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Busy summer ahead at Frances Perkins National Monument.Months after Frances Perkins was posthumously inducted into the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame, the ancestral home of the New Deal pioneer in the Lincoln County town of Newcastle is bracing for a busy summer.The Frances Perkins National Monument welcomed more than 4,000 visitors last summer, according to Amanda Hatch, the center’s executive director.That’s up from 1,000 visitors in 2024, before the site gained national monument status.She said that number represents only those who visited the Welcome Center in the renovated carriage house, with “surely thousands more” using the trails throughout the year.“We expect an increase this year because we’ve almost doubled our numbers and continue to invest in marketing to make sure more people know about Frances Perkins and that there is a national monument in her honor,” Hatch told Mainebiz.Perkins, recently inducted into the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame, was a Depression-era labor activist and political trailblazer best known as the architect of Social Security, unemployment insurance, the minimum wage and other worker protections.As labor secretary under President Franklin D.Roosevelt, she was the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet.The homestead, where Perkins often lived and found respite throughout her life, was settled by her ancestors on the banks of the Damariscotta River in the mid-18th century.Situated on a saltwater farm, it consists of a well-preserved 1837 brick house and connected barns on 57 acres within a protected landscape of fields and forest.The land features 2.8 miles of picturesque stone walls, the remains of 18th and 19th-century home foundations, remnants of wharves, clay pits and kilns connected with the family’s 19th-century brick-making business.President Joe Biden declared the site a national monument in December 2024.Open this summer from June 17 to Oct.11, the Frances Perkins Center has an annual operating budget of around $1.3 million and will be staffed this year by two employees and two interns.They will be joined by volunteers affiliated with the National Park Service and the Frances Perkins Center, which is jointly managed by the two organizations.Photos, artifacts Located in the renovated carriage house, the Welcome Center will feature archival photos and historic artifacts from the center’s collection, highlighting Perkins’ career as well as her life at the homestead, according to Hatch.“Our curator is working with our archivist to determine the best collection pieces to display throughout the summer, and it is possible they will rotate to protect the items and allow repeat visitors to see new items throughout the summer,” she noted.Hatch said the center’s collection includes Perkins family papers, letters, furniture, artwork, clothing, personal items, books and farm and brick-making equipment.The property includes a 1.3-mile trail loop.Opening times The Frances Perkins Welcome Center with a self-guided exhibit in the 1837 restored barn is open from June 17-Oct.11 Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m.to 3 p.m.Trails and grounds are open daily year-round from dawn to dusk.