Olive Byrne Olive Byrne Mary Olive Byrne (), known professionally as Olive Richard (February 19, 1904 – May 19, 1985), was as an American homemaker and polyamorous life partner of William Moulton Marston and Elizabeth Holloway Marston. She was the daughter of famous Progressive activist Ethel Byrne who famously opened the first birth-control clinic in the United States with her sister Margaret Sanger. She has been credited as an inspiration for the comic book character, Wonder Woman. Olive was delivered by her aunt Margret Sanger to the Byrne family in Corning, New York, 1904. Two years later her mother Ethel Byrne would
Portrayal of women in American comics interview conducted by former student Olive Byrne (under the pseudonym 'Olive Richard') and published in "Family Circle", titled "Don't Laugh at the Comics", William Moulton Marston described what he saw as the great educational potential of comic books (a follow up article was published two years later in 1942.) This article caught the attention of comics publisher Max Gaines, who hired Marston as an educational consultant for National Periodicals and All-American Publications, two of the companies that would merge to form the future DC Comics. At that time, Marston decided to develop a new superhero. In the early 1940s the