corbett, consultant, Public History
Luncheon & Keynote Address
12:00 to 1:30 p.m.
University Special Events Room
“Corporate Fraud, War, and Social Security Scams: More in Common than You Think ”
James Galbraith, University of Texas, LBJ School of Government
Session V
2:15 to 3:45 p.m.
Workshop: Not for Teachers Only: The Depression and the New Deal on-line
Room 518
Barbara Mann, coordinator of information literacy, University of Southern Maine
Roundtable Discussion: The Relevance of the New Deal for State and National Policies Today
Rooms 423 and 424
Tom Allen, U.S. Congressman
Pat Colwell, Maine Democratic Party
Glenn Cummings, Majority Leader, Maine State Legislature
Mike Michaud, U.S. Congressman
Sarah Standiford, Executive Director, The Maine Women’s Lobby
Moderator: Joseph Wood, Provost, University of Southern Maine
Session VI
4:00 to 5:00
The Portland Labor History Trail: The New Deal Era
(Meet in first floor Library Lobby)
Patricia Finn, University of Southern Maine, Department of History
Closing Reception
Sponsored by the University of Southern Maine, Office of the President
4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
University Special Events Room
List of Participants