Mary G. Porter

Mary G. "Polly" Porter (March 1884 – 1972) was an American social worker and for more than 50 years the partner of Mary Dewson, feminist and political activist. Porter was a close friend of Eleanor Roosevelt and part of her tight-knit circle of female friends.

Biography Mary G. Porter, born in March, 1884, was the daughter of William D. Porter and Mabel G. Porter. Porter was independently wealthy and bred and raised Sheltie dogs at a kennel she owned in Georgetown, Connecticut. According to Dewson's biographer, Susan Ware, Porter was openly approved of by Dewson's mother.

In 1912, Dewson and Porter bought a house in Berlin, Massachusetts,

In 1922, they moved to 171 West 12th Street; in the same building lived Marion Dickerman and Nancy Cook, Grace Hutchins and Anna Rochester. Nearby, at 20 East 11th Street, lived Esther Lape and Elizabeth Fisher Read.

For several years, Porter and Dewson split their time between New York City and a cottage at Castine, Maine, Moss Acre, the Porter family homeplace, built by Porter’s father in the 1895 as a seasonal home and refuge.