Background
Mary Stone Dewing was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the eldest of three children. Her parents were teachers at Simmons College.
reformer social worker teacher Therapist volunteer
Mary Stone Dewing was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the eldest of three children. Her parents were teachers at Simmons College.
In 1926 she traveled with her family to England, Europe and Egypt. She was thought to be a sickly child and was sent to Florida to study for a time, before returning to Simmons College as a social work student. She also worked part-time in Italian and Irish immigrant communities in the South End of Boston, and in the mid-1930s received an Master of Arts degree from the University of Chicago.
In 1938, she moved to Hollywood to work with Donald McLean as one of his staff of therapists working under the principles of General Semantics.
While there she met Lloyd Morain. After working part-time for the New England Home for Little Wanderers, an institution that cared for vulnerable mothers, she became a volunteer for Planned Parenthood, later becoming president of the Planned Parenthood Association in Boston, as well as the League of Women Voters.
As well as continuing to support Planned Parenthood, Mary Morain was active in Altrusa and in adult literacy and tree planting initiatives in San Francisco. In accepting that award she said:
She died in 1999, after contracting pneumonia.
She became a leading member of Planned Parenthood, touring and lecturing on birth control around the world, often in the company of Margaret Sanger.