The Gladys A. papers consist principally of diaries detailing Gladys's daily activities and life as a prostitute in Los Angeles from January 1949, when she arrived from Michigan, through April 1952. The collection also contains photographs of Gladys and others in her life, correspondence, and personal items including high school graduation memorabilia, receipts, and other notes. These materials trace Gladys' initial experience of moving to and living in Los Angeles as an independent woman in her early twenties. They reveal characteristics of the day-to-day places, activities, and troubles that she navigated and detail the numerous personal and intimate relationships Gladys cultivated as a casual sex worker. Her documented life gives insight into the complex realities of race, gender, and socioeconomic relationships of Los Angeles in the early 1950s.