Incredible Gladys Pyle Collection
Abstract
Gladys Pyle (1890–1989) was a South Dakota politician and suffrage advocate who made history as the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate without prior appointment, the first female Republican senator, and the first woman to represent South Dakota in the Senate. Her public service included terms in the South Dakota House of Representatives, as Secretary of State, and a brief U.S. Senate appointment in 1938–1939.
This collection contains research materials gathered beginning in 1981 for a planned biography of Pyle, including clippings, correspondence, manuscripts, interview transcripts, and audiocassettes. The materials document her political career, suffrage work, and personal reflections, providing firsthand insight into her role as a pioneering woman in South Dakota and national politics.