Biographies

Gladys Cromwell (1885-1919) , whose family traced its lineage back to , was born into the social elite of Manhattan. When her father, a trustee of the Mutual Life Insurance Company in New York City, left a fortune for her and her siblings upon his death, she and her twin sister purchased an apartment on Park Avenue. In addition to the handful of poems that appear in , Gladys published a collection of verse, (1915). In 1918, the twins volunteered with the Red Cross and performed canteen work close to the front in Châlons-sur-Marne and Verdun. Gladys Cromwell Oliver Cromwell Dorothea Poetry The Gates of Utterance Tragically, Gladys and Dorothea committed double suicide by jumping from the ship that was carrying them home from France. Their deaths sparked a public discussion of the effects of shell-shock on female war workers. From the accounts of passengers on the ship, their behavior fit the symptoms of what is now understood as PTSD. Accordingly, both received the Croix de Guerre. Another collection by Gladys Cromwell, , was published posthumously in 1919, with an introduction by frequent contributor . It received the Poetry Society of America prize in 1920. Cromwell’s poems continue to be anthologized. nervous Poems Poetry Padraic Colum ―Susan Solomon Selected Bibliography of Works by Gladys Cromwell and 21-22. The Fugitive The Crowning Gift. 10.1 (April 1917): Poetry . Sherman French & Co., 1915. The Gates of Utterance . The Macmillan Co., 1919. Reprint: Kessinger Publishing, 2007. Poems . : 306-09. Songs of the Dust 11.6 (March 1918) Poetry Further Reading (Jan 29, 1919): 1. Brings Story of Cromwell Tragedy. New York Times . : 326-28. Monroe, Harriet A Gold Star for Gladys Cromwell. 13.6 (March 1919) Poetry . . Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1921. 298-99. Untermeyer, Louis Gladys Cromwell. Modern American Poetry