William Moulton Marston, a psychologist who wrote under the pseudonym Charles Moulton, created Wonder Woman in 1941. He led an experimental life and created the systolic blood pressure test, a key component in the modern polygraph test. Marston had an alternative lifestyle with his wife and love interest, both of whom had children with him, and was connected to feminist Margaret Sanger through his love interest’s grandmother.
Wonder Woman first appeared in All Star Comics No. 8, published in October 1941. The female superhero was the brainchild of psychologist William Moulton Marston, who wrote under the pseudonym Charles Moulton. Illustrator Harry G. Peter gave her a gold tiara, red corset, blue shorts, and red knee-high boots. She would continue to fight fascism with feminism in the comic pages of the era, saving the world alongside Superman (debuting in 1938) and Batman (1939). Marston led what he called “an experimental life,” a life that included three graduate degrees from Harvard, and worked as a lawyer, scientist, professor, screenwriter, and novelist. A man with secrets about him, Marston created the systolic blood pressure test, which has become a key component in the modern polygraph test, sometimes used to determine if a person is telling the truth.
The truth about William Marston:
Marston’s alternative lifestyle included his wife Elizabeth Holloway and his love interest, Olive Byrne. Both women had two children with Marston between 1928 and 1933.
Byrne was the granddaughter of Margaret Sanger, one of the foremost feminists of the early 20th century. Sanger and Olive’s mother, Ethel, opened the first birth control clinic in the United States.
In 1939, Marston wrote a magazine essay on “prejudices that hold you back,” including “prejudice against unconventional people and nonconformists.”
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