Looking for a good read? Here is a recommendation. I have an unusual approach to reviewing books. I review books I feel merit a review. Each review is an opportunity to recommend a book. If I do not think a book is worth reading, I find another book to review. You do not have to agree with everything every author has written (I do not), but the fiction I review is entertaining (and often thought-provoking) and the non-fiction contain ideas worth reading.
Book Review
Immigration During the Nazi Era
Reviewed by Mark Lardas
February 16 2025
“Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances Perkins’s Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany,” by Rebecca Brenner Graham, Citadel, January, 2025, 336 pages, $29.00 (Hardcover), $24.65 (E-book), $17.49 (audiobook), $45.95 (Audio CD)
Francis Perkins was the first woman to serve in a Presidential cabinet position. She served as Secretary of Labor, from 1933 through 1945. the longest serving Labor Secretary.
“Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances Perkins’s Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany,” by Rebecca Brenner Graham is a biography of Francis Perkins, tells of her tenure as Labor Secretary, and examines US immigration policy.
Graham opens by introducing Francis Perkins. Coming from upper-middle class New England stock, Perkins was college-educated. She supported progressive causes, while believing in the work ethic. She gains prominence despite a difficult marriage (her husband went insane and Perkins supported the family).
Appointed Labor Secretary by Roosevelt, Perkins helped develop Social Security and drafted the Fair Labor Standards Act. From 1933 through 1940, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was part of the Labor Department. The period’s dominant immigration issue was the plight of Jewish Europeans rendered stateless by Nazi policies.
The book shows Perkins’s attempts to help them, fighting efforts by the State Department and some within the Labor Department. Immigration was unpopular due to the Great Depression. Antisemitism, socially acceptable, was at a peak, especially in the State Department.
The book documents innovative methods Perkins used to circumvent immigration roadblocks, while acting within the law. She used temporary visas to get refugees out of harm’s way in Europe. She made it easier for refugees to post a monetary bond which guaranteed they would not become public charges. She started a program to bring Jewish child refugees to the US under care of foster homes. There was even an attempt to establish a Jewish colony in Alaska, then a territory.
The book suffers from the author’s unwillingness to differentiate between legal and illegal immigration. There is a difference between immigrating because of economic straits and desiring to immigrate because a native government seeks their elimination. Graham also adheres to modern academic fallacies about America. The US is not as uniquely xenophobic or nativist as she portrays. Despite occasional excesses, it comes up short only when measured against its own expectations as opposed to the performance of other countries throughout the world.
The book is worth reading for the facts presented between opinions. It gives fresh insights into the 1930s. It provides a vivid portrait of a remarkable woman, revealing obscure aspects of mid-twentieth century US public policy. It shows the remarkable progress made in the last 70 years.
Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City. His website is marklardas.com.