Frances Augusta Conant (née, Hemingway; December 23, 1842 – April 28, 1903) was an American journalist, editor, and businesswoman.

[2] She often wrote as a collaborator with her husband, who was connected with the American Field, and they frequently did editorial work interchangeably.

[2] Following up on an idea of Marion A. McBride of The Boston Post during the World Cotton Centennial, Conant and Dr. Julia Holmes Smith helped found the IWPA,[3] and Conant was the principal promoter of the IWPA, the first independent State organization for the purpose of affording practical assistance to women in literary pursuits.

When a plan for employing large numbers of these untrained applicants was presented to Conant she withdrew from editorial work, in 1891, to engage in the promotion and organization of a corporation projected to give, eventually, remunerative employment to thousands of women in all parts of the country.

She was secretary of the company during its first year and took an active part in the business management, then she resigned her trust to others, having made a record of phenomenal success.