Lila Acheson Wallace#Death and legacy

{{Short description|American magazine publisher and philanthropist (1889-1984)}}

{{infobox person

| name = Lila Acheson Wallace

| birth_name = Lila Bell Acheson

| birth_place = Virden, Manitoba, Canada

| birth_date = December 25, 1889

| death_place = Mount Kisco, New York, United States

| death_date = May 8, 1984 (aged 94)

| education = Ward-Belmont College

| occupation = Magazine publisher

| known_for = Co founding Reader's Digest with her husband
Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund

| spouse = {{marriage|Dewitt Wallace|1921| }}

}}

Lila Bell Wallace (December 25, 1889 – May 8, 1984) was an American magazine publisher and philanthropist. She co-founded Reader's Digest with her husband Dewitt Wallace, publishing the first issue in 1922.

Early life and education

Born Lila Bell Acheson in Virden, Manitoba, Canada,{{Cite web|url=https://www.historicacanada.ca/on_this_day/birth-lila-bell-acheson|title=Birth of Lila Bell Acheson|website=Historica Canada|access-date=2019-02-09}} her father was a Presbyterian minister who brought his family to the United States when she was a child, and she grew up in Marshall, Minnesota, and Lewistown, Illinois, where her father preached. Her brother, Barclay Acheson, was an executive director of the Near East Foundation and served as an editor of Reader's Digest.{{Cite news |date=1957-12-06 |title=Dr. Barclay Acheson, Editor, Dies at 70; International Reader's Digest Official |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/12/06/archives/dr-barclay-acheson-editor-dies-at-70-international-readers-digest.html |access-date=2022-07-23 |issn=0362-4331}}

In 1917, she graduated from the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, taught at schools for two years, and then worked for the Young Women's Christian Association. She also studied at Ward–Belmont College in Nashville, Tennessee.{{cite web |url=http://www.wallacefoundation.org/learn-about-wallace/history/Documents/Wallace-Brochure-by-The-New-York-Community-Trust.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2007-07-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407123701/http://www.wallacefoundation.org/learn-about-wallace/history/Documents/Wallace-Brochure-by-The-New-York-Community-Trust.pdf |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |df=mdy-all }}. Wallace Foundation.

Career

In 1921, she married DeWitt Wallace in Pleasantville, New York.{{Cite web|url=https://worldhistory.us/canadian-history/lila-bell-acheson-wallace-co-founder-of-readers-digest.php|title=Lila Bell Acheson Wallace, Co-founder of Reader's Digest|last=Rol|first=Charles|date=2018-08-26|website=World History|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-09}} The couple co-founded the Reader's Digest magazine, with the first publication in 1922. For many years, Reader's Digest was the best-selling consumer magazine in the United States.

In her lifetime, she made philanthropic contributions estimated at $60 million. One of her major projects was the establishment of the Metropolitan Opera National Company, the national touring company of the Metropolitan Opera, in 1963.{{cite news|url=https://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2006/8/Features/The_Not-So-Grand_Tour.html|title=The Not-So-Grand Tour|author=Martin Bernheimer|work=Opera News|date=August 2006|volume=71|issue=2|pages=40–45}} She continued to support the MONC until the Metropolitan Opera decided to disband the organization at the conclusion of the 1966–1967 season.

Death and legacy

She died from heart failure, age 94, in Mount Kisco, New York.Staff (May 9, 1984). [https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/09/obituaries/lila-wallace-who-bestowed-reader-s-digest-wealth-dies.html?pagewanted=2 "Lila Wallace, Who Bestowed Reader's Digest Wealth, Dies"]. The New York Times. Retrieved August 19, 2015. The Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Writers Award was given in her memory from 1990 to 2000.{{cite web |title=Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers' Awards: The Art of the Possible |url=https://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/pages/lila-wallace-readers-digest-writers-award.aspx |publisher= Wallace Foundation |access-date=October 18, 2022}}

In 1966, Wallace received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#business}} On January 28, 1972, she was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard Nixon.[http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3563 The American Presidency Project] In 1992, she was posthumously awarded the National Medal of Arts.{{dead link|date=August 2015}} [http://www.nea.gov/honors/medals/medalists_year.html#92 "Lifetime Honors – National Medal of Arts"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826194408/http://www.nea.gov/honors/medals/medalists_year.html |date=August 26, 2013 }}. National Endowment for the Arts.