Lurleen Brigham (Burns) Wallace (1926 - 1968)

Born 19 Sep 1926 in Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States

Descendants

Died 7 May 1968 at age 41 in Montgomery, Montgomery, Alabama, United States

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Preceded by
George Wallace

46th Governor of Alabama
1967 - 1968

Succeeded by
Albert Brewer

Biography

Lurleen (Burns) Wallace is Notable.

Lurleen Burns Wallace was an American politician who served as the 46th governor of Alabama for 16 months from January 16, 1967 until her death on May 7, 1968. She was the first wife of Alabama governor George Wallace, whom she succeeded as governor because the Alabama constitution forbade consecutive terms.

Lurleen Burns Wallace was born on September 19, 1926, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to Henry and Estelle Burroughs Burns.

Sixteen-year-old Lurleen married George on May 22, 1943, ^[1] and devoted herself to being a housewife and mother, while her husband pursued his career in politics. Lurleen and George had four children.^[2]

When George Wallace was prevented from running for Governor in 1966, he devised a plan in which Lurleen would run for office, and if she won, he would run the state as the de facto Governor. The scheme succeeded, and Lurleen Wallace "carried all Alabama counties except for two: Greene in west Alabama, which she lost by six votes, and predominantly Republican Winston in north Alabama." Lurleen was inaugurated on January 16, 1967.

Illness and Death

Lurleen Burns Wallace died in office in 1968 after several years of receiving treatment for uterine cancer, which had first been discovered by the surgeon who performed the cesarean delivery of her last child in 1961. The diagnosis was kept from her, though her husband had been informed of it, and four years later, she experienced abnormal bleeding. Only then was she informed that she had cancer. In late 1965, she began radiation therapy, followed by a hysterectomy. It was early in her gubernatorial term that her health began a quick decline, with the cancer spreading to her colon, liver, and lungs. As late as April 1968, George Wallace publicly denied that his wife was dying. She died on May 7, 1968, at the age of 41.^[3]

She was interred at Greenwood Cemetery in Montgomery, Alabama.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ "Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q21X-4465 : Tue Mar 05 06:18:44 UTC 2024), Entry for George C Wallace and Lurleen Burns, 21 May 1943.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1950", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6F7V-QR5T : Fri Mar 15 20:35:08 UTC 2024), Entry for George C Wallace and Lurleen Wallace, 10 April 1950.
3. ↑ "Alabama Deaths, 1908-1974", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JK3P-WXX : Sun Mar 10 22:48:03 UTC 2024), Entry for Lurleen Burns Wallace and Henry Morgan Burns, 1968.
4. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (findagrave.com/memorial/3571/lurleen_brigham-wallace: accessed April 26, 2024), memorial page for Lurleen Brigham Burns Wallace (19 Sep 1926–7 May 1968), Find A Grave: Memorial #3571, citing Greenwood Cemetery, Montgomery, Montgomery County, Alabama, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.

See also:

• "United States Census, 1930", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:3G7L-2MM : Sun Mar 10 08:22:13 UTC 2024), Entry for Lurleen Burns, 1930.
• "United States Census, 1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V156-JF8 : Sun Mar 10 07:31:47 UTC 2024), Entry for Henry M Burns and Janie E Burns, 1940.

• Alabama Women's Hall of Fame
• Wikipedia:Lurleen Wallace
• Wikidata: Item Q542590
• Alabama Department of Archives and History.