Clara Beyer, 98, Dies; Key New Deal Official
Published: September 28, 1990
Clara Beyer, an influential New Deal administrator who served as a confidential aide to Frances Perkins during her 12 years as Secretary of Labor, died Tuesday at her home in Washington. She was 98 years old.
A family spokesman said she died of a heart ailment.
A forceful, dynamic woman, Mrs. Beyer became a close friend of Secretary Perkins and Eleanor Roosevelt. She is credited by Esther Peterson, a former Presidential adviser on consumer affairs, with bringing diverse state labor laws under a common Federal umbrella.
Mrs. Beyer began her career as secretary of the Minimum Wage Board for the District of Columbia after World War I. Her job was to assess the wages paid to women in the district so minimum levels could be set.
In 1928 she went to work for the Children's Bureau of the Labor Department. After Franklin D. Roosevelt's election as President, she played a valuable back-room role in the appointment of Secretary Perkins, the first woman ever named to a Cabinet, and in the development of much of the social legislation that marked the New Deal: establishing worker safety, maximum hours, minimum wages and Social Security.
Mrs. Beyer is survived by three sons, Donald of Falls Church, Va., Morton of Lolo, Mont., and Richard of Seattle; 12 grandchildren, and 23 great-grandchildren.
Published: September 28, 1990
Clara Beyer, an influential New Deal administrator who served as a confidential aide to Frances Perkins during her 12 years as Secretary of Labor, died Tuesday at her home in Washington. She was 98 years old.
A family spokesman said she died of a heart ailment.
A forceful, dynamic woman, Mrs. Beyer became a close friend of Secretary Perkins and Eleanor Roosevelt. She is credited by Esther Peterson, a former Presidential adviser on consumer affairs, with bringing diverse state labor laws under a common Federal umbrella.
Mrs. Beyer began her career as secretary of the Minimum Wage Board for the District of Columbia after World War I. Her job was to assess the wages paid to women in the district so minimum levels could be set.
In 1928 she went to work for the Children's Bureau of the Labor Department. After Franklin D. Roosevelt's election as President, she played a valuable back-room role in the appointment of Secretary Perkins, the first woman ever named to a Cabinet, and in the development of much of the social legislation that marked the New Deal: establishing worker safety, maximum hours, minimum wages and Social Security.
Mrs. Beyer is survived by three sons, Donald of Falls Church, Va., Morton of Lolo, Mont., and Richard of Seattle; 12 grandchildren, and 23 great-grandchildren.
Clara Beyer, 98, Dies; Key New Deal Official
Published: September 28, 1990
Clara Beyer, an influential New Deal administrator who served as a confidential aide to Frances Perkins during her 12 years as Secretary of Labor, died Tuesday at her home in Washington. She was 98 years old.
A family spokesman said she died of a heart ailment.
A forceful, dynamic woman, Mrs. Beyer became a close friend of Secretary Perkins and Eleanor Roosevelt. She is credited by Esther Peterson, a former Presidential adviser on consumer affairs, with bringing diverse state labor laws under a common Federal umbrella.
Mrs. Beyer began her career as secretary of the Minimum Wage Board for the District of Columbia after World War I. Her job was to assess the wages paid to women in the district so minimum levels could be set.
In 1928 she went to work for the Children's Bureau of the Labor Department. After Franklin D. Roosevelt's election as President, she played a valuable back-room role in the appointment of Secretary Perkins, the first woman ever named to a Cabinet, and in the development of much of the social legislation that marked the New Deal: establishing worker safety, maximum hours, minimum wages and Social Security.
Mrs. Beyer is survived by three sons, Donald of Falls Church, Va., Morton of Lolo, Mont., and Richard of Seattle; 12 grandchildren, and 23 great-grandchildren.
Published: September 28, 1990
Clara Beyer, an influential New Deal administrator who served as a confidential aide to Frances Perkins during her 12 years as Secretary of Labor, died Tuesday at her home in Washington. She was 98 years old.
A family spokesman said she died of a heart ailment.
A forceful, dynamic woman, Mrs. Beyer became a close friend of Secretary Perkins and Eleanor Roosevelt. She is credited by Esther Peterson, a former Presidential adviser on consumer affairs, with bringing diverse state labor laws under a common Federal umbrella.
Mrs. Beyer began her career as secretary of the Minimum Wage Board for the District of Columbia after World War I. Her job was to assess the wages paid to women in the district so minimum levels could be set.
In 1928 she went to work for the Children's Bureau of the Labor Department. After Franklin D. Roosevelt's election as President, she played a valuable back-room role in the appointment of Secretary Perkins, the first woman ever named to a Cabinet, and in the development of much of the social legislation that marked the New Deal: establishing worker safety, maximum hours, minimum wages and Social Security.
Mrs. Beyer is survived by three sons, Donald of Falls Church, Va., Morton of Lolo, Mont., and Richard of Seattle; 12 grandchildren, and 23 great-grandchildren.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
