Frances Perkins: The Legacy Behind How We Design for Safety
During National Women’s Month, I’ve been reflecting on how fortunate I’ve been to spend most of my career in a woman-owned business. It’s easy to take that for granted—but the reality is, the way I live and work today exists because of women who came before me and gave it their all.
I was reminded of this while working on a Department of Labor project and learning about Frances Perkins, the building’s namesake. Many know her as the first woman to serve in a U.S. president’s cabinet. What’s less known is how deeply her legacy shapes the way we design today.
Perkins was profoundly affected by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, a tragedy that exposed dangerous working conditions and a lack of basic life safety measures. She dedicated her career to ensuring those failures were never repeated.
The regulations she helped establish became the foundation for the life safety principles we design by today—egress, occupancy, fire protection—core elements of protecting human life in the built environment.
It’s a powerful reminder: the work we do as designers isn’t just about space—it’s about safety. And that responsibility is, in part, her legacy.
Photo Credit: Courtesy, Frances Perkins Center