Adria Locke Langley (1899 – August 14, 1983) was an American writer best known for her first novel, published in 1945, the best seller ''A Lion Is in the Streets'' based on the life of

Huey Long Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...

. It was made into a film of the same name in 1953. She also was a fervent supporter of the repeal of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

.Coakley, Eleanor (12 June 1945)
1929 Crash Proved Challenge To Writer of Popular Novel
''

Toledo Blade ''The Blade'', also known as the ''Toledo Blade'', is a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio published daily online and printed Thursday and Sunday by Block Communications. The newspaper was first published on December 19, 1835. Overview The first issue o ...

''(18 August 1983)
ADRIA L. LANGLEY, AUTHOR OF A LION IS IN THE STREETS
''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...

''(18 August 1983)
Activist Adria Langley Dead
''

Record-Journal The ''Record-Journal'' is an American daily newspaper based in Meriden, Connecticut, that dates back to the years immediately following the American Civil War. It is owned by the Record-Journal Publishing Company, a family-owned business enti ...

Biography

Locke was born in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, 1899, as the youngest of three children. When she was young her family moved to Stanton, Nebraska and that is where she grew up. Her father William Locke, was president of the Omaha livestock market and a Quaker. He had certain ideas of what a woman should be. Because of this Adria's grandfather, Thomas Glendenning, took over in teaching her what would later be a great social consciousness. Adria was sent to Fremont College, in Nebraska, where she spent two years earning a teaching certificate. She was too young to qualify as a teacher under Nebraska State laws so she entered into Northwestern University. She was suspended for a séance. Locke married while still in her teen years and got a divorce in 1929. With only about in her pocket to support her and her eight-month-old daughter she began to travel through the south selling merchandise control systems to department stores. She took up the habit of visiting the town hall meetings wherever she happened to be and became active in the movement for prohibition reform.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Langley, Adria Locke 20th-century American novelists American women novelists 1899 births 1983 deaths People from Stanton County, Nebraska Writers from Nebraska 20th-century American women writers