thumb|Bonnie Parkerthumb|Bonnie and Clyde clowning.
'''Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow''' were notorious robbers and criminals who travelled the central United States during the Great Depression. Their exploits were known nationwide. They captivated the attention of the American press and its readership during what is sometimes referred to as the "public enemy era" between 1931 and 1935. Though remembered as bank robbers, Clyde Barrow preferred to rob small stores or gas stations.
Though the public at the time believed Bonnie to be a full partner in the gang, the role of Bonnie Parker in the Barrow Gang crimes has long been a source of controversy. Gang members W.D. Jones and Ralph Fults testified that they never saw Bonnie fire a gun, and described her role as logistical.
[Phillips, John. ''Running with Bonnie and Clyde: The Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults''] Jones' sworn statement was that "Bonnie never packed a gun, out of the five major gun battles I was with them she never fired a gun." Writing with Phillip Steele in ''The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde'', Marie Barrow, Clyde's youngest sister, made the same claim: "Bonnie never fired a shot. She just followed my brother no matter where he went."
[Barrow, Marie. ''The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde''] In his article "Bonnie and Clyde: Romeo and Juliet in a Getaway Car", the noted writer Joseph Geringer explained part of their appeal to the public then, and their enduring legend now, by saying "Americans thrilled to their 'Robin Hood' adventures. The presence of a female, Bonnie, escalated the sincerity of their intentions to make them something unique and individual -- even at times heroic."
[Geringer, Joseph. ''Bonnie and Clyde: Romeo and Juliet in a Getaway Car'']Bonnie Parker
'''Bonnie Elizabeth Parker''' was born October 1, 1910, in Rowena, Texas, the second of three children. Her father, a bricklayer, died when Bonnie was four, prompting her mother to move with the children to West Dallas, where they lived in poverty. Bonnie was a precocious child. An honor roll student in high school where she excelled in creative writing, she won a County League contest in literary arts, for Clement City School,
[ Youngblood, Dorothy (2006). http://texashideout.tripod.com/Youngblood.html. "Bonnie Parker's Classmate: Records of the County Literary Contest. Accessed May 2 2006.]and even gave introductory speeches for local politicians. Described as intelligent and personable by those who knew her, yet also strong willed, she was an attractive young woman, petite at 4’11” (150 cm) and weighing only 90 pounds (41 kg).
On September 25, 1926, at age fifteen, she married Roy Thornton. The marriage was short-lived, and in January 1929
