Dorothy Foster was born on July 1, 1883, in Salem, Massachusetts. She received an A.B. from Bryn Mawr College in 1904 and an A.M. from Radcliffe College in 1908. Shortly thereafter, she became an instructor at Mount Holyoke College in the English Department. She retired in 1948, after publishing many articles. Dorothy Foster died on January 27, 1968, in South Hadley, Massachusetts.