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{{short description|Headquarters of the U.S. Department of Labor}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Frances Perkins Building
| native_name =
| former_names = New Labor Building
| alternate_names = Main Labor
| image = US Dept of Labor.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Department of Labor headquarters in Washington, D.C.
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| location =
| address = 200 Constitution Avenue NW
| location_town = Washington, DC
| location_country =
| coordinates = {{coord|38.893396|-77.014514|display=display, inline}}
| start_date =
| completion_date = 1975
| inauguration_date = October 18, 1974
| renovation_date =
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| main_contractor = J.W. Bateson Company
| architect =
| architecture_firm = Brooks, Barr, Graeber and Pitts, Mebane, Phelps and White
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}}

The '''Frances Perkins Building''' is the [[Washington, D.C.]] headquarters of the [[United States Department of Labor]]. It is located at 200 [[Constitution Avenue|Constitution Avenue NW]] and sits above [[Interstate 395 (District of Columbia-Virginia)|Interstate 395]]. The structure is named after [[Frances Perkins]], the [[U.S. Secretary of Labor]] from 1933–1945 and the first female cabinet secretary in U.S. history.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2008 |title=Frances Perkins: Trailblazer for Workers' Rights |url=http://www.apwu.org/join/women2008/lbportraits/portraits-labor-perkins.htm |url-status=dead |website=APWU |accessdate=2010-04-17 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203153050/https://www.apwu.org/join/women2008/lbportraits/portraits-labor-perkins.htm |archivedate=2008-12-03}}</ref>

== History ==
During the time in office of President [[John F. Kennedy]], planning was undertaken to consolidate most of the Department of Labor's offices, then scattered around more than twenty locations, including the headquarters [[Department of Labor Building]], built in 1934. As part of the effort to improve and redevelop the Pennsylvania Avenue corridor, it was decided to create an entirely new building for the Labor Department in that area. The building was designed by the joint venture of Brooks, Barr, Graeber and White of Austin, Texas, and Pitts, Mebane, Phelps and White of Houston, Texas. The principal construction contractor was the J.W. Bateson Company of Dallas, Texas.

Construction on the New Labor Building (NDOL) began in the middle 1960s. When finished in 1975 the new building contained over one million square feet of usable space and cost $95 million. It was one of the first federal buildings to obtain [[air rights]] so that it could be constructed over a freeway, [[Interstate 395 (Virginia–District of Columbia)|I-395]]. The ceremonial cornerstone for the NDOL was laid on October 18, 1974, with President [[Gerald R. Ford]] and Secretary [[Peter J. Brennan]] presiding. In February 1975 the first wave of employees moved in.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History at the Department of Labor |url=http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/NDOL.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729023217/http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/NDOL.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 29, 2012 |publisher=U.S. Department of Labor |accessdate=2016-10-25}}</ref>

In 1980, the building was formally renamed for the former Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins, based on the suggestion of a UAW employee to Senator [[Carl Levin]] of Michigan. Senator Levin was the principal sponsor of the bill to rename the building.<ref name="bla-ren">{{Cite news |last=Kane |first=Frank |date=1980-04-10 |title=1st Female Cabinet Officer Honored |page=2 |work=[[The Blade (Toledo)|The Blade]] |location=Toledo |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rRAVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IwMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7158,4121423&dq=frances-perkins-building&hl=en}}</ref> The ceremony to rename the NDOL and dedicate it as the Frances Perkins Building was held on April 10, 1980 – the 100th anniversary of her birth.<ref name="bla-ren" /> President [[Jimmy Carter]] and Secretary of Labor [[Ray Marshall]] presided over the ceremony; Senator Levin was present as well, as was Susanna Coggeshall, the daughter of Perkins.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History at the Department of Labor: Departmental Timeline |url=http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/renaming_perkins.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904010313/http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/renaming_perkins.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 4, 2006 |publisher=[[U.S. Department of Labor]] |accessdate=2010-04-19}}</ref> A plaque on the building said that Perkins' "legacy of social action enhances the lives of all of us."<ref name="erg-ren">{{Cite news |date=1980-04-11 |title=Labor Building Named for 'Madame Secretary' |page=11B |work=[[Eugene Register-Guard]] |agency=[[United Press International]] |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jIMRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3eEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5679,2910817&dq=frances-perkins-building&hl=en}}</ref> On the same day, the [[United States Postal Service]] issued a new 15-cent stamp bearing the likeness of Perkins.<ref name="erg-ren" />

=== Events ===
In April 2010, there was a meeting of the Labor and Employment Ministers of the [[G-20 major economies|G-20]] hosted by Secretary of Labor [[Hilda Solis]].

==Facilities==
The building is located at the northeast corner of Constitution Avenue and 3rd Street NW. The Visitor's Entrance, referred to as the Fountain Entrance or the 3rd and C entrance, is one block north of Constitution Avenue on 3rd Street NW at 3rd and C Streets NW, on the site of the former [[Trinity Episcopal Church (Washington, D.C.)|Trinity Episcopal Church]]. The area is congested and the [[Judiciary Square (Washington Metro)|Judiciary Square]] station of the [[Washington Metro]] is often the best way to reach the department.

The six-story structure is made of steel and limestone.<ref name="erg-ren" /> The building features the Cesar Chavez Auditorium, [[Wirtz Labor Library|Wirtz Library]], and the [[Labor Hall of Honor]].

== Public Art ==
The US [[General Services Administration|General Service Administration]] commissioned works of [[public art]] by American artists for the new building. These included [[She Who Must Be Obeyed (sculpture)|"She Who Must Be Obeyed"]] (1975) by minimalist sculptor [[Tony Smith (sculptor)|Tony Smith]] and "The History of Labor in America" by new realist painter [[Jack Beal]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Labor |first=United States Department of |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lSqviRZ3NA4C&dq=jack+beal+painting&pg=PA9 |title=Beal: the history of labor in America |date=1977 |publisher=Department of Labor |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kramer |first=Hilton |date=1980-02-10 |title=ART VIEW; Jack Beal's Unabashed Social Realism ART VIEW John Beal's Unabashed Social Realism |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/02/10/archives/art-view-jack-beals-unabashed-social-realism-art-view-john-beals.html |access-date=2023-01-02 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:The History of Labor in America Series at the Frances Perkins Federal Building LCCN2010720800.tif|1977 – "The History of Labor in America" Series by [[Jack Beal]]
File:Frances Perkins Building - Union Plaques at Century 2001 Exhibit at Frances Perkins Building - DPLA - 248a57837a2eee2782cc0242edb7beb2.jpg|1992 - Union Plaques
File:Solis arrival at DOL 1.jpg|2009 - Interior of the building as new Secretary Hilda Solis arrives for the first time
File:Sculpture "She Who Must Be Obeyed" at the Frances Perkins Federal Building, Washington, D.C LCCN2010720798.tif|2009 - She Who Must Be Obeyed
File:G20 April 2010.jpg|2010 - Meeting of the G-20 Ministers, held at the building
File:FPB Labor Fountain.jpg|2010 - FPB Labor Fountain
File:Labor Hall of Honor and the Cesar Chavez Memorial Auditorium4.jpg|2012 - Labor Hall of Honor and the Cesar Chavez Memorial Auditorium
File:Marchers walk past the FPB as they celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington.jpg|2013 - Marchers walk past the FPB as they celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
File:Department of Labor celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 L-13-02-05-C-512.jpg|2013 - 20th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act
File:Thomas Perez, Max Allen Kennedy, Vicki Kennedy, Patrick Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy Jr., 2015.jpg|2015 - the induction ceremony of Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy into the Department of Labor Hall of Honor
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090228130422/http://www.dol.gov/dol/aboutdol/visit.htm Department of Labor webpage on visiting building]

{{Judiciary Square}}
[[Category:Government buildings completed in 1975]]
[[Category:Buildings of the United States government in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Judiciary Square]]
[[Category:Office buildings in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:United States Department of Labor]]

Frances Perkins Building - Revision history

imported>GreenC bot: Rescued 3 archive links. Wayback Medic 2.5 per WP:URLREQ#dol.gov