Editing Lila Acheson Wallace

{{Short description|American magazine publisher and philanthropist (1889-1984)}}
{{infobox person
| name = Lila Acheson Wallace
| birth_name = Lila Bell Acheson
| birth_place = [[Virden, Manitoba|Virden]], Manitoba, Canada
| birth_date = December 25, 1889
| death_place = [[Mount Kisco, New York|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<br />[[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|Virden]], [[Manitoba]], Canada,<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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''.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

In 1917, she graduated from the [[University of Oregon]], located in [[Eugene, Oregon|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|Nashville]], [[Tennessee]].<ref>{{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]].</ref>

==Career==
In 1921, she married [[DeWitt Wallace]] in [[Pleasantville, New York|Pleasantville]], New York.<ref name=":0">{{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}}</ref> The couple co-founded the ''[[Reader's Digest]]'' magazine, with the first publication in 1922.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name="ON">{{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}}</ref> She continued to support the MONC until the Metropolitan Opera decided to disband the organization at the conclusion of the 1966–1967 season.<ref name="ON"/>

==Death and legacy ==
She died from [[heart failure]], age 94, in [[Mount Kisco, New York|Mount Kisco]], [[New York (state)|New York]].<ref>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.</ref> The Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Writers Award was given in her memory from 1990 to 2000.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

In 1966, Wallace received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{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}}</ref> On January 28, 1972, she was presented with the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] by President [[Richard Nixon]].<ref>[http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3563 ''The American Presidency Project'']</ref> In 1992, she was posthumously awarded the [[National Medal of Arts]].<ref>{{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]].</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Business and economics|Literature|New York (state)}}
* [[List of people from New York]]
* [[List of Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]]
* [[List of University of Oregon alumni]]

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{commons category-inline|Lila Acheson Wallace}}

{{National Medal of Arts recipients 1990s}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Lila Bell}}
[[Category:1889 births]]
[[Category:1984 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century American publishers (people)]]
[[Category:American magazine founders]]
[[Category:American magazine publishers (people)]]
[[Category:Philanthropists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:American Presbyterians]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Manitoba]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Canadian women in business]]
[[Category:People from Mount Kisco, New York]]
[[Category:People from Pleasantville, New York]]
[[Category:People from Virden, Manitoba]]
[[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]]
[[Category:Reader's Digest]]
[[Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients]]
[[Category:University of Oregon alumni]]
[[Category:Ward–Belmont College alumni]]
[[Category:American women company founders]]
[[Category:Women in publishing]]
[[Category:20th-century American philanthropists]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesswomen]]