Gladys Spellman
| Gladys Spellman | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 5th district |
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In office January 3, 1975 – February 24, 1981 |
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| Preceded by | Lawrence Hogan |
| Succeeded by | Steny Hoyer |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Gladys Blossom Noon March 1, 1918 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | June 19, 1988 (aged 70) Rockville, Maryland, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Reuben Spellman |
| Children | Stephen Richard Dana |
| Alma mater |
George Washington University Graduate School USA |
| Religion | Judaism |
Gladys Noon Spellman (March 1, 1918 – June 19, 1988) was a U.S. Congresswoman who represented the 5th congressional district of Maryland from January 3, 1975, to February 24, 1981. She was a member of the Democratic Party.
Spellman was born Gladys Blossom Noon in New York City and attended Eastern and Roosevelt high schools in Washington, D.C. She graduated from George Washington University, Washington, D.C., and graduate school with the United States Department of Agriculture. Spellman became a teacher, and taught in Prince George's County, Maryland, schools. A consummate politician, Spellman was part of the wave of young, new suburban dwellers who moved to Prince George's County from Washington and elsewhere in the years after World War II, and that group remained her constituency throughout her political career.
Spellman's years as a teacher and president of the PTA for Happy Acres Elementary School (renamed in 1991 the Gladys Noon Spellman Elementary School), as well as civic association activism as a young mother and housewife in Cheverly during the 1950s led to leadership positions in the reform movement that seized control of the county's government during the 1960s, ousting the old guard Democratic organization that had managed affairs in Prince George's for decades. Spellman was active in the fight for a home rule charter form of government for Prince George's, and in 1962, running on a reform slate, served as a member of the Prince George's County Board of Commissioners from 1962 to 1970. She served two years as chairman, effectively the head of the county's government. After the establishment of the County Council, Spellman served as councilwoman at large from 1971 to 1974. She was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations in 1967 and was awarded the highest honor that could be bestowed by county officials nationwide when she became the first woman elected president of the National Association of Counties in 1972.
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