Mary W. Dewson Papers, 1898-1961 | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Title: Mary W. Dewson Papers, 1898-1961

Primary Creator: Dewson, Mary W. (1874-1962)

Extent: 12.61 Cubic Feet

Arrangement: The Dewson Papers have been arranged in four series.

Languages: English

Mary Williams Dewson, usually known as "Molly," was born in Quincy, Massachusetts on February 18, 1874. At 17, she startled her New England Republican family by supporting Grover Cleveland for President. She continued to display her independence by seeking a college education at a time when this was a rare goal for a woman.

After graduation from Wellesley College in 1897, she did research for the Women's Educational and Industrial Union in Boston. She compiled statistics on women's wages and hours and also wrote a "Family Budget Book." From 1900 to 1912 she served as Superintendent of the Girls' Parole Department of Massachusetts. Her statistical studies were widely published and she became a nationally recognized reformer in the field of social work research.

In 1911, she accepted an assignment as Secretary of the Committee on Minimum Wage Legislation for the State of Massachusetts. This committee's report contained recommendations for what became the first minimum wage law and later served as a model for other states.

Both Molly Dewson and her partner, social worker Mary ("Polly") Porter, were activists in the Boston area women’s suffrage movement. Through this activist network they met and worked with several major figures who later became influential in the New Deal. After departing from the Parole Department where they both worked, Dewson and Porter spent five years running a dairy farm in Berlin, Massachusetts and then in 1917 went to France to serve as administrators with the American Red Cross.

When World War I ended, Dewson returned to the United States, sold the farm and took a job as a Research Secretary for the National Consumers League. There she continued her activities for minimum wage legislation. She wrote the factual parts of the briefs on minimum wage legislation for the Supreme Court and the State of California. She resigned from the position in 1924 but maintained her interest in the League for the rest of her life.

From 1924 to 1927, she worked with a number of social reform organizations including the New York Women’s City Club. At some point during this period she met Eleanor Roosevelt and the two became friends and frequent collaborators. It was Mrs. Roosevelt who asked her to help with the Democratic Campaign in 1928 starting Dewson’s political career. Ms. Dewson worked for Franklin D. Roosevelt during his second gubernatorial campaign in 1930. She was Chair of the Women's Division of the Democratic National Campaign Committee in 1932, Director of the Women's Division, 1933-34; Director of the General Advisory Committee of the Women's Division, 1934-36 and Vice Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, 1936-37.

During this time Dewson worked alongside many labor reform leaders including Frances Perkins, whom she eventually recommended to FDR as Secretary of Labor. Dewson, herself, was asked by President Roosevelt to serve on the Advisory Council of the President's Committee on Economic Security. The recommendations of this committee were later incorporated in the Social Security Act.

Molly Dewson’s leadership in the DNC proved crucial to FDR’s successful reelection as President in 1936. Dewson devised what she named the “Reporter Plan,” an information campaign designed to build local networks of women across the nation who would act as informed citizens to educate their neighbors, clubs, churches, and even households about the benefits of New Deal programs. The plan leveraged personal networks and trusted relationships among women, demystified complex and even experimental government information, and effectively mobilized whole communities to vote.      

Molly Dewson was always interested in the role of women in government and industry. She firmly believed that at least one woman should be appointed to the Social Security Board but the members of the first Board were all men. In 1937, Molly Dewson, herself, became the first woman to serve on the Social Security Board. She was concerned with improving the image of Social Security and in expanding coverage to include domestic workers and farm laborers and also widows and dependent children. Not all of these goals were accomplished during her tenure on the Board, however.

Due to health concerns, in 1938, Molly Dewson retired from government service and, with Mary Porter, went to live in what had previously been their summer home in Castine, Maine. Even in retirement, she kept in touch with former colleagues. She served as Director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial Fund and as Vice President of the National Consumers League. She died in October 1962, in Castine.

Repository: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Access Restrictions: This collection is available for use by the general public.

Use Restrictions: Literary Property Rights in these papers have not been donated to the United States Government.

Acquisition Source: Mary W. Dewson

Acquisition Method: The papers were donated to the FDR Library by Mary W. Dewson.

Related Materials: Files in the President's Papers including PPF 5689 (Mary W. Dewson) , OF 300 (Democratic National Committee), OF 1710 (Social Security Board), and OF 1086 (Committee on Economic Security), Papers of Eleanor Roosevelt, Democratic National Committee Papers, Papers of the Democratic National Committee - Women's Division and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial Foundation Papers.