Gladys Pearce was born in Bismarck, Dakota Territory on April 2, 1873.  She graduated from Bismarck High School and attended Valley City State College.  She was employed by the State Health Department in the Bureau of Vital Statistics.

The collection consists mainly of the manuscript Claimed by the Prairies which is a biography of Miss Pearce's grandmother, Winnie Nicholls, and deals particularly with her life as a Bismarck pioneer.  The manuscript describes travel by covered wagon, Fort Seward (Jamestown), gambling halls, the removal of the capital to Bismarck, the 1898 fire, negro settlements, statehood, Camp Hancock, early schools, social life of Bismarck, scenes in early Montana and many other subjects.
 

Frontier and Pioneer Life  Women