Between 1883 and 1888, Wallace was active in the women's suffrage movement at the national level as head of the franchise (suffrage) department of the national WCTU. In 1887 she was a founder of the Indiana chapter of the National Woman Suffrage Association and delivered an address at the NWSA's national convention. She also served three years as its vice president at large. In 1888 Wallace spoke at the International Conference of Women in Washington, D.C. By that time she was a well-known and popular speaker on social reform issues, especially temperance and woman suffrage.