Dorothy Hedden was born in Newark, New Jersey on December 28, 1902, the daughter of Clarence Myers and Nellie Estelle Hamilton Hedden. In 1921, she enrolled in Oberlin College where she majored in psychology and served as secretary of the Sigma Gamma Literary Society. On graduation (A.B. in psychology) in 1925, she listed her plans for the ensuing months as travel. Notes in alumni publications report her being in Egypt and Turkey. On April 7, 1926, Dorothy married Arnold Riley Boyd (d. 1955), a New York attorney. A son, Robert Hedden Boyd, was born on October 14, 1927.

From 1926 until 1956, in addition to being a homemaker in Pelham Manor, New York, Dorothy Hedden Boyd served as a board member and/or officer with various voluntary community organizations and social service agencies. These included: The Pelham Woman’s Exchange (President 1937-40); The American Red Cross, Pelham Branch (Director and Chairman of Publicity, 1945); Pelham Community Services (Treasurer, 1946-47); and The Pelham Community Chest (Director, 1947). During these same years, she was also active in the County Council of Social Agencies, the Visiting Nurses Association, and the Family Service Organization.

After her husband’s death on March 25, 1955, Mrs. Boyd enrolled in the New York University School of Education and received an A.M. degree in 1957. During 1957-58, she worked as a Rehabilitation Counselor for the New York State Division of Vocational Rehabilitation in New York City. In 1958, she became a Rehabilitation Counselor for the Queensboro Tuberculosis and Health Association in Jamaica, New York. She remained in that position until the ill health of her son and a sister's terminal illness led her to resign in 1964.

She subsequently settled in Warwick, New York, where she became active in community and church activities. Poor health forced her to curtail many activities in later years.

Dorothy Hedden Boyd died on January 20, 1989.