Atwater was born in Somerville, Massachusetts,[2] was raised in Middletown, Connecticut and graduated from Smith College in 1897.

[3] For the next ten years she helped her father, Wilbur Olin Atwater, with his nutrition and colorimetry research.

After she wound up his estate, she was hired by the USDA in the scientific division of the Bureau of Home Economics.

She wrote pamphlets and books to help, primarily rural, women learn about nutrition and modified methods of food preparation.

[4] She was an active member of the American Public Health Association and chaired its committee on housing hygiene in 1942.