Books That Tell the Story of Work

“My Antonia.” “The Devil Wears Prada.” “The Wealth of Nations.”

At first glance these titles might not appear to have anything in common: Willa Cather’s immigrant pioneers on the Great Plains wouldn’t know what to make of the denizens of a contemporary fashion magazine, let alone Adam Smith’s 18th-century treatise that made the invisible hand and the division of labor familiar economic concepts.

But all three books revolve around work and are featured in an intriguing project from the Labor Department, “Books That Shaped Work in America,” to celebrate the department’s 100th anniversary.

With picks from the current labor secretary, Thomas E. Perez, and former occupants of the office including George P. Shultz, Robert Reich and Elaine Chao, along with outside contributors, the list features some unexpected suggestions as well a few classics.

Who would have thought that Mr. Shultz, labor secretary under President Richard M. Nixon and later secretary of state in the Reagan administration, was a fan of Walt Whitman’s poems in “Leaves of Grass”? Or that Ms. Chao, labor secretary under President George W. Bush, spent free time pondering the Great Depression in “The Forgotten Man,” by Amity Shlaes?

Ideologically, some choices are to be expected.

Ray Marshall, labor secretary under President Jimmy Carter, likes John Maynard Keynes. Mr. Reich, the liberal Clinton-era labor secretary, is a fan of “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair and “The Other America” by Michael Harrington. Bill Brock, a Republican former senator who served as labor secretary under President Ronald Reagan, likes Milton Friedman’s free-market classic, “Capitalism and Freedom.”

On the other hand, both Mr. Marshall and Ms. Chao favor W. Edwards Deming, the American management expert who was initially ignored in his own country but profoundly influenced the rise of Japan Inc. and how we think about quality. And Mr. Perez has a soft spot for “Busy, Busy Town,” which he says introduces 3- to 7-year-olds to “the wondrous world of work.”

This year’s low-key anniversary for the Labor Department also illustrates just how Washington has changed, at least official Washington, in terms of flash.

The 25th, 50th and 75th anniversaries featured black-tie galas, with President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson among the 3,200 guests in March 1963, at the Sheraton-Park Hotel (now the Washington Marriott Wardman Park).

No party is planned this time around.