Wallace, Ilo Browne, 1888-1981

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Ilo Wallace (née Browne; March 10, 1888 – February 22, 1981) was the wife of Henry A. Wallace, the 33rd U.S Vice President. She was the Second Lady of the United States from 1941 until 1945. She was the sponsor of the battleship USS Iowa.

Born in Indianola, Iowa, she was the daughter of James Lytle Browne and his wife, the former Harriet Lindsay.

She attended Simpson College before transferring to study voice at Drake University.

She married Henry Agard Wallace in Des Moines, Iowa, on May 20, 1914. They had three children: Henry Browne Wallace (1915–2005), Robert Browne Wallace (1918–2002), and Jean Browne Wallace (1920–2011). Her husband later became the editor-in-chief of Wallace's Farmer, an influential Midwestern farming magazine that had been founded by his father, Henry Cantwell Wallace, a future U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

A small inheritance she received from her parents enabled the Wallaces and their business partners to establish, in 1926, the Hi-Bred Corn Company, which developed and distributed hybrid maize and eventually transformed agriculture. The company is now known as Pioneer Hi-Bred International, the world's second largest seed company.

On February 22, 1981, she died at the Wallace estate, Farvue Farm, in South Salem, New York. Her funeral was private at her family's request.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Miller, Emma Guffey, 1874-1970. Papers: Series III-IV, 1900-1972 (inclusive) [microform]. Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Courtney Letts de Espil Papers, 1925-1994, (bulk 1930-1949) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Miller, Emma Guffey, 1874-1970. Papers, 1833-1975 (bulk: 1884-1972) Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Letts De Espil, Courtney, 1899-1995 person
associatedWith Miller, Emma Guffey, 1874-1970 person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Des Moines IA US
South Salem NY US
Iowa IA US
Subject
Occupation
Housewives
Activity

Person

Birth 1888-03-10

Death 1981-02-22

Female

Americans

English

Information

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