Frances Perkins Building
The Frances Perkins Building is the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the United States Department of Labor. It is located at 200 Constitution Avenue NW and sits above 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.[1]
Frances Perkins Building
New Labor Building
Main Labor
200 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC
1975
October 18, 1974
Brooks, Barr, Graeber and Pitts, Mebane, Phelps and White
J.W. Bateson Company
Facilities[edit]
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. The area is congested and the 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.[5] The building features the Cesar Chavez Auditorium, Wirtz Library, and the Labor Hall of Honor.
Public Art[edit]
The US General Service Administration commissioned works of public art by American artists for the new building. These included "She Who Must Be Obeyed" (1975) by minimalist sculptor Tony Smith and "The History of Labor in America" by new realist painter Jack Beal.[6][7]
1992 - Union Plaques
2009 - Interior of the building as new Secretary Hilda Solis arrives for the first time
2009 - She Who Must Be Obeyed
2010 - Meeting of the G-20 Ministers, held at the building
2010 - FPB Labor Fountain
2012 - Labor Hall of Honor and the Cesar Chavez Memorial Auditorium
2013 - Marchers walk past the FPB as they celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
2013 - 20th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act
2015 - the induction ceremony of Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy into the Department of Labor Hall of Honor
