Sarah Elizabeth Marston ( Holloway; February 20, 1893 – March 27, 1993) was an American attorney and

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

. She is credited, with her husband

William Moulton Marston William Moulton Marston (May 9, 1893 – May 2, 1947), also known by the pen name Charles Moulton (), was an American psychologist who, with his wife Elizabeth Holloway, invented an early prototype of the polygraph. He was also known as a self- ...

, with the development of the systolic

blood pressure measurement Arterial blood pressure is most commonly measured via a sphygmomanometer, which historically used the height of a column of mercury to reflect the circulating pressure. Blood pressure values are generally reported in millimetre of mercury, mill ...

used to detect

deception Deception is the act of convincing of one or many recipients of untrue information. The person creating the deception knows it to be false while the receiver of the information does not. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Tort of ...

; the predecessor to the

polygraph A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a pseudoscientific device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a ...

.Lamb, Marguerite.
Who Was Wonder Woman? Long-Ago LAW Alumna Elizabeth Marston Was the Muse Who Gave Us a Superheroine
, ''Boston University Alumni Magazine'', Fall 2001.Comm. to Review the Scientific Evidence on the Polygraph, Nat'l Research Council. ''The Polygraph and Lie Detection'' (2003). She is also credited as an inspiration for her husband's comic book creation

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

, along with their

polyamorous Polyamory () is the practice of, or the desire for, romantic relationships with more than one partner at the same time, with the informed consent of all partners involved. Some people who identify as polyamorous believe in consensual non-mono ...

life partner The term significant other (SO) has different uses in psychology and colloquial language. colloquialism, Colloquially, "significant other" is used as a gender-neutral language, gender-neutral term for a person's partner in an intimate relatio ...

Olive Byrne Mary Olive Byrne (), known professionally as Olive Richard (February 19, 1904 – May 19, 1990), was the live-in life partner of William Moulton Marston and Elizabeth Holloway Marston. She has been credited as an inspiration for the comic book ch ...

."Alumni Spotlight: Elizabeth Holloway Marston (LAW '18)"
/ref>Malcolm, Andrew H

''The New York Times'', February 18, 1992.

Early life

Marston was born Sarah Elizabeth Holloway on the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

, to William George Washington Holloway (died February 13, 1961), an American bank clerk, and his English wife, Daisy ( De Gaunza; died July 19, 1945), who had married in England in 1892. After her family moved to the United States, Sarah was raised in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts. Her nickname was "Sadie". She eventually discarded her forename in favor of her middle name, Elizabeth, by which she would become known.

Career and family

Marston received her BA in psychology from

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the h ...

in 1915 and her LLB from the

Boston University School of Law The Boston University School of Law (BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston. Established in 1872, it is the third-oldest law school in New England, after Harvard Law School and Yale Law School. Ap ...

in 1918,Green, Hope
"Panel Recognizes Astral Advances of Women in Law"
''B.U. Bridge'', vol 5, #31, April 19, 2002. one of just three female graduates of the School of Law that year. Marston married

in 1915. She first gave birth at age 35, then returned to work. During her long and productive career, she indexed the documents of the first fourteen Congresses, lectured on law, ethics and psychology at several American universities, and served as an editor for ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

'' and ''

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly United States, American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. The publication ...

''. She cowrote a textbook, ''Integrative Psychology'', with her husband and C. Daly King. In 1933, she became the assistant to the chief executive at Metropolitan Life Insurance. Sometime in the late 1920s,

, a young woman William had met while teaching at Tufts University, joined the household, becoming the third partner in their relationship. Elizabeth Marston had two children, Peter and Olive Ann, while Olive Byrne also gave birth to two of William's children, Byrne and Donn. The Marstons legally adopted Olive's boys, and Olive remained a part of the family, even after William's death in 1947. Olive stayed home with the children while Marston worked. Continuing at MetLife until she was sixty-five, Elizabeth sponsored all four children through college — and Byrne through medical school and Donn through law school as well. She and Olive continued living together until Olive's death in 1990. Both Olive and Marston "embodied the feminism of the day."

Systolic blood-pressure test

Marston enrolled in the master's degree program at

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

while her husband William attended the doctoral program in psychology at Harvard, which at that time enrolled only male students. She worked with William on his thesis, which concerned the correlation between blood pressure levels and deception. He later developed this into the systolic blood-pressure test used to detect deception that was the predecessor to the polygraph test. In 1921, Marston received her MA from Radcliffe and William received his PhD from Harvard. Although Marston is not listed as William's collaborator in his early work, a number of writers refer directly and indirectly to Elizabeth's work on her husband's blood pressure/deception research. She appears in a picture taken in his polygraph laboratory in the 1920s, reproduced in a 1938 publication by William.Marston, William Moulton. ''The Lie Detector Test'' (1938).

Wonder Woman

A 1992 "Our Towns" feature of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' discussed Marston's involvement in the creation of

(although no source is cited in the article for the declaration "this super-hero had better be a woman" that was attributed to Holloway): Her obituary also stated that she contributed to the development of Wonder Woman,"Elizabeth H. Marston, Inspiration for Wonder Woman, 100"
''The New York Times'', April 3, 1993. while Lillian S. Robinson argued that both Olive Byrne and Elizabeth were models for the character.Glenn, Joshua
"Wonder-working power"
''Boston.com'', April 14, 2004.Pollitt, Katha
"Wonder Woman's Kinky Feminist Roots"
''Atlantic Monthly'', October 14, 2014.

Death

Marston died on March 27, 1993, one month and one week after her 100th birthday.

In film

Marston's life is depicted in '' Professor Marston and the Wonder Women'', a 2017 fictional biographical drama that also portrays her husband William, Olive Byrne, and the creation of Wonder Woman. Marston is portrayed in the film by British actress

Rebecca Hall Rebecca Maria Hall (born 3 May 1982) is an English actress and director. She made her first onscreen appearance at the age of 10 in the 1992 The Camomile Lawn (TV serial), television adaptation of ''The Camomile Lawn'', directed by her father, ...

Asteroid

Asteroid 101813 Elizabethmarston was named in her memory. The official naming citation was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Funct ...

on September 25, 2018 () along with the naming of Asteroid 102234 Olivebyrne.

Works

* ''Integrative Psychology: A Study of Unit Response'' by William Moulton Marston, C. Daly King, and Elizabeth Holloway Marston, 1931. * ''"Chalk Marks on the Gate"'', by Elizabeth Holloway; illus. Adolf Treidler; ''Woman's Home Companion'', 1924, January; pp 14–15, 96. * ''"Gift-Horse"'', by Elizabeth Holloway; illus. George Wright; ''Woman's Home Companion'', 1922, July; pp 22–23, 92–93.

References

External links

*
My Grandmother Was the Real-Life Wonder Woman (Guest Column)
" ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', June 2, 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marston, Elizabeth Holloway 20th-century American psychologists American women psychologists Feminist psychologists 20th-century American women writers American female comics writers Golden Age comics creators American women centenarians American feminists 20th-century American women inventors 20th-century American inventors Boston University School of Law alumni Mount Holyoke College alumni Radcliffe College alumni Manx emigrants to the United States Writers from Boston Wonder Woman 1893 births 1993 deaths LGBTQ people from Connecticut Bisexual women writers Bisexual scientists LGBTQ psychologists American people of English descent American LGBTQ scientists American bisexual writers Writers from Connecticut Polyamorous people American lecturers 20th-century American LGBTQ people