Kitty Marion

Kitty Marion (born Katherina Maria Schäfer, 12 March 1871 – 9 October 1944) was an activist who advocated for women's suffrage and birth control. Born in the German Empire, she immigrated to England in 1886 when she was fifteen. She sang in music halls throughout the United Kingdom in the late 19th century, and became known in the entertainment industry for bringing attention to the sexism and sexual assaults that were common in the business.

Marion was a prominent member of the British suffrage movement, which campaigned for the right of women to vote. She began her advocacy by selling copies of the Votes for Women newspaper, then progressed to militant protests, vandalism, and riots. She was one of several suffragettes who conducted bombing and arson attacks throughout Britain. Marion was convicted and jailed several times for arson and bombing, and was subject to over two hundred force-feedings while on hunger strike in prison.

On the outbreak of World War I, Marion had to leave Britain because of her German origin, so she moved to the United States. She joined the birth control movement, and spent 13 years campaigning on street corners, selling Margaret Sanger's monthly magazine Birth Control Review. She relied on her personality and loud voice to engage passers-by, and became a well-known figure in New York City. Marion was arrested several times for distributing birth control information in violation of anti-obscenity laws. She died in New York in 1944.