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Gladys H. Lent-Barndollar (1872-1938) was an American stenographer and advertiser. She conducted a large direct-by-mail business in the city of Oakland, California with headquarters on the seventh floor of the Tribune Tower. During her residence in California, she was prominent in cultural affairs, especially along musical lines.

Gladys O'Harra, was born in Oswego, New York, and was a representative of a family that was founded in the U.S. in the Colonial era, her maternal great-grandfather having been a patriot soldier and officer of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and her maternal grandfather having served as an officer in the civil war. Ancestors of Lent-Barndollar became pioneers in Ohio at a time when that state was a frontier region.

Lent-Barndollar gained her early education largely in the public schools at Scriba, New York, and through self-application, broad travel and comprehensive reading and study, she rounded out a liberal education, besides having developed a musical talent and gained a reputation as a concert and church singer.

She was left a widow within two years after her marriage to Benjamin F. Lent, of Syracuse, New York, and her circumstances were such that she then found it necessary to provide financial support for herself and her infant daughter. In preparation for this responsibility, she completed a course in the Caton Business College in Buffalo, New York, graduating with honors.

She was given a position in the offices of one of the leading law firms of that city. There, she continued her effective services until she found it necessary to seek a change of location for the benefit of her health and that of her daughter. She proceeded to Colorado, and her ability as a stenographer and executive there gained for her the position of court reporter for the District Court in the southern part of the state.

In 1906, Lent-Barndollar came to California, and in the Monadnock Building in San Francisco, she opened an office before the debris from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake had been cleared away. She later opened offices in Los Angeles also, and it was after she disposed of her business in each of these cities that she established her permanent residence in Oakland, California where she was prosperous in her business activities and also gained prominence in social, cultural, civic and business circles.

In 1915, after meeting many business women at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition and conferring with them concerning their varied activities, Lent-Barndollar decided to establish in Oakland a business woman's club, and her efforts along this line led to the formation of the Woman's Bureau of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce. She became the first president of this bureau, which within a period of two years, was merged into the Business and Professional Women's Club of Oakland, she having served two years as president of this club.

Lent-Barndollar was influential also in the organization of the Soroptimist Club of Alameda County, California and was its vice-president one year and member of the Board of Directors for two years. She gave two years of service as a director of the local Business and Professional Women's Club.

In 1924, she was the first woman to be elected a director of the Oakland Advertising Club, with which she became identified at the time of its organization. She was re-elected to the board of the Advertising Club, and also served as secretary-treasurer.

Lent-Barndollar was well known as a public speaker along both business and civic lines.

Her marriage to Charles K. Barndollar occurred after she had established her home in Oakland.

During World War I, Lent-Barndollar worked in connection with the various areas of patriotic service in Alameda County, and had charge of the church work of the Food Commission for this county.

She traveled extensively, especially in concert work. As a vocalist, she held choir positions in several large churches in various cities in the U.S.

She was the first woman handwriting expert to testify in the local Supreme Court. She was sent as a delegate to the convention of the federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs at Chattanooga, Tennessee, and in 1925, she was a delegate to the convention held in Portland, Maine.

References

1. Hunt, Rockwell Dennis (1926). "MRS. GLADYS H. LENT-BARNDOLLAR". California and Californians. Vol. 5. Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 105–06. Retrieved 27 December 2024 – via HathiTrust. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

• 1872 births
• 1938 deaths
• Stenographers