Marion Marsh Todd

Marion Marsh Todd (February 28, 1841 – October 2, 1928) was an American author, lawyer and political economist. After her husband died in 1880, Todd ran for state attorney general with the Greenback Labor Party and joined the Knights of Labor General Assembly. She also authored political and romantic books including Prof. Goldwin Smith and His Satellites in Congress, Railways of Europe and America and Protective Tariff Delusions

Early life Todd was born on February 28, 1841, in Plymouth, New York. She was one of seven children and attended Ypsilanti State Normal School. Her father, Abner Kneeland Marsh, died when she was ten years old.

Career Todd married Benjamin Todd in 1868 and they moved to California. She attended Hastings College of Law and practiced law in California before moving to Chicago. She was one of the first woman to pass the State Bar of California. As one of the first women to enrol at Hastings, Todd was classmates alongside activists Clara Shortridge Foltz and Laura de Force Gordon.

After her husband's death, Todd ran for State Attorney General with the Greenback Labor Party. She moved to Chicago where she became the editor of a reformer newspaper and then to Eaton Rapids, Michigan. She joined the Equity Club, a network of female lawyers.

While continuing her political activism, Todd also authored political and romantic books. In 1893, with the help of the chairman of the National Committee of the People's party, she published Railways of Europe and America: Or, Government Ownership.

Selected publications Railways of Europe and America: Or, Government Ownership (1893) Prof. Goldwin Smith and His Satellites in Congress (1890) Railways of Europe and America Protective Tariff Delusions Claudia (1902)