WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will sign a proclamation Monday establishing a national monument in honor of the late FDR-era Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, the first woman appointed to serve in a presidential cabinet and a driving force behind the New Deal, according to the White House.

Biden is expected to visit the Department of Labor on Monday to make the announcement and sign the proclamation that will establish the monument in Newcastle, Maine, the White House said.

As Secretary of Labor, Perkins helped President Franklin D. Roosevelt formulate the policies behind the New Deal of the 1930s and create safeguards in the nation’s economy after the Great Depression.

During her 12 years as Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor, she helped establish the Social Security Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the National Labor Relations Act that established the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively.

“Frances Perkins accepted the position as the first female Cabinet member only after President Franklin D. Roosevelt agreed to support his goals of improving working conditions for all,” Interior Secretary said Deb Haaland in a statement. “She worked tirelessly to bring them to fruition and she set a standard of excellence that is a beacon for all of us who serve.” »

Perkins and her family had deep roots in Newcastle, where she was buried after her death in 1965. The monument would be erected on the family property and managed by the National Park Service.

Biden is expected to be joined at the signing by Haaland, Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and other Cabinet members, as well as labor and women’s rights leaders.

The proclamation comes with just over five weeks remaining in Biden’s presidency and as he seeks to burnish his legacy as a champion of women’s and labor rights.

Haaland visited the Frances Perkins property in August and met with community leaders to discuss the historic site.

Haaland also announced five new national historic landmarks recognizing women’s history on Monday: the Charleston Cigar Factory in Charleston, South Carolina; the Furies Collective, Lucy Diggs Slowe and Mary Burrill House, both in Washington, Azurest South in Petersburg, Virginia; and the Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth home and studios in San Patricio, New Mexico.