The Woman Behind FDR, Friday, Nov. 18

Kirstin Downey, Washington Post reporter, will talk about her biography of Frances Perkins, the female architect of FDR's New Deal, a major historical figure now largely unknown to the public.

November 18 (Friday)Discussion — 4:00 p.m., Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center, Uptown Campus

Kirstin Downey, Award-winning journalist for the Washington Post, will make an appearance at the 2011 Researching New York Conference to discuss her 2009 biography of Frances Perkins, The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR'S Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience.

The nation’s first female cabinet secretary, Frances Perkins (1880-1965) was one of FDR’s chief advisors, and the principal architect of the most important social welfare legislation in U.S. history. Named one of the best nonfiction books of 2009 by the Library of Congress and the American Library Association, the book was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly said, “Downey provides not only a superb rendering of history but also a large dose of inspiration drawn from Perkins’s clearheaded, decisive work with FDR to solve urgent problems and to succeed in the face of insurmountable odds.”

Sponsored by UAlbany’s Department of History and the NYS Writers Institute.

For additional information on the Researching New York Conference click here.