MARY “MOLLY” DEWSON 1893 (1874-1962)

Early Life and Education 

Mary “Molly” Williams Dewson 1893 (1874-1962) was a social reformer, suffragist, social worker, organizer of women for the Democratic Party, and Social Security Board member. She entered into politics through the women’s suffrage movement, and women’s social and reform clubs. Like many activist women of the time Molly believed that women were more concerned than men with social reform issues, such as education, temperance, child labor laws and women’s rights in the workplace.  Known as “America’s first female political boss,” Molly worked to bring large numbers of women into the Democratic Party and build up local women’s political organizations, giving women the opportunity to be appointed to government positions.

Molly was born in Quincy, MA in 1874.  Her father, Edward, was in the leather business, and her mother, Elizabeth, a devout Unitarian, took care of their six children and the household. Fortunately for Molly, the youngest child, her father supported women’s rights and education for women.  Molly entered Dana Hall School during the 1890-1891 school year with the intention of attending Wellesley College.  At that time students who successfully completed the curriculum requirements at Dana Hall were accepted at Wellesley without further examination. 

Molly thrived and enjoyed her time at Dana Hall.  A photograph of her dormitory, Ferry Cottage, was captioned in her scrapbook “my second home.”  The Dana Hall Original Record of Grades and Enrollment, 1883/1884 – 1898/1899 reveals that Molly had excellent grades, especially in literature, math, and history. 

As an athlete Molly excelled at golf and tennis. She pitched on the boys’ softball team in primary school (Notable American Women) and was the pitcher and captain of Dana’s baseball team, known as “The Pulverizers.” According to the May 1892 Dana Hall School newspaper, The Bonbonnière, “…amid the greatest enthusiasm of both participants and audience” the Pulverizers played against the Paralyzers (the other intramural baseball team) and won both games.  

Molly had a close relationship with Principal Julia Eastman who encouraged her interest in further study at Wellesley College. She graduated from Dana Hall in 1893, along with sixteen classmates, and began her four years at Wellesley. 

There she participated fully in college life including traditions, student government, and sports.  She was elected president of her senior class. The Class of 1897 prophecy predicted that Molly would be elected president of the United States. 

Molly focused her studies on courses in history, economics, and English literature. Two Wellesley professors greatly influenced Molly: Elizabeth Kendall and Katharine Coman. Elizabeth Kendall was a world traveler and lawyer with a degree from Boston University, and a source of fascination for Molly. Kendall designed a course on the British Empire that included a study of India, the Near East, and the Far East. Molly took all six of Kendall’s courses and had a solid understanding of the political and constitutional history of the United States and England. Molly later wrote to Kendall “You were a real influence in my life, one of the milestones.” 

Professor Coman organized a separate department in economics and sociology.  She introduced innovative field work in her courses and combined intellectual pursuits with participation in reform movements. Along with fellow faculty members Emily Greene Balch and Vida Scudder, Coman was active in the Denison House, a settlement house in Boston. The economic skills Molly learned from Coman’s graduate level course “Statistical Study of Certain Economic Problems” were invaluable throughout her later career. Her experiences at Wellesley College “opened her eyes to the existence of the disadvantaged and the downtrodden, and her coursework gave her strategies to initiate political change. 

Works Cited 

Ware, Susan. Partner and I: Molly Dewson, feminism and New Deal politics. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987.

Original Record of Grades and Enrollment, 1883/1884 – 1899/1899. Dana Hall Archives.

The Bonbonnière, Vol. 2, no. 7, May 1892.  Dana Hall Archives.

Sicherman, Barbara and Ilene Kantrov, eds. Notable American Women: The Modern Period: A Biographical Dictionary. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980.

Palmieri, Patricia Ann. In Adamless Eden: The Community of Women Faculty at Wellesley. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.

Molly Dewson scrapbooks are archived at the Castine Historical Society in Castine, Maine. Scans of the Dana Hall scrapbook pages are located in the Dana Hall Archives.