Edith McAllister

Edith McAllister (; February 18, 1918 – July 1, 2018) was a San Antonio civic leader, philanthropist, and a founder of the Southwest School of Art in San Antonio, Texas. She was also the first woman in the United States to be a campaign chairman for United Way.

She was president of the San Antonio Art League, president of the San Antonio Museum Association, president of Women's Committee of the San Antonio Symphony, president of Cancer Therapy and Research Center (now the Mays Cancer Center at the UT Health San Antonio Cancer Center), and a founding trustee and president of the Southwest School of Art.

Early life and education McAllister was born February 18, 1918, to Rosa Wilson and Reece W. Scott in Madisonville, Texas; Edith had one older sister named Lucille. She planned to get a degree in business administration, however she did not graduate from the university because of lack of funds.

McAlliseter met her husband, Walter McAllister Jr., met in high school and both attended the University of Texas. Her husband did not complete college but became a successful banker in San Antonio; he was the son of San Antonio mayor Walter McAllister Sr.

Philanthropy McAllister herself would say that she became bored with “sitting around playing cards”,

In 1972, McAllister led the San Antonio United Way Campaign. She was the first woman to hold this position and while campaign chair she helped raise $3.7 million for San Antonio and Bexar County. The couple married in Christ Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas. Together the couple had four children; Walter III (“Bo”), Taddy, Reagin, and Eloise. During her childhood, McAllister was influenced by her father's appreciation for ballroom dancing.

McAllister was inducted into the Texas Philanthropy Hall of Fame in 1998 by the Philanthropy in Texas magazine for her fund-raising efforts over 50 years to support numerous nonprofits including the University of Texas at San Antonio, Boy and Girl Scouts, the Cancer Therapy and Research Center (now the Mays Cancer Center at the UT Health San Antonio Cancer Center), the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, and the Southwest School of Art, among others.