{{Short description|American philanthropist (1841–1911)}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2026}} thumb|''Journal, 13th Convention, National Woman's Relief Corps'', 1895 thumb|signature '''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).<ref name="LOC">{{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}}</ref>
==Early life== Emma Rosela Gilson was born in La Moille, Illinois, on September 2, 1841, and died in Chicago, Illinois, on June 7, 1911.<ref name="Willard" />
She received a careful education and was at an early age interested in reform and charitable movements.<ref name="Willard" />
==Career== [[File:MRS M. K. M. WALLACE. A woman of the century (page 752 crop).jpg|thumb|Photo portrait from, ''A Woman of the Century'']] 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.<ref name="Willard" />
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.<ref name="Willard" />
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.<ref name="Willard" />
==Personal life== thumb|Martin R. M. Wallace 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.<ref name="Willard" />
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.<ref name="Willard">{{cite book|last1=Willard|first1=Frances Elizabeth, 1839–1898|last2=Livermore|first2=Mary Ashton Rice, 1820–1905|title=A woman of the century; fourteen hundred-seventy biographical sketches accompanied by portraits of leading American women in all walks of life|date=1893|publisher=Buffalo, N.Y., Moulton|page=[https://archive.org/details/womanofcenturyfo00will/page/741 741]|url=https://archive.org/details/womanofcenturyfo00will|accessdate=8 August 2017}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>
She died on June 7, 1911, and is buried at Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Wikisource-inline|Woman of the Century/Mrs. M. R. M. Wallace}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Emma Gilson}} Category:1841 births Category:1911 deaths 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