Gladys Harding Brooks
Gladys Harding Brooks (nee Harding) (November 10, 1892 - November 6, 1959) was an Abilene High School (Abilene, Kansas) friend of Dwight D. Eisenhower with whom he remained in contact during his years at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. He graduated from Abilene High School in 1909, and Gladys graduated in 1910. Eisenhower entered West Point in 1911, and Gladys traveled the Chautauqua circuit with the Apollo Concert Company from 1913 to 1915. Following Dwight Eisenhower’s graduation from West Point in the spring of 1915, he spent the summer in Abilene before proceeding to his first post at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. During this interlude, Eisenhower and Harding became romantically involved, and they saw each other frequently. The letters he wrote to her reflect his views of their relationship at that time.
Following this summer romance, Eisenhower moved to Fort Sam Houston where he met Mamie Doud, and Ms. Harding resumed traveling with the Apollo Concert Company. She married Cecil H. Brooks of Enterprise, Kansas on June 10, 1916. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mamie Doud Eisenhower were wed on July 1, 1916.