Dowd's early home was among the Berkshires, whence her parents removed to Westfield, Massachusetts, a town noted for its schools.

She took several courses in the Sauveur Summer School of Languages, which included foreign study and travel, and especially fitted herself to give instruction in German.

[2][6] In 1904, she left Stamford to take a post as a German teacher at Pomona College[7] in Los Angeles County.

[8] Two years later, she published a text book, Our Common Wild Flowers, which received mixed reviews from critics.

[14] Dowd was hired in 1923 to teach history and mathematics at the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School, where she remained until her retirement in June 1926.

[3] Dowd and her sister Luella, at that time known as Mrs. James W. Smith, left their homes in Hudson, New York upon her retirement and made a tour of western states with plans to permanently settle in California;[16] however, they returned to Hudson and for several years lived there and wintered in Fort Myers, Florida.

[20] In early 1943, while living in Hudson, New York, she received a gift of Florida oranges from her friends, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Rivenburg.

[21] Dowd died at her home in Hudson, on July 2, 1943, at the age of eighty-seven,[22] and is buried at Pine Hill Cemetery, in Westfield.