Frances Boardman Squire Potter (November 12, 1867 – March 25, 1914) was an American academic and activist.

Frances Boardman Squire was born on November 12, 1867, in Elmira, New York, to Grace (Smith) and Truman H.

[3] Potter attended Elmira College as an undergraduate from 1883 to 1887, graduating with an AB, and received a master's degree in 1889.

[1][4] She did research on the papers of John Milton at the University of Cambridge while on a leave of absence from her professorship around 1907.

[3] Around that time, she also chaired the literary committee of the General Federation of Women's Clubs and edited Life and Labor, its magazine.