Mary Dewson was born in Massachusetts in 1874 and graduated from Wellesley in 1897.  Her organizational skills landed her in the minimum wage movement. Under her leadership, the first minimum wage law in the country was passed in Massachusetts.

On hiatus, she met lifelong partner Polly Porter and moved to a Massachusetts dairy farm. During World War I, they both assisted war refugees in France for the Red Cross.

A friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, Dewson worked in FDR's 1932 presidential campaign. After helping clinch that victory, she was appointed head of the Democratic National Committee's Women's Division, securing more government jobs for female Party workers than had any previous administration.

Dewson's savvy so impressed FDR, that he nicknamed her "The Little General.

This Rainbow Minute was read by Diana Westbrook.

“The Rainbow Minute” is produced by Judd Proctor and Brian Burns and can be heard every weekday at 7:59am, 12:29pm and 2:59pm on WRIR – 97.3fm in Richmond, Virginia, and webcast at wrir.org. It’s also heard internationally on over 200 stations.