Helen Gandy
Helen W. Gandy ( April 8, 1897 - July 7, 1988 in DeLand , Florida ) was an American civil servant who served as the personal assistant to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover for more than 50 years .
Gandy became best known for her coordinated destruction of all personal documents Hoover after his death in 1972.
Life
The daughter of Franklin Dallas and Annie Gandy, née Williams, grew up in Fairton , New Jersey . After graduating from Bridgeton High School in Bridgeton , New Jersey, she attended courses at Corcoran School of Art , George Washington University Law School, and Strayer Business College .
After a short job as a saleswoman, she was hired by the Ministry of Justice in 1918 . From March 25, 1918, she worked there as a shorthand typist for J. Edgar Hoover. In 1921 she followed Hoover to the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), where he initially worked as an Assistant Director ("Vice Director"). When Hoover was named director on May 10, 1924, he promoted Gandy to his secretary.
In 1937, Gandy's job title was supplemented by "Office Assistant (FBI Director's Office)" and on October 1, 1939, she was promoted to "Executive Assistant" to the director. Hoover later promoted Gandy, although this job title was retained. On the occasion of a promotion, Hoover identified Gandy as the only "indispensable" person with the FBI.
After Hoover's death on May 2, 1972, Gandy destroyed all of the director's personal documents and his extensive secret files on countless public figures for several weeks. These dossiers, in which Hoover recorded especially morally piquant misconduct and criminal involvement of the persons concerned, he systematized with the help of an encrypted system of order that he had designed himself and that was based on special file numbers. These file numbers - peculiar numerical and letter codes - were composed in such a way that they only made sense to himself, but were not transparent to other people. With this special encryption, Hoover ensured that only himself and a few confidants like Gandy knew where in the FBI's archives of millions of files the files on a particular person could be found.
In 1975 Gandy had to testify before a congressional committee about the destruction of the files, insisting that it was only Hoover's personal records. Congressmen, including Andrew Maguire , believed Gandy was lying, but could not prove anything to her.
Gandy retired on the day of Hoover's death and continued to live in Washington, DC until the late 1980s. She later moved to DeLand , Florida , where she died of heart failure on July 7, 1988 at the age of 91. Gandy remained unmarried and left no children behind.
In popular culture
She was portrayed by Lee Kessler in the 1987 television film J. Edgar Hoover . In Clint Eastwood's biopic J. Edgar took Naomi Watts , the role of Helen Gandy. In Bad Times at the El Royale from 2018, her character was played by Rebecca Toolan .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Helen W. Gandy, Secretary, 91 at nytimes.com, accessed August 19, 2013
- ↑ a b c d e f Athan G. Theoharis (Ed.), Richard Gid Powers (Ed.), Tony G. Poveda (Ed.): The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide. Oryx Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0897749916 , pages [books.google.com/books?id=VnQduXa4JdoC&pg=PA327 327-328]
- ^ A b Anthony Summers: Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J Edgar Hoover. Ebury Press, 2012, ISBN 978-0091941772 , pages 508-509
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gandy, Helen |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gandy, Helen W. (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American FBI agent, personal assistant to J. Edgar Hoover |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 8, 1897 |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 7, 1988 |
| Place of death | DeLand , Florida , United States |