Julia Boggs Grant (née Dent; January 26, 1826 – December 14, 1902) was the first lady of the United States and wife of President Ulysses S. Grant. As first lady, she became the first woman in the position to write a memoir. Her memoirs, The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant, were published in 1975.

Julia Boggs Dent was born on January 26, 1826, at White Haven plantation west of St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents were Frederick Dent (1787–1873), a planter and merchant, and Ellen Wrenshall Dent. Frederick enslaved about 30 Africans, whom he freed only when compelled by law, having previously resisted moral arguments against slavery. Her family were of English descent, and her mother was born in England.

Grant, a distant maternal relative to Confederate general James Longstreet, was the fifth of eight children. In her memoirs, Grant described her childhood as "one long summer of sunshine, flowers, and smiles…"

Around 1831–1836, Julia attended the Gravois School, a co-educational one-room schoolhouse in St. Louis. From age 10 to age 17, Grant attended the Mauro Academy for Young Ladies in St. Louis with the daughters of other affluent parents. Grant was a boarding student during the week and returned home to White Haven on weekends.

The Dent family was highly social, with visitors coming from among the elite class of Cincinnati, Louisville, and Pittsburgh. William Clark (of Lewis and Clark) and politician Alexander McNair were family friends.

As a young woman, Grant was a skilled pianist, an expert horsewoman, and a voracious reader of novels.

Grant was born with strabismus (more commonly known as "crossed eyes"), which prevents both eyes from lining up in the same direction. When she was younger, one of the best surgeons in the country offered to perform the simple operation that would fix them. Grant was not keen on surgery, however, and declined.

Because her strabismus was never corrected, Grant almost always posed in profile for portraits.