First Lady of Alabama
Cornelia Wallace
(
nee
Ellis
, formerly
Snively
; January 28, 1939 – January 8, 2009) was the First Lady of
Alabama
from 1971?1978 and the second wife of
Democratic
Governor
George C. Wallace
.
Wallace attracted national attention on May 15, 1972, when, at the age of 33 she threw herself over her husband when he was shot four times by
Arthur Bremer
during an
assassination
attempt at a
shopping center
in
Laurel, Maryland
.
[1]
At the time, Wallace was seeking support in his bid for his party's
presidential
nomination
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Wallace was born in
Elba
in southeastern Alabama to Charles G. Ellis, a
civil engineer
who died in 1960, and "Big Ruby” Folsom Ellis, former
Governor James E. “Big Jim” Folsom's
sister. Folsom was a widower and in 1947 invited his sister to be
First Lady
; Cornelia joined her at eight years of age.
[2]
Wallace attended
Methodist
Huntingdon College
and
Rollins College
in
Winter Park, Florida
, and studied voice and
piano
. She sang and played
guitar
and toured
Australia
and
Hawaii
with
Country music
singer
Roy Acuff
.
[3]
Wallace wrote and recorded two songs for
M-G-M
records: "It's No Summer Love" and "Baby with the Barefoot Feet".
[4]
Following her father's death, she and her mother, who was not wealthy but had many wealthy and influential contacts, often
house sat
for wealthy friends in
Washington, D.C.
, and other cities in order to live beyond their limited means. She married John Snively, whose family owned the tourist attraction
Cypress Gardens
near
Winter Haven, Florida
. The couple had two sons, James and Joshua, but divorced in 1969.
[2]
[5]
Cornelia Wallace was a niece of George Wallace's intraparty rival, former Governor Jim Folsom, whom Wallace had defeated in the 1962 Democratic
primary
. She married Wallace on January 4, 1971, shortly before he was inaugurated for the second of his four nonconsecutive terms as governor,
[5]
and two and a half years following the death of his first wife, former Governor
Lurleen Burns Wallace
.
[3]
Death and legacy
[
edit
]
She was portrayed by
Angelina Jolie
in the TV film
George Wallace
. The
Associated Press
stated that the film's version of Cornelia Wallace was depicted as "a shallow
sex kitten
" and therefore Cornelia Wallace had criticism towards the portrayal.
[6]
Wallace died of
cancer
in
Sebring
,
Florida
, on January 8, 2009.
[5]
Turnham also recalled that as first lady, Mrs. Wallace urged Alabamians to plant
vegetable
gardens to be more self-reliant.
[7]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Former Alabama first lady Cornelia Wallace dies
KVOA
- ^
a
b
"SOUTHERN LIGHTS: Courageous Cornelia had, then lost, it all"
.
TuscaloosaNews.com
. Retrieved
2015-12-21
.
- ^
a
b
Blair, Bill (August 24, 1997).
"The Life of Wallace: Former Alabama First Lady talks about movie, ex-husband, and adventures"
.
The Ledger
. Lakeland, Florida: Lakeland Legend Publishing Company.
- ^
"Cornelia: Determined to 'Make Do'
"
.
Time
. May 29, 1972. Archived from
the original
on January 31, 2008
. Retrieved
February 5,
2009
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Cornelia Wallace, 69, First Lady of Alabama, Dies"
.
The New York Times
.
New York
. January 9, 2009.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
July 5,
2011
.
- ^
"Widow of late Gov. George Wallace dies at 69"
.
NBC News
. 2009-01-09
. Retrieved
2022-06-08
.
-
Alternate version ("Cornelia Wallace, 69, First Lady of Alabama, Dies")
at
The New York Times
, January 9, 2009.
Version ("Cornelia Wallace, 69, second wife of Alabama Gov. George Wallace") at
The Hour
(
Norwalk, Connecticut
), January 8, 2009.
Alternate ("Former Alabama first lady Cornelia Wallace dies") at
The Columbus Dispatch
, January 8, 2009.
- ^
Rawls, Phillip (January 10, 2009).
"Cornelia Wallace, 69, former Ala. first lady"
.
Cleveland Plain Dealer
.
Cleveland, Ohio
. Archived from
the original
on October 14, 2012
. Retrieved
July 5,
2011
.
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