THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Linda Wassenich

“I Think Everybody Has a Part to Play.”

Lifelong activist for public policy and healthcare. League of Women Voters, 1970-2021: president, Dallas League; board, Texas League, board, National League. Social Worker of the Year in 1988 and the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in Social Work in 2002. Family court counselor, Associate Executive Director of the Lone Star Council of Camp Fire, executive positions with the Visiting Nurse Association of Dallas. First executive director of the Incest Recovery Association. Instrumental in establishing HIV education and AIDS prevention programs at UT- Southwestern Medical School, VNA programs for pediatric home care for teenage mothers and babies, as well as for elderly people remaining in their homes. Board of the Human Rights Initiative and the Community Council of Greater Dallas; chaired the Advisory Council of the Dallas Area Agency on Aging. 

Interviewed by VFA member, Suzanne Tuckey, March 2022

Photo. Linda in 1985.