Dewson, Molly, 1874-1962

Mary Williams Dewson was born in Massachusetts and graduated from Wellesley College in 1897. At the Women's Educational and Industrial Union (Boston) she studied ways to professionalize housework. She was the first head of the parole department (1900-1912) of the Massachusetts State Industrial School for Girls (Lancaster), and worked for a minimum wage in Massachusetts and later with the National Consumers' League. She also worked for woman suffrage, and with the American Red Cross in France, 1917-1919. Believing she could best further social justice by strengthening women's activities in the Democratic Party, she organized women in the party from 1928 to her resignation as head of the Women's Division in 1936; she advised the division until 1941. For futher information, see Notable American Women: The Modern Period (1980).

Mary Williams Dewson was born in Massachusetts and graduated from Wellesley College in 1897. At the Women's Educational and Industrial Union (Boston) she studied ways to professionalize housework. She was the first head of the parole department of Massachusetts State Industrial School for Girls (Lancaster), 1900-1912, and worked for a minimum wage in Massachusetts and later with the National Consumers' League. She also worked for woman suffrage, and with the American Red Cross in France, 1917-1919. Believing she could best further social justice by strengthening women's activities in the Democratic Party, she organized women in the party from 1928 to her resignation as head of the Women's Division in 1936; she advised the division until 1941. For further information, see Notable American Women: The Modern Period (1980).

Social reformer.

Mary Williams Dewson was interested in minimum wage, social security, and women. She was active in Democratic Party politics working on Franklin D. Roosevelt's campaigns and holding several offices in the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee. She was the first woman to serve on the Social Security Board.

Mary ("Molly") Williams Dewson was born in Quincy, Mass., to Edward Henry and Elizabeth Weld (Williams) Dewson. With an A.B. degree from Wellesley College (1897), she was hired as secretary of the Domestic Reform Committee of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, Boston. In 1900-1912 she was superintendent of parole at the Massachusetts State Industrial School for Girls, Lancaster; there she met Mary ("Polly") G. Porter (1884-1972), a student at the Boston School for Social Workers. By 1910, they had formed a partnership that was to last 52 years.

Dewson was active in the woman's suffrage movement, and in the National Consumers' League campaign for minimum wage laws for women and children. In the late 1920s, convinced that reforms could best be accomplished through organized political parties, she initiated efforts to increase the number of women active in the Democratic Party.

In 1933, thanks to the influence of Eleanor Roosevelt, a friend and political ally, Dewson was appointed to head the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee. She is credited with securing leadership positions for many women in the Democratic Party and the Roosevelt Administration. In 1937 she was appointed to the Social Security Board, but resigned the following year. She died in Castine, Me., in 1962. For additional biographical information, see Notable American Women: The Modern Period (1980), Who Was Who in America (1961-68), and Partner and I: The Life of Molly Dewson, New Deal Politician, by Susan Ware (1987).