Edythe Evelyn Gandy (September 4, 1920 – December 23, 2007) was an American attorney and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
who served as
Lieutenant Governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
of
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
from 1976 to 1980. A
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
who held several public offices throughout her career, she was the first woman elected to a statewide constitutional office in Mississippi. Born in
Hattiesburg
Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County (where it is the county seat and largest city) and extending west into Lamar County. The city population was 45,989 at the 2010 census, with the populat ...
, she attended the
University of Mississippi School of Law
The University of Mississippi School of Law, also known as Ole Miss Law, is an ABA-accredited law school located on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. The School of Law offers the only dedicated aerospace law curr ...
as the only woman in her class. Following graduation, she took a job as a research assistant for
United States Senator
The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
Theodore Bilbo
Theodore Gilmore Bilbo (October 13, 1877 – August 21, 1947) was an American politician who twice served as governor of Mississippi (1916–1920, 1928–1932) and later was elected a U.S. Senator (1935–1947). A lifelong Democrat, he was a fi ...
. She briefly practiced law before being elected to the
Mississippi House of Representatives
The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected fo ...
, where she served from 1948 to 1952. Defeated for re-election, she worked as director of the Division of Legal Services in the State Department of Public Welfare and Assistant Attorney General of Mississippi until she was elected
State Treasurer of Mississippi in 1959.
Following an unsuccessful campaign for the office of Lieutenant Governor in 1963, Gandy was appointed State Welfare Board Commissioner. She was re-elected State Treasurer and served again in that role from 1968 to 1972. She subsequently became Insurance Commissioner, and in that capacity she investigated
false advertising
False advertising is defined as the act of publishing, transmitting, or otherwise publicly circulating an advertisement containing a false claim, or statement, made intentionally (or recklessly) to promote the sale of property, goods, or servic ...
, lobbied for the passage of a
no-fault insurance
In its broadest sense, no-fault insurance is any type of insurance contract under which the insured party is indemnified by their own insurance company for losses, regardless of the source of the cause of loss. In this sense, it is no different ...
law, pushed for stronger licensing requirements for insurance agents, and restructured the
Mississippi Insurance Department
The Mississippi Insurance Department was created as a separate department by an Act of the Mississippi Legislature, effective March 1, 1902. The Act provided for the election of an Insurance Commissioner at the general election of 1903 and pro ...
. In 1975 she ran a successful campaign to be elected Lieutenant Governor, thus becoming the first woman to serve in that role in Mississippi and in the
Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
. Following unsuccessful gubernatorial campaigns in 1979 and 1983, Gandy returned to the practice of law. She remained publicly active in women's organizations and state Democratic politics until her death in 2007.
Early life
Edythe Evelyn Gandy was born on September 4, 1920 to Kearney C. Gandy and Abbie Whigham Gandy
[ in ]Hattiesburg
Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County (where it is the county seat and largest city) and extending west into Lamar County. The city population was 45,989 at the 2010 census, with the populat ...
, Mississippi, United States. Her parents encouraged her from a young age to pursue what interests she had without regard for her gender. She later credited her father, who had supported the women's suffrage movement
Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to gran ...
, with being particularly supportive of her ambitions. She attended Hattiesburg High School, and in her senior year served as president of the debate club and edited the school yearbook and newspaper. Graduating from high school in 1938, she attended Mississippi Southern College before studying law at the University of Mississippi School of Law
The University of Mississippi School of Law, also known as Ole Miss Law, is an ABA-accredited law school located on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. The School of Law offers the only dedicated aerospace law curr ...
in Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. The only woman in her 1943 law school class, she won a state women's oratorical contest in 1941 and was the first woman to be elected president of the law school student body. She was also the first woman to edit the ''Mississippi Law Journal
The ''Mississippi Law Journal'' is a law review published at the University of Mississippi School of Law. It was established in 1928 by the Mississippi Bar Association and is the state's longest running law review. Originally published with the sub ...
''.
Following graduation from law school, Gandy sought to join the United States armed forces during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, but was disqualified due to nearsightedness. She then took a job as a research assistant in the office of Mississippi United States Senator
The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
Theodore Bilbo
Theodore Gilmore Bilbo (October 13, 1877 – August 21, 1947) was an American politician who twice served as governor of Mississippi (1916–1920, 1928–1932) and later was elected a U.S. Senator (1935–1947). A lifelong Democrat, he was a fi ...
in Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
, as Bilbo was a family friend. During her employment Bilbo published a book detailing his views on racial segregation
Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...
, entitled ''Take Your Choice: Separation or Mongrelization''. Gandy was widely suspected to be the ghost writer
A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...
of the work, and she later admitted to conducting most of the research for the book. In 1947, she opened a law practice. The following year she was elected treasurer of the Mississippi State Bar Association. She served as second vice president of the Hattiesburg chapter of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs
Business and Professional Women's Foundation (BPW) is an organization that promotes workforce development programs and workplace policies to acknowledge the needs of working women, communities, and businesses. It supports the National Federation ...
from 1951 to 1952 and second vice president of the state chapter in 1951 before becoming first vice president the following year. She was appointed to a two-year term on the Mississippi Congress of Parents and Teachers board of managers.
Political career
Early activities
A Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, Gandy worked in the speaker's bureau of Paul B. Johnson Sr.
Paul Burney Johnson Sr. (March 23, 1880December 26, 1943) was an American attorney, judge, and politician, serving as United States Representative from Mississippi, 1919–1923, and as Governor of Mississippi, 1940–1943.
Early career
From 190 ...
's 1939 gubernatorial campaign. She campaigned in 1947 to be elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives
The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected fo ...
for the seat from Forrest County
Forrest County is located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 74,934. Its county seat and largest city is Hattiesburg. The county was created from Perry County in 1908 and named in honor of Nathan Bedfor ...
. She advocated for increased support for education, welfare, and the elderly. Billing herself as a racial segregationist, she supported the "Preservation of the customs and traditions of the South and enactment of the necessary legislation to preserve the white Democratic primary." One of her opponents, Lawrence D. Arrington, published an ad which asked "Do you believe that the legislative affairs of Forrest County can best be handled by a man or a woman?" The ad continued by suggesting that some elements of political activity would be inappropriate for a "young girl". She defeated Arrington in a primary runoff and was sworn-in in early 1948,[ working in the legislature for one four-year term. She closed her law practice to focus on her legislative duties][ but in September became a legal researcher for the State Department of Public Welfare.
In the House, Gandy was assigned to the ways and means, judiciary, eleemosynary institutions, colleges and universities, and claims committees. She introduced a successful bill to raise ]bond
Bond or bonds may refer to:
Common meanings
* Bond (finance), a type of debt security
* Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States
* Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...
money for Hattiesburg city school construction and proposed another bill that would authorize Mississippi Southern College to establish its own nursing and law schools. She proposed other bills to establish a state department of labor and a state cosmetology board. After losing a bid for re-election to her House seat in the 1951 Democratic primary to Donald Colmer, Gandy became director of the Division of Legal Services in the Department of Public Welfare, where she served until she announced her resignation in February 1959, effective March 31.
State offices
In 1959 Gandy campaigned for election to the office of State Treasurer
In the state governments of the United States, 48 of the 50 states have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the position in 1926; duties were transferred to New York State Comptroller. Texas abolished the position of Texas ...
. Her main opponent was former Jackson mayor and investment banker Leland S. Speed. She attacked his credibility, arguing that his business connections disqualified him from handling public funds. She won, making her the first woman to be elected to a Mississippi statewide constitutional office and the second elected to a statewide office overall (after State Tax Collector Nellah Massey Bailey). On September 1, 1959 Gandy was appointed Assistant Attorney General of Mississippi by State Attorney General Joe Patterson. Serving in only a temporary capacity pending her swearing-in as State Treasurer in January 1960, she was the first woman to hold the office. She served as State Treasurer from 1960 to 1964, leaving office as state law at the time did not allow the treasurer to run for consecutive terms.
In 1963 Gandy ran for the office of Lieutenant Governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
. Facing four opponents, she campaigned on her experience in government, pledging to focus on economic issues and education. She promised to treat the position as a "full time job". Framing herself as a segregationist, she supported states' rights
In American political discourse, states' rights are political powers held for the state governments rather than the federal government according to the United States Constitution, reflecting especially the enumerated powers of Congress and the ...
, urging Mississippians to not support President John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
and saying "We are now engaged in the greatest clash of Federal-State power which has occurred since the War Between the States
The most common name for the American Civil War in modern American usage is simply "The Civil War". Although rarely used during the war, the term "War Between the States" became widespread afterward in the Southern United States. During and immedia ...
one hundred years ago." Placing second in the first primary, she entered a runoff with the leading candidate, incumbent Carroll Gartin
Carroll Gartin (September 14, 1913 – December 19, 1966) was an American Democratic politician from Laurel in Jones County in southeastern Mississippi, who served three terms as the 22nd lieutenant governor of his state. He was born in Merid ...
. He attacked her gender, with his campaign ads calling on voters to "elect a man". He won, taking 52 percent of the vote.
In 1964 Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Paul B. Johnson Jr.
Paul Burney Johnson Jr. (January 23, 1916October 14, 1985) was an American attorney and Democratic politician from Mississippi, serving as governor from 1964 until January 1968. He was a son of former Mississippi Governor Paul B. Johnson Sr.
...
appointed Gandy as State Welfare Board Commissioner. During her tenure the federal government passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...
, which required that all programs which received federal funds could not discriminate based on race. Despite her own segregationist views, Gandy signed a pledge affirming that the welfare board would not discriminate and integrated the reception areas of state welfare offices. In 1965, she oversaw the launch of a monthly newsletter for the State Department of Public Welfare, ''The Observer''. That year Johnson appointed her to the new Commission on the Status of Women. She resigned effective April 30, 1967 to prepare for a second campaign for state treasurer.
Facing no opposition in the Democratic primary or general election, Gandy was re-elected as State Treasurer and served again from 1968 to 1972. During that time, she lobbied for changes to the State Depository Act and implemented new policies which allowed public funds deposited in private banks to earn interest
In finance and economics, interest is payment from a borrower or deposit-taking financial institution to a lender or depositor of an amount above repayment of the principal sum (that is, the amount borrowed), at a particular rate. It is distinct ...
, enabling the state to make an additional $4 million within a year of the new measure. She also implemented a program to deposit state funds equally across banks in the state.[ A ]fiscal conservative
Fiscal conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, and ''laissez-faire'' economics.M. O. Dickerson et al., ''A ...
, she opposed an attempt to amend the state constitution to allow the state to borrow more money through bond issues.
In 1971 Gandy ran for the office of Insurance Commissioner. Appealing more openly to women voters, her campaign distributed special emery boards. She defeated insurance salesman Truett Smith in the Democratic primary, taking the largest number of votes among any candidate for any office in the primary, and was unopposed in the general election. Upon taking office on January 17, 1972, she initiated an investigation into false advertising
False advertising is defined as the act of publishing, transmitting, or otherwise publicly circulating an advertisement containing a false claim, or statement, made intentionally (or recklessly) to promote the sale of property, goods, or servic ...
, lobbied for the passage of a no-fault insurance
In its broadest sense, no-fault insurance is any type of insurance contract under which the insured party is indemnified by their own insurance company for losses, regardless of the source of the cause of loss. In this sense, it is no different ...
law, and pushed for enhanced advertising regulations and stronger licensing requirements for insurance agents.[ During her tenure the department released a training guide for agents to familiarize them with state standards. She also restructured the ]Mississippi Insurance Department
The Mississippi Insurance Department was created as a separate department by an Act of the Mississippi Legislature, effective March 1, 1902. The Act provided for the election of an Insurance Commissioner at the general election of 1903 and pro ...
into three divisions: one to manage insurance claims, one to conduct industry oversight, and another to handle complaints. In 1974 she introduced new fire safety
Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce the destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the development and eff ...
rules for mobile home
A mobile home (also known as a house trailer, park home, trailer, or trailer home) is a prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or on a trailer). Us ...
construction. That year declared her support for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. Proponents assert it would end legal distinctions between men and ...
(ERA). Since she was the highest-ranking woman politician in the state, the media frequently asked her about the ERA, and she told ''The Clarion Ledger
''The Clarion Ledger'' is an American daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second-oldest company in the state of Mississippi, and is one of the few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide. It is an operating d ...
'', "I personally favor it. But I don't believe it is a priority item for Mississippi women. There are other matters of more importance ..such as education and health care." She held the insurance commissionership until 1976.[
]
Lieutenant Governor
With her term as Insurance Commissioner coming to a close, Gandy declared herself a candidate for the office of Lieutenant Governor in 1975. Her platform focused on improving job opportunities, particularly by expanding vocational training. She repeated her promise from 1963 that she would treat the position as "full time" and also called for government restructuring and campaign finance reform. Unlike in previous years, her campaign literature omitted any mention of her employment under Senator Bilbo. She led the first Democratic primary, and won the runoff, against Brad Dye
Bradford Johnson Dye Jr. (December 20, 1933 – July 1, 2018) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi from 1980 until 1992. Dye was the only individual in state history to have served as Li ...
, with 52 percent of the vote. In the general election she faced Republican Bill Patrick, whom she defeated with 70 percent of the vote, thus becoming the first woman to serve as lieutenant governor in Mississippi and in the Southern United States. She was sworn-in on January 14, 1976.
As lieutenant governor, Gandy presided over the Mississippi State Senate
The Mississippi Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol ...
, which during her tenure comprised 52 male members.[ She was responsible for appointing the body's committees and mostly reappointed past committee chairs to leadership positions. Under internal party pressure, she reappointed William G. Burgin as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee despite suspicions that he was misappropriating funds. She removed Burgin from his chair in September 1978 after he was indicted on federal corruption charges. The action was unprecedented and provoked the ire of other senior senators, though the issue faded after Burgin was convicted a year later. Gandy otherwise maintained good relationships with committee chairmen during her tenure, though her critics attacked her as a defender of the status quo. To pass legislation she favored, she enlisted the assistance of a group of supportive senators known as "The Gandy Boys".] She guided the passage of a bill to establish the State Ethics Commission and the passage of the Sixteenth Section Reform Act of 1978, which reformed the leasing of public school lands (she cast a tie-breaking vote in favor of the latter measure).[ She and Aaron Henry co-chaired the state's delegation to the ]1976 Democratic National Convention
The 1976 Democratic National Convention met at Madison Square Garden in New York City, from July 12 to July 15, 1976. The assembled United States Democratic Party delegates at the convention nominated former Governor Jimmy Carter of Geor ...
and supported the nomination of Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
as the party's presidential candidate. She also served as acting governor of Mississippi for a cumulative total of 248 days when Governor Cliff Finch
Charles Clifton Finch (April 4, 1927 – April 22, 1986) was an American politician who served as the 57th Governor of the U.S. state of Mississippi, from 1976 to 1980.
Early life
Finch was born on April, 1927 in the village of Pope in Pan ...
was out of the state. She left office on January 16, 1980.
Gubernatorial campaigns
Gandy sought the office of Governor of Mississippi in the 1979 election, campaigning on a platform of economic growth and government reform. In the Democratic primary she faced William F. Winter
William Forrest Winter (February 21, 1923 – December 18, 2020) was an American attorney and politician who served as Governor of Mississippi from 1980 to 1984. A member of the Democratic Party, he also served as Lieutenant Governor, State Treas ...
, John Arthur Eaves
John Arthur Eaves Sr. (July 31, 1935 – March 18, 2022) was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, he served one term in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1972 to 1976 and made three unsuccessful bids for gubernatorial office ...
, and three other candidates. Winter denounced the "corruption and mismanagement" of Governor Finch's administration and linked Finch's troubles with Gandy. In the first primary Gandy earned about 30 percent of the vote, while Winter received 25 percent. Winter was buoyed by his image as a moderate, professional, experienced public official which stood in sharp contrast to the public's perception of Finch's time in office as haphazard. Gandy's standing was harmed by her association with Finch and the fact that she was a woman. To capitalize on the latter factor, Winter's campaign organization attempted to craft an image of "toughness" for him, and released television commercials that showed him posing with tanks at Camp Shelby
Camp Shelby is a military post whose North Gate is located at the southern boundary of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on United States Highway 49. It is the largest state-owned training site in the nation. During wartime, the camp's mission is to se ...
and firing a gun at a Mississippi Highway Patrol
The Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol is the highway patrol and acting state police agency for the U.S. state of Mississippi, and has law enforcement jurisdiction over the majority of the state.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol specializes in the ...
weapons range. She also refused an offer to debate Winter, citing schedule conflicts, creating doubts about her political abilities. Winter won the runoff with 57 percent of the vote. Gandy subsequently rejected an offer from Winter to take a position in his administration, but several months later was hired as the director of the Office of Human Resources Planning in the Department of Mental Health. By 1981 she was Deputy for Human Resources with the Department of Health.
Gandy ran again for gubernatorial office in 1983, facing Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
William Allain
William Aloysius Allain (February 14, 1928 – December 2, 2013) was an American politician and lawyer who held office as the 59th Governor of Mississippi as a Democrat from 1984 to 1988. Born in Adams County, Mississippi, he attended the Un ...
, businessman Mike Sturdivant, and two other candidates in the Democratic primary. She made more effort to appear charismatic and friendly, altering her appearance and hiring a professional campaign strategist for the first time in her political career. She also broadcast advertisements which described her as "tough". Her platform included education reform, controlling unemployment, expanding the National Guard, improved benefits for the elderly and disabled, and opposition to in-state radioactive waste
Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons r ...
disposal. Her opponents attacked her by linking her to her previous segregationist positions, with leaflets and a reprint of a 1963 ad showing her connections to Senator Bilbo distributed. Gandy initially reacted by expressing dismay at the strategy, before saying in a press conference that " fense of segregation 20, 30, or 40 years ago was wrong" and that her previous statements "certainly do not reflect" her current views on race. She attempted to garner sympathy from black voters by pointing to discrimination she had faced because of her sex. Sturdivant aired television commercials which questioned whether a woman should lead the state, leading Gandy to denounce them as "insulting the women of Mississippi and the voters of Mississippi." She led in the first Democratic primary with 38 percent of the vote. In her runoff with Allain she authorized the broadcasting of attack ad
Attack may refer to:
Warfare and combat
* Offensive (military)
* Charge (warfare)
* Attack (fencing)
* Strike (attack)
* Attack (computing)
* Attack aircraft
Books and publishing
* ''The Attack'' (novel), a book
* '' Attack No. 1'', comic an ...
s against Allain, characterizing him as unlikely to cooperate with the legislature, a misogynist, and a "one issue candidate". He won with 52.3 percent of the vote. Journalist Bill Minor
Wilson Floyd Minor (May 17, 1922 – March 28, 2017) was an American journalist and columnist who covered events in Mississippi.
Early life
Wilson Floyd Minor was born on May 17, 1922, in Hammond, Louisiana, to Jacob Minor and Josie Clement Min ...
later said of Gandy, "She was a victim of the syndrome in Mississippi that women would not be elevated to high political office. Apparently, lieutenant governor is the ceiling."
Later life
Following her loss in 1983, Gandy returned to legal practice, joining the firm of her friend Carroll Ingram in Hattiesburg in 1984. She rejected a suggestion from her friends that she seek gubernatorial office again in 1987[ but remained publicly active in women's organizations and openly encouraged women to pursue careers as they saw fit. In 1994 she was hired as the director of legal services for Central Euro Telekom, a telecommunications company. In 1997 the ]American Bar Association
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...
bestowed on her the Margaret Brent Award for expanding opportunities for female attorneys.[ She remained involved in Mississippi Democratic politics until her death.
Gandy never married, instead enjoying the companionship of her sister, Frances. She was a distant cousin of politician Edwin L. Pittman.][ Gandy died on December 23, 2007 at her home near Hattiesburg after suffering from a lengthy bout of ]progressive supranuclear palsy
Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a late-onset degenerative disease involving the gradual deterioration and death of specific volumes of the brain. The condition leads to symptoms including loss of balance, slowing of movement, difficulty ...
.[ Her body lay in state in the rotunda of the ]Mississippi State Capitol
The Mississippi State Capitol or the “New Capitol,” has been the seat of the state’s government since it succeeded the old statehouse in 1903. Located in Jackson, it was designated as a Mississippi Landmark in 1986, a National Historic La ...
, the first time such an honor had been granted to a woman.[ A memorial service was held for her in the rotunda on December 27] and a funeral was held the following day at Main Street United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg. She was buried at the city's Roseland Park Cemetery.[
]
Legacy
In 2002 the state of Mississippi declared that it would name a portion of State Highway 42 around Hattiesburg the Evelyn Gandy Parkway. It opened in 2006. The McCain Library and Archives
The McCain Library and Archives is the chief reserve library for The University of Southern Mississippi. It houses the items in Southern Mississippi's possession that are not available for checkout. Besides being the archives, the building also h ...
maintains a collection of press clippings, speeches, photographs, and personal effects spanning her career. A bust of her is on display in a Senate committee room at the Mississippi State Capitol. Her death in 2007 spawned numerous laudatory obituaries which praised her as the first woman to serve in several offices and framed her as a public servant "committed to the common people". Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour
Haley Reeves Barbour (born October 22, 1947) is an American attorney, politician, and lobbyist who served as the 63rd governor of Mississippi from 2004 to 2012. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as chairman of the Republican ...
credited her with " reakingthe glass ceiling
A glass ceiling is a metaphor usually applied to women, used to represent an invisible barrier that prevents a given demographic from rising beyond a certain level in a hierarchy.Federal Glass Ceiling Commission''Solid Investments: Making Full ...
for women in politics and government". Historian Martha Swain described the passage of the Sixteenth Section Reform Act of 1978 as "her most important legacy".[ An ]equal pay
Equal pay for equal work is the concept of labour rights that individuals in the same workplace be given equal pay. It is most commonly used in the context of sexual discrimination, in relation to the gender pay gap. Equal pay relates to the full ...
bill named in her honor, the Evelyn Gandy Fair Pay Act, was introduced in the Mississippi State Legislature in 2019 but died in committee.
See also
*List of female lieutenant governors in the United States
As of January 18, 2023, there are 22 women currently serving (excluding acting capacity) as lieutenant governors in the United States. Overall, 118 women have served (including acting capacity).
Women have been elected lieutenant governor from 4 ...
References
Works cited
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gandy, Evelyn
1920 births
2007 deaths
Lieutenant Governors of Mississippi
State treasurers of Mississippi
State insurance commissioners of the United States
Mississippi lawyers
People from Hattiesburg, Mississippi
University of Southern Mississippi alumni
Democratic Party members of the Mississippi House of Representatives
Women in Mississippi politics
Women state legislators in Mississippi
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American women politicians
20th-century American lawyers
21st-century American women