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Gladys Park is one of many small parks created by the Bureau of Parks and Recreation to meet the growing recreational demands of post-World War II Chicago. The City acquired this .29-acre property along West Gladys Avenue in the East Garfield Park neighborhood in 1947. The Bureau developed the site as a playlot shortly thereafter, transferring it to the ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ in 1957 pursuant to the Chicago Park and City Exchange of Functions Act.  In 2012, the ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ acquired land from the City of Chicago to expand the park.

The park takes its name from the adjacent street. Gladys Avenue is named for Gladys Gunderson, a member of the Norwegian-American family that formed a successful 19th-century Chicago real estate firm, S.T. Gunderson & Sons. The family named another city street, Langley Avenue, for a second relative, Esther Gunderson Langley. Langley Park also bears her name.