The Only Woman In The Photo is the most famous woman you don’t know

The Only Woman In The Photo is a book title that really baits the hook. Why was she the only woman in the photo? In this #MeToo era it conjures up all manner of scheming or wily characters that are lurking in or out of the picture frame. In reality, The Only Woman In The Photo has a much larger and impactful scope. This is the story of Frances Perkins, a woman whose work we come across daily due to the time she spent working in the White House.

Before then, as a young girl Perkins was upset at how immigrants were marginalized and she also didn’t want to merely meet the low expectations that society had put women. She went to college, spoke multiple languages upon graduation, but wanted to do more. Much to the chagrin of her parents, she moved to New York City where she doubled down on her social causes. She was delivering milk, defending those who couldn’t pay their rent and keeping an eye on workplace safety issues.

Her reputation for great work and her passion towards the job landed her a position with the new governor of New York City, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Suddenly she was the state’s industrial commissioner, in charge of just under 2,000 employees in seven cities. When the Great Depression hit in 1929 her services were really needed. Now, 30% of the people had just lost their jobs and people needed services FDR was moving to Washington D.C. for his new job at the President of the United States.

 FDR had an idea for a ‘new deal’ that would be a fresh start to America. He offered her the job of being the key to making all of that happen. She accepted the job under the condition that she create the deal herself. It was a radical shift if how the government worked and what they’re responsible for. She was now one of the 10 most powerful people in American and wherever she went for photographs, she was always the only woman in the photo.

The New Deal was in the news each day and people wanted to know about Frances. She was a no nonsense kind of woman though, more intent on getting the job done. Her personal publicity was not even on her radar, she still wanted to help people. That final desire took a huge leap forward with the Social Security Act in 1935. It provided services and security to those who needed it including the very sick, senior citizens and so many more classes of people.

The Only Woman In The Room is an illustrated book and the art helps readers identify with a time that can seem alien to them. Between the art and it’s text young readers will understand, to an extent, what it was like to live in the 1920’s and just how different it was for people living then. It’s an example of an illustrated book as a teaching device. Some kids when they get to upper elementary school think that they ‘age out’ of illustrated books because there are too many pictures.

This book takes that notion and puts it on its head. This is a fun; briskly paced book that kids will enjoy reading about. And in a happy coincidence, it covers a period of history that they’ll be studying in fourth grade. The Only Woman In The Room is written by Katherine Krull with illustrations by Alexandra Bye.