Lurleen Wallace
Lurleen Burns Wallace ( born September 19, 1926 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, † May 7, 1968 in Montgomery, Alabama ) was the first wife of George Wallace and the first and only governor of Alabama.
Early years
Lurleen Burns Wallace was born on 19 September 1926 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She graduated from the Tuscaloosa Business College and then worked in a shop in Tuscaloosa, where she also met her husband, George C. Wallace. She married him on 22 May 1943 and was for the next twenty years, mother and homemaker.
When her husband was elected governor of Alabama in 1963, she took on the duties and responsibilities of the First Lady. She made the first floor of the governor 's seat for tourists seven days a week available and declined there to spend alcoholic beverages at official events.
Governor of Alabama
1966 was the husband of Wallace as governor very popular ( at least among the white majority population of Alabama), not least because of his resolute attitude towards the integration of the races. However, the state constitution of Alabama contained the prohibition to serve two consecutive terms. Behind the candidacy of Lurleen Wallace this year so put the implied expectation that her husband would conduct continues to be the business of the state.
In May 1966, she won the Democratic primary with 54 percent, and the subsequent election in November. Your swearing took place on January 16, 1967, but she rejected the traditional introduction ball out of respect for the citizens who served in Vietnam, from. Although she continued her husband's stance regarding the segregation, they did not remain completely in its shadow. She initiated a few of their own programs. The most famous was her successful campaign to increase funding for state hospitals and nursing institutions (English Mental Hospitals ). In addition, a $ 160 million road guarantee law was passed, and a program for development of Alabama's parks and historic sites.
During the year, however, cancer was diagnosed in her, and her health built off pretty quickly. Her last public appearance was at a football game in December. Her death the following May came during her husband's candidacy for the office of U.S. president. My successor in office was the Lieutenant Governor Albert Brewer, her husband, who, however, preferred to govern itself a political companion. Two years later allowed her widower myself again a candidate for the office of governor, and he was sworn in again in January 1971.
Honors
According to her, a 100 -hectare artificial lake ( " Lake Lurleen " ) is called, which lies about 15 km north-west city of her birth Tuscaloosa in a state park.
In the arts
- Nina Simone mentioned their disappointment about the racism Lurleen Wallace ' in the song ' Mississippi Goddamn '.
- In the television film Wallace was played by Mare Winningham, who won an Emmy Award for her performance and was nominated for a Golden Globe.