An Unsung Hero...
Recently I was watching something on PBS about an amazing woman named Lindy Bog. She was married to a congressman from Louisiana in office in the 60's and 70's. She was the perfect mate for a congressman's wife as she had a sweet, southern way about her that one one could ever refuse. People knew that when Lindy came to ask them something, they were going to give it to her regardless of whether they wanted to or not. She was just that good.
Her husband passed away in the early 70's and Lindy was still a young woman. Having gone through several terms in office as the first lady, she decided to run to be a congresswoman, politics was all she knew and her one true love now that she had lost her first true love. To no one's surprise she won and remained in congress for several terms. Even though this was an amazing feat considering the day, it's what she did while in office that amazes me.
Lindy knew all of the players from being the wife of a congressman and used her connections to get special seats on any committee that interested her. The one that impressed me the most was her participation with the banking committee.
In the show I watched she told a story of how one day they were discussing new legislation minorities to be able to get mortgages. A thought came to her and she quickly excused herself, went into the other room and quickly typed up an addendum allowing the same types of privileges to single women purchasing homes. (Lindy had seen and experienced first hand how single women were treated differently after her husband's passing.) She came back into the room, handed the paper over to the committee (without much ado), saying that she thought that they might want to add this as well. In the end, not only was it added, they had used her exact language! In the interview she stated that she didn't care about getting the credit, she just wanted to see women get the same type of treatment as men and minorities.
It wasn't long after this that women were able to get a mortgage on a home without needing a husband. (I think this happened around 1976 but I'm not sure.) This woman is the reason why so many of us have been able to secure loans of our own and in turn be able to be self sufficient in ways that were previously impossible.
Thank you Lindy Bog, you are my hero and we thank you for all that you did for the women of this country.
—Heidi
Register or Log-in to comment on Heidi's Blog
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
Advertisement