1. Gladys Shields Pyle was an American educator and national record setting female politician during the first score of years post-ratification of Women's Suffrage Amendment to the US Constitution, who set numerous national and state partisan electoral records before the age of 50, including at least a dozen national records related to her 1938 US Senate election.
Gladys Shields Pyle was born in Huron, South Dakota on October 4,1890, the daughter of John L Pyle and Mamie Shields Pyle, and was the youngest of their four children, three girls and one boy.
Gladys Pyle's father was a lawyer who served as Attorney General of South Dakota and her mother was a leading suffragist in the state.
Gladys Pyle graduated in 1911, and moved to Chicago to attend the American Conservatory of Music and the University of Chicago.
Gladys Pyle became a lecturer for the league and traveled to Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Ohio to give speeches and make presentations.
Gladys Pyle was reelected in 1924, and served from 1923 to 1927.
In 1926, Gladys Pyle was the successful Republican nominee for Secretary of State of South Dakota.
Gladys Pyle was reelected in 1928, polling more votes than had ever been given any candidate for any office in the state, and served from 1927 to 1931.
Gladys Pyle won the primary, garnering nearly a third of the vote.
Gladys Pyle led the fourth, and sixth through eleven ballots, increasing her total votes each ballot, except for a significant loss of votes the eighth ballot as she was closing in on the nomination.
Gladys Pyle quickly conceded defeat without rancor or accusation but did not endorse Green until after the filing period for filing as an independent had ended.
Gladys Pyle later hinted at her disappointment when she indicated she would not seek further partisan political office.
Gladys Pyle was executive officer for the State Securities Commission from 1931 to 1933.
Gladys Pyle received the highest percentage of the vote for non-incumbent Republican nominees and second highest percentage of the vote for all Republican nominees for the US Senate in the 1938 elections.
Gladys Pyle was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Peter Norbeck.
Gladys Pyle campaigned against the New Deal, arguing the program had not gone far enough to help the people of South Dakota.
Gladys Pyle was paid for her Senate service and allowed to hire staff, but the Congress was not in session and she was never sworn in.
Gladys Pyle shared a Senate office with Thomas M Storke, an appointed interim senator from California, and spent her time in Washington lobbying federal agencies including the Works Progress Administration and Bureau of Indian Affairs for approval of projects in South Dakota.
In January 1939, Gladys Pyle returned to her insurance business, and remained closely involved in public service work.
Gladys Pyle was a member of the South Dakota Board of Charities and Corrections from 1943 to 1957.
In 1988, Gladys Pyle became the oldest living current or former US senator.
Gladys Pyle died in Huron on March 14,1989, aged 98.
Gladys Pyle's ashes are interred at Riverside Cemetery in Huron.
The Pyle House, the family home that Gladys Pyle lived in from 1894 until 1985 is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been converted into a museum.
Gladys Pyle recorded her own recollections of the home before her death, in preparation for its conversion.