Nancy Wallace (environmentalist)

Nancy Wallace (September 2, 1930 - February 15, 2024) was an American educator and civic leader known for her work cleaning up the Bronx River in New York City.

Early life and education
Wallace was born Ann Seaver Coolidge Upton, to Anna Pennypacker Upton and Edward Upton on September 2, 1930. She graduated from Marblehead High School in 1947, and from Smith College with a bachelor's degree in English in 1951. She married Bruce A. Wallace in 1954 and they settled in White Plains, New York. They had three children. In 2013 they moved back to Marblehead.

Career
Wallace was involved in local politics and served on the White Plains Common Council. As a Councilwoman she was concerned with the city's urban development. After leaving government, she joined Bronx River Restoration, becoming its executive director in 1983. That organization, later the Bronx River Alliance, was a public/private partnership dedicated to cleaning up the river. Wallace served there for 23 years.

She spearheaded a broad campaign to "rescue the river" Which was at that time polluted and inaccessible. While the organization had a strong group of volunteers, Wallace helped make a plan that focused on "real money and real government commitment." She helped forge partnerships with other non-profit groups, creating a Master Plan in 1980 which aimed to create "A clean, swimmable river enhanced with bike and walkways along its banks." According to Wallace, who helped create a one-day Bronx River Golden Ball Festival where people would paddle alongside a three-foot gold colored floating sphere, "It’s almost spiritual in nature. We’re starting to see the river as one universal link between all these communities — in a way unifying them." Wallace worked with other institutions in the Bronx to do community outreach locally as well as in Manhattan so people would learn more about the Bronx and their interdependence with it.

At the time of her retirement, the Bronx River had an 8-mile Greenway alongside it and a beaver lodge had been seen near the Bronx Zoo.