born in baltimore, maryland, gladden attended duke university and the university of maryland school of law before entering practice as an attorney in the office of the public defender. she was active with the american bar association, the alliance of black women attorneys, and with the democratic party. gladden, a democrat, told the baltimore sun in 2010 that she had multiple sclerosis. she told the newspaper she was first diagnosed in 1995 but did not disclose it because she didn't want sympathy or to become a "poster child" for ms.