Edna Gladney

Edna Browning Kahly Gladney (January 22, 1886 – October 2, 1961), was an early campaigner for children's rights and better living conditions for disadvantaged children.

Her life story was told in the 1941 film Blossoms in the Dust, in which she was portrayed by Greer Garson, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Gladney.

Gladney was born on January 22, 1886 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Minnie Nell (née Jones 1869-1938). Her mother was not married and was only seventeen when Edna was born. Her natural father was never revealed, and Jones later married Maurice Kahly. Jones and Kahly had a daughter together, named Dorothy. After Maurice's death, Gladney's mother sent her to live with her aunt and uncle in Fort Worth, Texas in 1904.

Though expecting to only stay in Fort Worth for a few months, Gladney stayed longer and eventually met Sam Gladney in 1906. After a summer of courtship and silly postcards, Gladney left her fiancé from Wisconsin to marry Gladney. Sam Gladney was ten years older than she was, and worked at Medlin Flour Milling Company. In 1913, the Gladneys moved to Sherman, Texas so that Sam could open his own milling company, Gladney Milling. Edna joined the Sherman Civic League and started inspecting local meat markets and public restrooms for cleanliness.

On one of these inspections, Gladney came across the Grayson County Poor Farm, which was little more than a dumping ground for the unwanted poor, insane, handicapped, and children. She enlisted the other Civil League ladies to help her, and wrote a contemptuous article in the local paper. The Civic League had a meeting with the Grayson County Commissioners Court, the local governing body and owners of the Poor Farm, where they declared it everyone’s responsibility to care for the children at the farm. Impatient for action, the ladies, led by Gladney, went to the farm and personally cleaned and white-washed it. Gladney then arranged the transfer of the children to the Texas Children’s Home and Aid Society run by Reverend I. Z. T. Morris.

By 1910, Gladney had joined the board of directors for the Texas Children's Home and Aid Society. She studied settlement work and child welfare, and established a free day nursery in Sherman to help poor working families by watching their children so they could work freely. Thirty-five women enrolled their children on opening day of what was called the Sherman Nursery and Kindergarten for Working Women. The free day nursery was financed by Gladney and donations to collection boxes that she placed in local businesses. Gladney began to devote more and more of her time to the Texas Children’s Home and Aid Society and by 1927 she had been named superintendent.

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