Albert Eugene de Forest was a well-known acting teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles for over thirty years. Born in 1849 in Newton, Connecticut, he was the only surviving child of Walter and Julia Bradley, who gave him the name Mary J. Bradley. He identified as a boy from an early age. He later described himself as a tomboy who chafed at his parents' attempts to make him dress and behave like a girl. De Forest attributed his "male soul" to his mother's grief over the loss of a five-year-old son who died the year before De Forest's birth (possibly Albert Bradley who died in 1848 at age five and is buried at Botsford Cemetery in Newtown, Conn.).
After being frustrated in his effort to attend a men's college, in 1867 De Forest enrolled (as Mary J. Bradley) at Vassar, a women's college established in 1861 in Poughkeepsie, New York. At Vassar, he met Dr. Alida Cornelia Avery, an ardent suffragist and advocate for the rights of women and girls. Dr. Avery was an outspoken critic of corsets and other restrictive female attire. As the college's resident physician, she encouraged her students to wear more comfortable clothing styles. Dr. Avery lent a sympathetic ear to De Forest's struggles and became a lifelong friend and mother figure to him.
While pursuing an acting career on the East Coast, De Forest (still known as Mary Bradley) met Rev. John Milton Hart, a newspaperman and graduate of the progressive Union Theological Seminary of New York. They married on Sept. 7, 1877, in Newtown, Connecticut. According to De Forest, the marriage was a platonic arrangement. They moved to San Francisco by 1880.* At some point they relocated to San Jose, where De Forest's mentor, Dr. Avery, established a medical practice in 1887. De Forest taught and performed oratory and dramatic arts in the San Francisco Bay Area under the name Mrs. Mary J. Bradley and the stage name Eugenie De Forest (sometimes spelled De Forrest).
[*In the 1880 census, J. M. Hart (minister) and Mary Hart, natives of Connecticut, were living at 210 Turk Street, San Francisco. Mary J. Bradley (a teacher of elocution) is also listed in the 1880 census at 216 Turk Street, S.F., with mother Julia Bradley and a cousin, Ella Bradley.]
After John Hart's death in 1893, De Forest began to live openly as a man. On Sept. 1, 1893, he created a sensation by walking through downtown San Jose dressed in "a stylish dark brown double-breasted sack coat, trousers of the latest pattern with a mauve-colored Derby of the latest style, with a very broad brim, which the girls term 'a hat with a sidewalk around it.' A new pair of patent-leather tipped lace shoes covered her feet and in her hand was a small ebony cane." (San Jose Daily Mercury, Sept. 2, 1893). De Forest told the Mercury that he had felt male since childhood and would no longer be bothered with skirts. He said that his husband knew of his desire to wear men's clothing and, from his deathbed, encouraged De Forest to be true to himself. "My life is an open book ... I am not ashamed of anything I have done."
In 1895, De Forest publicly announced that he was changing his name to Albert Eugene de Forest. He remained close to Dr. Avery and her large circle of fellow suffragists and temperance advocates. Bay Area newspapers were generally sympathetic to De Forest during this time period. Although the writers continued to refer to De Forest as "she" or "Miss," they mostly treated the story as an interesting novelty, probably out of deference to De Forest's perceived status as an upper class white woman. It could also reflect the relatively open attitudes of the 1890s Bay Area towards something that may have been viewed as a form of artistic free expression.
Dr. Avery's death in 1908 was surely a blow to De Forest. He moved to Southern California to begin a new life where no one knew his history. In 1911, he married a woman, Margaret Barton Hawley, in Santa Barbara, but they divorced shortly thereafter. His attempt to marry a widow named Mrs. Durress in 1915 in Los Angeles led to an arrest for cross-dressing when someone outed him to the police. The charges were dropped after suffragist attorney Clara Shortridge Foltz came to his defense. However, Mrs. Durress was alarmed by the publicity and called off the wedding, claiming that she had been misled. This time, the newspapers had a hostile tone, in contrast to the gentler news coverage two decades earlier. In an eloquent letter to the Los Angeles Herald (Sept. 1, 1915), De Forest tried to explain that he had been born in a woman's body with the soul of a man.
De Forest remained in Los Angeles and continued to teach acting until his death from pneumonia on Oct. 8, 1917. While hospitalized, he successfully lobbied the hospital to be placed in the men's ward. The name "Albert Eugene De Forest" appears on his death certificate; his sex is listed as "Female?" with a question mark. His remains were cremated at Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles and sent to Cypress Lawn in Colma, San Mateo County, for inurnment.
(Sources: Wendy L. Rouse, Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women's Suffrage Movement (NY Univ. Press, 2022), pp.73-79; "Wears Trousers: Eugenie De Forrest, the Actress, Dons Male Attire," San Jose Daily Mercury, Sunday, Sept. 2, 1893, p.5; "Woman Tells Own Story of 25 Years As a Man," Los Angeles Evening Herald (Evening News & Financial edition), Weds., Sept. 1, 1915, p.1.)
After being frustrated in his effort to attend a men's college, in 1867 De Forest enrolled (as Mary J. Bradley) at Vassar, a women's college established in 1861 in Poughkeepsie, New York. At Vassar, he met Dr. Alida Cornelia Avery, an ardent suffragist and advocate for the rights of women and girls. Dr. Avery was an outspoken critic of corsets and other restrictive female attire. As the college's resident physician, she encouraged her students to wear more comfortable clothing styles. Dr. Avery lent a sympathetic ear to De Forest's struggles and became a lifelong friend and mother figure to him.
While pursuing an acting career on the East Coast, De Forest (still known as Mary Bradley) met Rev. John Milton Hart, a newspaperman and graduate of the progressive Union Theological Seminary of New York. They married on Sept. 7, 1877, in Newtown, Connecticut. According to De Forest, the marriage was a platonic arrangement. They moved to San Francisco by 1880.* At some point they relocated to San Jose, where De Forest's mentor, Dr. Avery, established a medical practice in 1887. De Forest taught and performed oratory and dramatic arts in the San Francisco Bay Area under the name Mrs. Mary J. Bradley and the stage name Eugenie De Forest (sometimes spelled De Forrest).
[*In the 1880 census, J. M. Hart (minister) and Mary Hart, natives of Connecticut, were living at 210 Turk Street, San Francisco. Mary J. Bradley (a teacher of elocution) is also listed in the 1880 census at 216 Turk Street, S.F., with mother Julia Bradley and a cousin, Ella Bradley.]
After John Hart's death in 1893, De Forest began to live openly as a man. On Sept. 1, 1893, he created a sensation by walking through downtown San Jose dressed in "a stylish dark brown double-breasted sack coat, trousers of the latest pattern with a mauve-colored Derby of the latest style, with a very broad brim, which the girls term 'a hat with a sidewalk around it.' A new pair of patent-leather tipped lace shoes covered her feet and in her hand was a small ebony cane." (San Jose Daily Mercury, Sept. 2, 1893). De Forest told the Mercury that he had felt male since childhood and would no longer be bothered with skirts. He said that his husband knew of his desire to wear men's clothing and, from his deathbed, encouraged De Forest to be true to himself. "My life is an open book ... I am not ashamed of anything I have done."
In 1895, De Forest publicly announced that he was changing his name to Albert Eugene de Forest. He remained close to Dr. Avery and her large circle of fellow suffragists and temperance advocates. Bay Area newspapers were generally sympathetic to De Forest during this time period. Although the writers continued to refer to De Forest as "she" or "Miss," they mostly treated the story as an interesting novelty, probably out of deference to De Forest's perceived status as an upper class white woman. It could also reflect the relatively open attitudes of the 1890s Bay Area towards something that may have been viewed as a form of artistic free expression.
Dr. Avery's death in 1908 was surely a blow to De Forest. He moved to Southern California to begin a new life where no one knew his history. In 1911, he married a woman, Margaret Barton Hawley, in Santa Barbara, but they divorced shortly thereafter. His attempt to marry a widow named Mrs. Durress in 1915 in Los Angeles led to an arrest for cross-dressing when someone outed him to the police. The charges were dropped after suffragist attorney Clara Shortridge Foltz came to his defense. However, Mrs. Durress was alarmed by the publicity and called off the wedding, claiming that she had been misled. This time, the newspapers had a hostile tone, in contrast to the gentler news coverage two decades earlier. In an eloquent letter to the Los Angeles Herald (Sept. 1, 1915), De Forest tried to explain that he had been born in a woman's body with the soul of a man.
De Forest remained in Los Angeles and continued to teach acting until his death from pneumonia on Oct. 8, 1917. While hospitalized, he successfully lobbied the hospital to be placed in the men's ward. The name "Albert Eugene De Forest" appears on his death certificate; his sex is listed as "Female?" with a question mark. His remains were cremated at Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles and sent to Cypress Lawn in Colma, San Mateo County, for inurnment.
(Sources: Wendy L. Rouse, Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women's Suffrage Movement (NY Univ. Press, 2022), pp.73-79; "Wears Trousers: Eugenie De Forrest, the Actress, Dons Male Attire," San Jose Daily Mercury, Sunday, Sept. 2, 1893, p.5; "Woman Tells Own Story of 25 Years As a Man," Los Angeles Evening Herald (Evening News & Financial edition), Weds., Sept. 1, 1915, p.1.)
Albert Eugene de Forest was a well-known acting teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles for over thirty years. Born in 1849 in Newton, Connecticut, he was the only surviving child of Walter and Julia Bradley, who gave him the name Mary J. Bradley. He identified as a boy from an early age. He later described himself as a tomboy who chafed at his parents' attempts to make him dress and behave like a girl. De Forest attributed his "male soul" to his mother's grief over the loss of a five-year-old son who died the year before De Forest's birth (possibly Albert Bradley who died in 1848 at age five and is buried at Botsford Cemetery in Newtown, Conn.).
After being frustrated in his effort to attend a men's college, in 1867 De Forest enrolled (as Mary J. Bradley) at Vassar, a women's college established in 1861 in Poughkeepsie, New York. At Vassar, he met Dr. Alida Cornelia Avery, an ardent suffragist and advocate for the rights of women and girls. Dr. Avery was an outspoken critic of corsets and other restrictive female attire. As the college's resident physician, she encouraged her students to wear more comfortable clothing styles. Dr. Avery lent a sympathetic ear to De Forest's struggles and became a lifelong friend and mother figure to him.
While pursuing an acting career on the East Coast, De Forest (still known as Mary Bradley) met Rev. John Milton Hart, a newspaperman and graduate of the progressive Union Theological Seminary of New York. They married on Sept. 7, 1877, in Newtown, Connecticut. According to De Forest, the marriage was a platonic arrangement. They moved to San Francisco by 1880.* At some point they relocated to San Jose, where De Forest's mentor, Dr. Avery, established a medical practice in 1887. De Forest taught and performed oratory and dramatic arts in the San Francisco Bay Area under the name Mrs. Mary J. Bradley and the stage name Eugenie De Forest (sometimes spelled De Forrest).
[*In the 1880 census, J. M. Hart (minister) and Mary Hart, natives of Connecticut, were living at 210 Turk Street, San Francisco. Mary J. Bradley (a teacher of elocution) is also listed in the 1880 census at 216 Turk Street, S.F., with mother Julia Bradley and a cousin, Ella Bradley.]
After John Hart's death in 1893, De Forest began to live openly as a man. On Sept. 1, 1893, he created a sensation by walking through downtown San Jose dressed in "a stylish dark brown double-breasted sack coat, trousers of the latest pattern with a mauve-colored Derby of the latest style, with a very broad brim, which the girls term 'a hat with a sidewalk around it.' A new pair of patent-leather tipped lace shoes covered her feet and in her hand was a small ebony cane." (San Jose Daily Mercury, Sept. 2, 1893). De Forest told the Mercury that he had felt male since childhood and would no longer be bothered with skirts. He said that his husband knew of his desire to wear men's clothing and, from his deathbed, encouraged De Forest to be true to himself. "My life is an open book ... I am not ashamed of anything I have done."
In 1895, De Forest publicly announced that he was changing his name to Albert Eugene de Forest. He remained close to Dr. Avery and her large circle of fellow suffragists and temperance advocates. Bay Area newspapers were generally sympathetic to De Forest during this time period. Although the writers continued to refer to De Forest as "she" or "Miss," they mostly treated the story as an interesting novelty, probably out of deference to De Forest's perceived status as an upper class white woman. It could also reflect the relatively open attitudes of the 1890s Bay Area towards something that may have been viewed as a form of artistic free expression.
Dr. Avery's death in 1908 was surely a blow to De Forest. He moved to Southern California to begin a new life where no one knew his history. In 1911, he married a woman, Margaret Barton Hawley, in Santa Barbara, but they divorced shortly thereafter. His attempt to marry a widow named Mrs. Durress in 1915 in Los Angeles led to an arrest for cross-dressing when someone outed him to the police. The charges were dropped after suffragist attorney Clara Shortridge Foltz came to his defense. However, Mrs. Durress was alarmed by the publicity and called off the wedding, claiming that she had been misled. This time, the newspapers had a hostile tone, in contrast to the gentler news coverage two decades earlier. In an eloquent letter to the Los Angeles Herald (Sept. 1, 1915), De Forest tried to explain that he had been born in a woman's body with the soul of a man.
De Forest remained in Los Angeles and continued to teach acting until his death from pneumonia on Oct. 8, 1917. While hospitalized, he successfully lobbied the hospital to be placed in the men's ward. The name "Albert Eugene De Forest" appears on his death certificate; his sex is listed as "Female?" with a question mark. His remains were cremated at Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles and sent to Cypress Lawn in Colma, San Mateo County, for inurnment.
(Sources: Wendy L. Rouse, Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women's Suffrage Movement (NY Univ. Press, 2022), pp.73-79; "Wears Trousers: Eugenie De Forrest, the Actress, Dons Male Attire," San Jose Daily Mercury, Sunday, Sept. 2, 1893, p.5; "Woman Tells Own Story of 25 Years As a Man," Los Angeles Evening Herald (Evening News & Financial edition), Weds., Sept. 1, 1915, p.1.)
After being frustrated in his effort to attend a men's college, in 1867 De Forest enrolled (as Mary J. Bradley) at Vassar, a women's college established in 1861 in Poughkeepsie, New York. At Vassar, he met Dr. Alida Cornelia Avery, an ardent suffragist and advocate for the rights of women and girls. Dr. Avery was an outspoken critic of corsets and other restrictive female attire. As the college's resident physician, she encouraged her students to wear more comfortable clothing styles. Dr. Avery lent a sympathetic ear to De Forest's struggles and became a lifelong friend and mother figure to him.
While pursuing an acting career on the East Coast, De Forest (still known as Mary Bradley) met Rev. John Milton Hart, a newspaperman and graduate of the progressive Union Theological Seminary of New York. They married on Sept. 7, 1877, in Newtown, Connecticut. According to De Forest, the marriage was a platonic arrangement. They moved to San Francisco by 1880.* At some point they relocated to San Jose, where De Forest's mentor, Dr. Avery, established a medical practice in 1887. De Forest taught and performed oratory and dramatic arts in the San Francisco Bay Area under the name Mrs. Mary J. Bradley and the stage name Eugenie De Forest (sometimes spelled De Forrest).
[*In the 1880 census, J. M. Hart (minister) and Mary Hart, natives of Connecticut, were living at 210 Turk Street, San Francisco. Mary J. Bradley (a teacher of elocution) is also listed in the 1880 census at 216 Turk Street, S.F., with mother Julia Bradley and a cousin, Ella Bradley.]
After John Hart's death in 1893, De Forest began to live openly as a man. On Sept. 1, 1893, he created a sensation by walking through downtown San Jose dressed in "a stylish dark brown double-breasted sack coat, trousers of the latest pattern with a mauve-colored Derby of the latest style, with a very broad brim, which the girls term 'a hat with a sidewalk around it.' A new pair of patent-leather tipped lace shoes covered her feet and in her hand was a small ebony cane." (San Jose Daily Mercury, Sept. 2, 1893). De Forest told the Mercury that he had felt male since childhood and would no longer be bothered with skirts. He said that his husband knew of his desire to wear men's clothing and, from his deathbed, encouraged De Forest to be true to himself. "My life is an open book ... I am not ashamed of anything I have done."
In 1895, De Forest publicly announced that he was changing his name to Albert Eugene de Forest. He remained close to Dr. Avery and her large circle of fellow suffragists and temperance advocates. Bay Area newspapers were generally sympathetic to De Forest during this time period. Although the writers continued to refer to De Forest as "she" or "Miss," they mostly treated the story as an interesting novelty, probably out of deference to De Forest's perceived status as an upper class white woman. It could also reflect the relatively open attitudes of the 1890s Bay Area towards something that may have been viewed as a form of artistic free expression.
Dr. Avery's death in 1908 was surely a blow to De Forest. He moved to Southern California to begin a new life where no one knew his history. In 1911, he married a woman, Margaret Barton Hawley, in Santa Barbara, but they divorced shortly thereafter. His attempt to marry a widow named Mrs. Durress in 1915 in Los Angeles led to an arrest for cross-dressing when someone outed him to the police. The charges were dropped after suffragist attorney Clara Shortridge Foltz came to his defense. However, Mrs. Durress was alarmed by the publicity and called off the wedding, claiming that she had been misled. This time, the newspapers had a hostile tone, in contrast to the gentler news coverage two decades earlier. In an eloquent letter to the Los Angeles Herald (Sept. 1, 1915), De Forest tried to explain that he had been born in a woman's body with the soul of a man.
De Forest remained in Los Angeles and continued to teach acting until his death from pneumonia on Oct. 8, 1917. While hospitalized, he successfully lobbied the hospital to be placed in the men's ward. The name "Albert Eugene De Forest" appears on his death certificate; his sex is listed as "Female?" with a question mark. His remains were cremated at Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles and sent to Cypress Lawn in Colma, San Mateo County, for inurnment.
(Sources: Wendy L. Rouse, Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women's Suffrage Movement (NY Univ. Press, 2022), pp.73-79; "Wears Trousers: Eugenie De Forrest, the Actress, Dons Male Attire," San Jose Daily Mercury, Sunday, Sept. 2, 1893, p.5; "Woman Tells Own Story of 25 Years As a Man," Los Angeles Evening Herald (Evening News & Financial edition), Weds., Sept. 1, 1915, p.1.)
Gravesite Details
Per cemetery records, the ashes of Albert E. DeForrest and Dr. Alida C. Avery are inurned together at Cypress Lawn's Old Columbarium (not open to the public). Alida's name is also inscribed on a family monument in Sherburne, NY.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
