Why Governor LePage Can't Erase History, and Why We Need a Fighter in the White House
Maine Governor Paul LePage has ordered state workers to remove from the building that houses the state labor department a 36-foot mural depicting the state’s labor history. Among other things the mural depicts the 1937 shoe mill strike in Auburn and Lewiston. It also features the iconic “Rosie the Riveter,” who in real life worked at the Bath Iron Works. One panel shows my predecessor at the U.S. Department of Labor, Frances Perkins, who was buried in Newcastle, Maine.
The LePage Administration is also renaming conference rooms in the department that had carried the names of historic leaders of American labor, as well as former Secretary Perkins.
The Governor’s spokesman explains that the mural and the conference-room names were “not in keeping with the department’s pro-business goals.”
What nation is this?
Frances Perkins was the first woman cabinet member in American history. She was also one of the most