Gladys Rich
Gladys Rich (1904-1994) was an American composer and the author of "American Lullaby".
Biography
Rich was born in Decatur County, Georgia on March 21, 1904. The daughter of Euzema (father) and Menla (mother) Rich, Gladys was raised on the family farm. The seventh of nine children, Gladys attended high school and lived with her extended family through the beginning of her life.
After her sister Jewel was married to Ernest Kistner in 1922, Rich left the family farm. She lived with the new couple in Union County, New Jersey until 1931. During that time, she took a job as a salesperson in a local department store. In 1931, she married Waldo Emerson Dugan.
Musical career
Rich composed music including 1932's "American Lullaby", her best-known work.
Later life
Following her husband Waldo's death in 1966, Rich moved to Pompano Beach, Florida, where she lived for the rest of her life. She died on July 30, 1994, in Orlando, Florida. She was later buried in Berks County, Pennsylvania and is interred there in Pleasant View Cemetery.[1]