Stepping into Her Shoes

In 2025, Kathleen Mulligan received a grant from Ithaca College to research the life of Franklin Roosevelt's Labor Secretary Frances Perkins and write a solo play on Perkins' life. She spent the summer of 2025 visiting spots connected to Perkins including the Perkins National Historic Monument in Newcastle, Maine, Worcester, MA, Chicago, and Mount Holyoke College. Drawing on this research and the vast collection of Perkins' papers housed in the library at Columbia University, Mulligan has spent the year working on a series of monologues based on several key points in Perkins' life including the Triangle Shirt Waist Factory Fire, her appointment as Labor Secretary, and her unsuccessful impeachment by Congress for her handling of the case against labor organizer Harry Bridges. Mulligan will share this work-in-progress and talk about her experiences conducting research and writing.

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