Frances R. Williams (  -1969) from Winchester, Massachusetts was one of the earliest and most dedicated hosta enthusiasts in the United States. According to The Hostapedia by Mark Zilis (2009), she was "...the most influential person in the modern history of hostas. Her correspondence with other collectors, hybridizers, and botanists from the 1930s until her death in 1969 fanned the flames of interest in hostas and let to the formation of the American Hosta Society. She also developed some of the first hosta cultivars including 'Green Piecrust', 'Louisa', and 'Sweet Susan'.

Her letters about hostas are at the Anderson Horticultural Library at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. She wrote many articles about hostas that appeared in such publications as The New York Botanic Garden Journal, Horticulture Magazine and Popular Gardening. Of course, one of the most popularly grown hostas of all time bears her name, H. 'Frances Williams'.