Washington, D.C. Premiere of "Summoned: Frances Perkins and the General Welfare"
Press Release · Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Washington, DC

On Saturday, October 26 at 7 p.m., in conjunction with the current exhibit Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote, the National Archives presents the Washington, D.C. premiere of Summoned: Frances Perkins and the General Welfare. Reserve a seat.

Washington, D.C. Premiere of Summoned: Frances Perkins and the General Welfare
In the depths of the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt appointed Frances Perkins as the first woman to serve in a Presidential Cabinet. Against overwhelming odds, she became the driving force behind Social Security, the 40-hour work week, the eight‐ hour day, minimum wage and unemployment compensation.  Summoned: Frances Perkins and the General Welfare (2019; 60 minutes) features compelling interviews with David Brooks, Nancy Pelosi, Amy Klobuchar, Lawrence O’Donnell, and others while telling Perkins’ heroic story which explores the history of women in politics, Social Security, our attitudes toward immigration, poverty, Socialism, and the role of government.  Following the screening, producer Mick Caouette will be joined by Dr. Christopher Breiseth, past president and CEO of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, to discuss the film and answer audience questions.

This program is free and open to the public and will be held in the William G. McGowan Theater of the National Archives Museum in Washington, DC. Attendees should use the Special Events entrance on Constitution Avenue at Seventh Street, NW. Metro accessible on the Yellow and Green lines, Archives/Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter station. Reservations are recommended and can be made online. For those without reservations, seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The theater doors will open 45 minutes prior to the start of the program. Late seating will not be permitted 20 minutes after the program begins.

Related Exhibit –Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment by looking beyond suffrage parades and protests to the often overlooked story behind this landmark moment in American history. This fuller retelling of the struggle for women’s voting rights illustrates the dynamic involvement of American women across the spectrum of race, ethnicity, and class to reveal what it really takes to win the vote for one-half of the people. On display in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery of the National Archives Museum in Washington, DC, through January 3, 2021. 

Presented in conjunction with our exhibition: Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote. Rightfully Hers is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation through the generous support of Unilever, Pivotal Ventures, Carl M. Freeman Foundation in honor of Virginia Allen Freeman, AARP, AT&T, Ford Motor Company Fund, Facebook, Barbara Lee Family Foundation Fund at the Boston Foundation, Google, HISTORY ®, and Jacqueline B. Mars. Additional support for National Outreach and Programs provided by Denise Gwyn Ferguson, BMO Financial Group, Hearst Foundations, Maris S. Cuneo Foundation, FedEx, Bernstein Family Foundation, and The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation/Ambassador Fay-Hartog Levin (Ret.).