She was widely regarded as one of the most influential and successful political lobbyists of her time, and was described in the journal Samtiden in 1915 as the "Queen of the corridors."

Her parents were liberal for the time, and her mother in particular wanted her daughters to be educated and trained in sports.

[2] The family was socially well connected and culturally involved and among their guests were Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Ole Bull, Aasmund Olavsson Vinje and Peter Chr.

[3] Fredrikke Marie Gran met her husband, Ole Anton Qvam, in 1857 when he was tutoring her.

He was born in 1831 to a family of farmers in Molde, had taken examen artium and worked as a teacher in private home.

They became secretly engaged in 1858 and married in 1865 after Ole Anton Qvam had finished law studies in Kristiania in 1862.

[7] Ole Anton Qvam established a law practice in Steinkjer and was also involved in local business and politics for the Liberal Party.

[7] Ole Anton and Frerikke Marie Qvam moved to Kristiania in 1893, when she was 50 years old.

The organization's stated purpose at the start was to provide medical supplies for use both in war and accidents during peacetime, to educate women in first aid, to educate nurses, and to fight common diseases like tuberculosis and rheumatism.

The association's purpose was to advocate for full female voting rights, in both national and local elections.

[1] When a referendum on whether Norway should leave the union with Sweden was announced in July 1905 and scheduled to be held 13 August 1905, Qvam appealed to the president of the Norwegian parliament Carl Berner to let women take part in the referendum, but the reply was negative.

She received the King's Medal of Merit in gold in 1911 and became Knight, First Class of Order of St. Olav in 1915.