Gladys Cromwell

Gladys Cromwell (1885-1919) was an American poet and heiress.

Life
Cromwell was born into a socially prominent Manhattan, New York City, family which traced its lineage back to Oliver Cromwell. Her father, a trustee of the Mutual Life Insurance Company. When he died, he left her and her siblings a fortune. She and her twin sister Dorothea purchased an apartment on Park Avenue.

Gladys Cromwell published poetry in Poetry magazine, and also put out a collection, The Gates of Utterance'', in 1915. ''

In 1918, during World War I, the twins volunteered with the Red Cross and performed canteen work close to the front in Châlons-sur-Marne and Verdun. In 1919, on the ship taking them back to America, both sisters exhibited nervous behavior that fit the symptoms of what is now understood as PTSD. They committed double committed double suicide by jumping from the ship and drowning in the Atlantic.

Recognition
Gladys and Dorothea Cromwell were both awarded the Croix de Guerre.

A posthumous collection of Gladys Cromell's Poems received the Poetry Society of America prize in 1920.