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Before there was a Labor Department, there was The Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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The Department of Labor (DOL) was created by act of March 4, 1913.
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William B. Wilson was the first secretary of DOL for 8 years.
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Royal Meeker, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, launches the Monthly Labor Review.
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DOL also expanded the activities of the Children’s Bureau and led the unsuccessful fight for a constitutional amendment limiting child labor.
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In 1930, Congress authorizes Bureau of Labor Statistics to collect unemployment data.
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While FDR was governor of New York, Perkins had served as Commissioner of Labor and had developed plans to alleviate unemployment as the Depression deepened.
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Francis Perkins became the first women to become a secretary at the DOL. March 4, 1933 to June 30, 1945
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Frances Perkins also created the Bureau of Labor Standards in 1934
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On Sept. 17, 1945, the President acted on Schwellenbach's proposal by issuing, as recommended, an Executive Order under the War Powers Act.
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In 1946 Congress transferred the Children's Bureau to the Federal Security Agency, leaving only the child labor functions in the Department. At this point, of the original bureaus of the Department, only the Bureau of Labor Statistics remained.
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With Tobin's help Truman won reelection, and the Department saw a rebirth in which the cuts of 1947 and 1948 were largely restored.
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With Tobin’s help, Truman won his surprising reelection in 1948, and the department won back its lost revenues from the budget cuts.
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J. Ernest Wilkins was the first African-American to Serves As Assistant Secretary of Labor.
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W. Willard Wirtz became a secretary in the year of September 25, 1962 to January 20, 1969
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To meet the need for education and training programs that would prepare people for burgeoning high-tech industries, the Labor Department establishes the Manpower Administration.
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The Department played the lead role in mediating the strike. After troops were briefly called out, a compromise was reached with the militant postal unions and the strike was quickly ended
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In 1984 the Department's labor-management relations functions were reorganized into the Bureau of Labor-Management Relations and Cooperative Programs
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Alexis Herman is the youngest person to ever serve as director of the Department’s Women’s Bureau
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After the election of George W. Bush in 2000, Elaine Chao became the Secretary of Labor. Chao has been the longest serving member of President Bush’s cabinet, while running a department that has been become heavily pro-business.
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Hilda L. Solis is the current secretary of the DOL. February 24, 2009 — January 22, 2013
