Adele Ray

Born

1892-08-24

Died

1974-01-30

Birthplace

Brooklyn, New York, USA

Biography

Known for her eccentricities, in 1913 Adele Ray attempted to start fashion trends--once, by promoting the wearing of long split skirts in the winter, protecting the legs by wearing fur anklets; it failed to catch on. She moved to Nyack, New York after her first marriage ended, and scandalized the locals by building a house constructed of glass, where she undertook what she called "the sun cure," in the belief that a massive bombardment of ultra-violet rays would lead her to a healthy life. She also went about barefoot, wearing "perforated clothing" in order to let the sun in. She also had the local tailor outfit her carriage horse with trousers, to "keep the flies off." The horse repaid its mistress's kindness and concern by running away with the carriage, with Adele in it; the carriage was wrecked, and Adele was thrown clear, but without physical injury. After her second marriage ended, her house was vandalized, and her long-suffering horse was rescued by the local chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Mrs. Evelyn Word Leigh, as she called herself, after complaining that she would request the services of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to find the culprits because she wasn't convinced of the effectiveness of the Nyack Police Department, left for Miami, where, among other things, she headed a religious cult devoted to moon worship.