{{Short description|Magazine editor (1877–1957)}} {{Infobox person | name = Edna Woolman Chase | image = Edna-Woolman-Chase-1931.jpg | caption = Edna Woolman Chase, editor-in-chief of ''Vogue'' in 1931 | birth_name = Edna Woolman Allaway | birth_date = {{birth date|1877|03|14}} | birth_place = Asbury Park, New Jersey | death_date = {{death date and age|1957|03|20|1877|03|14}} | death_place = Sarasota, Florida | resting_place = Locust Valley Cemetery, Locust Valley, New York, U.S. | spouse = {{plainlist| *Francis Dane Chase (married 1902–04) *Richard Newton (married 1914-50)}} | title = Editor-in-chief of ''Vogue'' | term = 1914–1952 | predecessor = Marie Harrison | successor = Jessica Daves }}
'''Edna Woolman Chase''' ({{nee|'''Allaway'''}}; March 14, 1877 – March 21, 1957)<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news |title=Edna Woolman Chase Dies at 80; Retired Vogue Magazine Editor; Fashion Leader for Many Years Wrote Autobiography in '54 — Mother of Ilka Chase Name Known to Public. Wrote on Good Taste |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/03/21/archives/edna-woolman-chase-dies-at-80-retired-vogue-magazine-editor-fashion.html |accessdate=25 August 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=21 March 1957}}{{subscription required}}</ref> was an American who served as editor-in-chief of ''Vogue'' magazine from 1914 to 1952.
== Early life == Chase was born on March 14, 1877, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. She was the daughter of Franklyn Allaway and Laura Woolman.<ref name="Always in Vogue">{{cite book |last1=Chase |first1=Edna Woolman |last2=Chase |first2=Ilka |authorlink2=Ilka Chase |date=1954 |title=Always in Vogue |location=Garden City, New York |publisher=Doubleday |oclc=819846720}}</ref>
After her parents divorced, Chase was raised by her Quaker grandparents. She moved in with her mother in New York as a teenager.
==Personal life== In 1902, she married Francis Dane Chase, who was a merchant, dry goods salesman, and later manager of the Hotel Colonial in New York. They had a daughter, actress Ilka Chase. Her husband had trouble supporting the family, and Chase eventually divorced him.<ref name="Always in Vogue" /> She later married engineer Richard Newton in 1921.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Chase, Edna Woolman (1877–1957) {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/chase-edna-woolman-1877-1957|access-date=2020-09-01|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>
==Publishing career== Chase's first position at ''Vogue'' was working in the mail room. She worked her way up through the art and make-up departments.<ref name="nytimes" /> When Condé Montrose Nast took over ''Vogue'' in 1909, he asked Chase to continue writing under her married name, even though she was divorced. In 1911, he made her managing editor of the magazine and gave her complete control.<ref name="nytimes" /> In 1914, Nast named her editor-in-chief, a position she would hold until 1952.
One major contribution to fashion Chase made the same year she was named editor-in-chief was putting on the first fashion show. As a result of World War I, clothing makers closed their rooms in Paris. Since most of the clothes featured in ''Vogue'' were from Paris, Chase took matters into her own hands and called dressmakers in New York and had them make clothing to be featured in a show. This prompted other manufacturers to start making clothes in the United States and selling them at moderate prices.<ref>Judy R. Hynes, [http://www.woolmancentral.com/famcou3.html "Famous Cousins"], Woolman Central (accessed October 14, 2006)</ref>
Another major contribution she made to fashion was the Fashion Group International. In 1928 Chase brought together 17 prominent women in the fashion world. The Fashion Group International (formed then but not an official organization until 1930) publicized American fashion and the role of women in the industry. The Fashion Group International is still in business today.<ref>The Fashion Group International, [http://www.fgi.org/index.php?news=311 "Fashion Group History"], 2006 (accessed October 2006)</ref>
==Retirement and autobiography== Chase retired as editor-in-chief of ''Vogue'' in 1952.<ref name="Always in Vogue"/>{{page needed|date=February 2017}} She then took on chairmanship of the editorial board.<ref name="Always in Vogue"/>{{page needed|date=February 2017}} She wrote her autobiography, ''Always in Vogue'' in 1954 with her daughter.
==Death == Chase died of heart attack while on vacation in Sarasota, Florida on March 21, 1957, at the age of 80.<ref name="Always in Vogue" />
==Awards== *Legion of Honour<ref name="hynes">Judy R. Hynes, "Famous Cousins", Woolman Central, [http://www.woolmancentral.com/famcou3.html (accessed October 14, 2006])</ref> *Named Key Woman of the Year by the Federation of Jewish Philanthropists<ref name="hynes" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-media}} {{succession box | before= Marie Harrison | title= Editor of American ''Vogue'' | years= 1914–1952 | after= Jessica Daves }} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
==Further reading== *{{cite book|title=Current Biography Yearbook: 1940|date=1940|publisher=H.W. Wilson|location=New York}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chase, Edna Woolman}} Category:1877 births Category:1957 deaths Category:People from Asbury Park, New Jersey Category:Vogue (magazine) editors Category:Fashion editors