Olive Byrne
Olive "Dotsie" Byrne Richard (1904-1985) was an American housewife and domestic partner of William Moulton Marston and Elizabeth Holloway Marston; she has been credited as an inspiration for his creation Wonder Woman.
Biography
Olive Byrne and William Marston met in 1925 while she was a senior attending Tufts University. He was her psychology professor, and she soon became his research assistant, even taking him to her sorority to do some of his research. She was instrumental in introducing him to the world of sorority baby parties (in which freshmen girls are required to dress like babies and are treated like children[1]), at which he performed some of his experiments on human reactions to power.[2]
Olive Byrne was the daughter of Ethel Byrne, who famously opened the first birth-control clinic in the United States with her sister Margaret Sanger.[3]
Relationships
Olive was involved with William Marston, a married man. His wife, Elizabeth Marston, knew of their relationship and the three lived together for a number of years. Both women had Marston's children while the three were together, and Elizabeth named her daughter Olive after Byrne. Many historians assume that the women got along rather well. Because of the unusual relationship situation and living arrangements, anyone who asked was told that Olive was Elizabeth's widowed sister.[4]
Olive had two sons with Marston; Byrne and Donn.
Wonder Woman
As reported by Jill Lepore in the book The Secret History of Wonder Woman, Olive has been credited by some as being Marston's inspiration [2][5] for the physical appearance of his iconic character, Wonder Woman,[6] but Marston himself only remarked[citation needed] that a pair of bracelets that Byrne frequently wore inspired the ones that would become an important feature of the comic book heroine.
In film
Professor Marston & the Wonder Women is an upcoming biographical drama about Elizabeth Holloway Marston, her husband William Moulton Marston, Olive Byrne, and the creation of Wonder Woman.[7]
External links
- Glen, Joshua (April 4, 2004). "Wonder-working Power". The Boston Globe.
- Jett, Brett. "Who Is Wonder Woman?", " (Manuscript) (2009): 1-71.
- Lepore, Jill. The Secret History of Wonder Woman, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2014, ISBN 9780385354042
- Malcolm, Andrew H. (February 18, 1992). "She's Behind the Match For That Man of Steel". The New York Times.
- Marston, William Moulton. Emotions Of Abnormal People. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co, Ltd. 1928. ISBN 1406701165
- Valcour, Francinne. "Manipulating The Messenger: Wonder Woman As An American Female Icon", (Dissertation) (2006): 1-372.
References
- ^ William Marston, Emotions of Normal People, as quoted in Noah Berlatsky, "William Marston on Sorority Baby Parties", Hooded Utilitarian, May 6, 2012.
- ^ a b Lepore, Jill (2014). The Secret History of Wonder Woman. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 9780385354042.
- ^ Lepore, Jill (October 2014). "The Surprising Origin Story of Wonder Woman". Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
- ^ Lepore, Jill (October 2014). "The Surprising Origin Story of Wonder Woman". Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
- ^ Moon, Michael (2012-03-12). Darger’s Resources. Duke University Press. ISBN 0822351560.
- ^ Daniels, Les (2000). Wonder Woman: The complete History. Chronicle Books. ISBN 0-8118-2913-8.
- ^ Wonder Woman creator biopic gets mysterious first teaser
