1950-1959: Politics

Robert Shaffer

GLENDALE -- Zelma Bogue, Glendale’s first female mayor, might possibly

have been known better for her wardrobe.

A July 14, 1975, News-Press story of her death said she was known for

a dizzying array of impressive hats she would often wear.

“Always broad-brimmed and often embellished with feathers, flowers and

ribbons, the hats frequently were donated to women’s organizations to be

auctioned off to raise funds for philanthropy,” the story read.

Bogue was the first female member of the City Council and served 12

years, from 1953 to 1965. She was the city’s mayor from 1957 until 1959.

When she was elected to the council for the first time in 1953, city

voters also defeated efforts to fluoridate Glendale’s water and allow

dancing in the city’s night spots.

The first major obstacle of her time on the council was fighting for

the right to eat dinner with her council colleagues. At the time, the

council would meet for dinner at the Verdugo Club between council

sessions. Problem was, the club was exclusive to men.

Bogue wasn’t the first lady to crack the Verdugo Club, but the lady

was no softy nonetheless. She once walked out of a council meeting in

1962 after Councilman Cal Cannon wouldn’t stop arguing with a city

resident.

Born in Veedersburg, Ind., Bogue moved to Glendale in 1926. She was

involved in nearly all of the city’s charities and received honors during

World War II for recruitment and fund-raising. She also worked to find

returning servicemen housing in Glendale and raised money for war-ravaged

Europe. But for all her accomplishments, it was always back to the

hats. News-Press publisher Carroll W. Parcher, in a column printed days

after Bogue was defeated after seeking a fourth term on the council,

listed many of her firsts and accomplishments.

“She was the first woman to be elected to the council,” he wrote.

“First to be mayor. And the first member of the council to become famous

for a stunning variety of hats.”

Zelma Bogue died at Glendale Adventist Hospital in 1975. She was 94.

ZELMA BOGUE

Bogue was Glendale’s became Glendale’s first city councilwoman in 1953

and first female mayor in 1957.

ON YOUTH: Bogue asked the city council to start a teen dance program

in 1958 to give kids something to do.

FREEWAYS: She was against them all. “What is the matter with the

country when seven men (the state highway commission) can force through a

freeway that a city of 120,000 people doesn’t want,” she said in 1961.

ON POLICE: Bogue once demanded the city build a new $900,000 police

station. “It’s a shame to have such high class men as the Glendale police

work under such conditions,” she said of the old police building a jail

in 1956.