On June 25, 2004, the Donna Reed Museum opened in Denison, Iowa, honoring the life and legacy of one of America’s beloved actresses. Born Donna Belle Mullenger, Reed was the oldest child in a Crawford County farm family. She grew up attending the local Methodist church and Denison public schools, where she played the lead in a school play and was voted ‘Campus Queen’ during her senior year.
Though she initially hoped to become a teacher, financial constraints led her to follow an aunt’s advice and enroll at Los Angeles City College. There, Reed discovered a love for performing in stage productions, though she had no intention of pursuing acting professionally. That changed when MGM Studios took notice after her graduation, offering her a contract. As anti-German sentiment grew during World War II, she adopted the stage name Donna Reed.
Her career, which spanned from 1941 to 1986, included many memorable roles that endeared her to audiences nationwide. She gained lasting fame as Mary Hatch Bailey in Frank Capra’s holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in From Here to Eternity (1953).
