Cornelia Wallace ( née Ellis, formerly Snively; January 28, 1939January 8, 2009) was the First Lady of

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

from 1971–1978 and the second wife of Democratic

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

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 Arthur Herman Bremer (; born August 21, 1950) is an American convicted criminal who attempted to assassinate U.S. Democratic presidential candidate George Wallace on May 15, 1972, in Laurel, Maryland, which left Wallace permanently paralyzed ...

during an assassination attempt at a shopping center in

Laurel, Maryland Laurel is a city in Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River. While the city limits are entirely in northern Prince George's County, outlying developments extend into Anne Arunde ...

. At the time, Wallace was seeking support in his bid for his party's presidential

nomination Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In the ...

Biography

Wallace was born in

Elba Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano Nationa ...

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. Wallace attended

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

Huntingdon College and Rollins College in

Winter Park, Florida Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 30,183 according to the 2022 census population estimate. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winter Park was f ...

, and studied voice and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

. She sang and played

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

and toured Australia and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

with

Country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer Roy Acuff. Wallace wrote and recorded two songs for

M-G-M Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

records: "It's No Summer Love" and "Baby with the Barefoot Feet". 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. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and other cities in order to live beyond their limited means. She married John Snively, whose family owned the tourist attraction

Cypress Gardens Cypress Gardens was a botanical garden and theme park near Winter Haven, Florida that operated from 1936 to 2009. As of 2011, the botanical garden portion had been preserved inside the newly formed Legoland Florida. History Billed as Florida' ...

near

Winter Haven, Florida Winter Haven is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. It is fifty-one miles east of Tampa. The population was 49,219 at the 2020 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 estimates, this city had a population of 44,955, making ...

. The couple had two sons, James and Joshua, but divorced in 1969. 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, and two and a half years following the death of his first wife, former Governor Lurleen Burns Wallace.

Death and legacy

She was portrayed by

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...

in the TV film '' George Wallace''. The

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

stated that the film's version of Cornelia Wallace was depicted as "a shallow

sex kitten A sex kitten is a woman who exhibits a sexually provocative lifestyle or an abundant sexual aggression. The term originated around 1956 in articles in the British and American press and was originally used to describe French actress Brigitte Bardot ...

" and therefore Cornelia Wallace had criticism towards the portrayal.
Alternate version ("Cornelia Wallace, 69, First Lady of Alabama, Dies")
at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', 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 ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 19 ...

'', January 8, 2009. Wallace died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in Sebring,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, on January 8, 2009. Turnham also recalled that as first lady, Mrs. Wallace urged Alabamians to plant

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

gardens to be more self-reliant.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Cornelia 1939 births 2009 deaths Alabama Democrats Deaths from cancer in Florida People from Sebring, Florida Huntingdon College alumni Rollins College alumni First Ladies and Gentlemen of Alabama Women in Alabama politics People from Elba, Alabama George Wallace 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians Folsom family of Alabama Wallace family of Alabama