Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Jean Wallace Douglas remembered (1920-2011)

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October 6, 2011

By FRED KIRSCHENMANN, Leopold Center Distinguished Fellow

Jean Wallace Douglas, the daughter of Henry A. Wallace, passed away September 23 at her home in Washington D.C. She was 91.

Wallace was Secretary of Agriculture and Vice President under Franklin Roosevelt, and a fervent supporter of rural communities. The Henry A. Wallace Chair for Sustainable Agriculture was established at Iowa State in 1997 to ensure that his ideas would be taught to future generations.

For those of us who had the exceptional opportunity to have conversations with Jean Wallace Douglas—especially on the topic of how to make the world a better place with respect to our food and agriculture future—the news of her death was particularly mournful. As the director of the Leopold Center, I had numerous opportunities to discuss strategies for enhancing the sustainability of our food and agriculture systems with her. Her wisdom, imagination and creativity were always inspiring.

Jean was known for her pioneering support of conservation, farmland protection and farmers' markets. President of the Wallace Genetic Foundation, she served on the boards of American Farmland Trust, Accokeek Foundation, Audubon, and the Conservation Fund. She was active in many other organizations and was an exceptional lifelong athlete and talented artist. She brought to all her activities an extraordinary level of energy, humor and vision.

Furthermore, she always put her support behind things she believed in, including projects such as the publication of Grassland: Quietness and Strength for a New American Agriculture. This book updated a 1948 volume about grass, published as a Yearbook of Agriculture. Jean, perhaps more than anyone else, embodied the vision and imagination of her father, Henry A. Wallace, and devoted much of her life to continuing his exceptional legacy.

She will be sorely missed. But those of us who were fortunate enough to benefit from her passion and wisdom cannot help but perpetuate the wise agriculture that she represented. We offer our deep condolences to all of her family and our abiding appreciation for all of her many gifts.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 64 years, W. Leslie Douglas, in November 2010. She is survived by three children and six grandchildren. A gathering in celebration of her life will be held at a later date.
 

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