Emma Gilson Wallace
{{Short description|American philanthropist (1841–1911)}}
File:Emma R. Wallace (Journal, 13th Convention, National Woman's Relief Corps, 1895).png
File:Emma R. Wallace signature (Journal, 13th Convention, National Woman's Relief Corps, 1895).png
Emma Gilson Wallace (September 2, 1841 – June 7, 1911) was an American philanthropist and leader of a charitable organization.She served as the 12th National President of the Woman's Relief Corps (WRC).{{cite web |title=Emma Gilson Wallace, president of the National Woman's Relief Corps |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.58255/ |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA |access-date=17 March 2024}}
Early life
Emma Rosela Gilson was born in La Moille, Illinois, on September 2, 1841, and died in Chicago, Illinois, on June 7, 1911.
She received a careful education and was at an early age interested in reform and charitable movements.
Career
File:MRS M. K. M. WALLACE. A woman of the century (page 752 crop).jpg]]
Wallace was for years president of the Women's Universalist Association of Illinois, and the work accomplished under her leadership was of great importance to the denomination at large. She successfully managed church and charitable associations.
She was a member of the Chicago Press Club, the Chicago Woman's Club, the WRC, the Woman's Exchange, the Home of the Friendless, and many other similar organizations.
She was among the first to interest the public in a woman's department for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and she was one of the lady managers of the exposition. She was president of the Illinois Industrial School for Girls, in Evanston, Illinois, and that institution owed much of its success to her.
Personal life
On September 2, 1863, Emma R. Gilson married Col. Martin Reuben Merritt Wallace (1829–1902), and their wedding tour took them to the South, where Colonel Wallace was stationed. They remained in the South until the war ended and then went to Chicago, Illinois.
They had 3 children: George William Ransom Wallace (1865–1944), Katherine E. Wallace (1866–1947), and Sarah Price Wallace Boyden (1868–1953).
They were members of St. Paul's Universalist Church, in that city, and Wallace was prominently identified with its interests.
She died on June 7, 1911, and is buried at Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago.
References
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External links
- {{Wikisource-inline|Woman of the Century/Mrs. M. R. M. Wallace}}
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Category:Burials at Rosehill Cemetery
Category:People from Bureau County, Illinois
Category:Philanthropists from Illinois
Category:Woman's Relief Corps national presidents
Category:19th-century American philanthropists
Category:19th-century American women philanthropists
Category:Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century