Legacies
In addition to her support for the modernization of Partlow State Hospital for children, Lurleen Wallace obtained a large funding increase for Alabama state parks. Lake Lurleen in central Alabama is named in her memory.
Since Alabama then lacked adequate cancer treatment facilities, Mrs. Wallace had to travel to the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for diagnosis and treatment. This underscored the need for improved cancer care in Alabama. Following her death, the Lurleen Wallace Courage Crusade was spearheaded by her successor, Governor Albert Brewer, leading to fundraising for building a new cancer center. The University of Alabama Hospital at the University of Alabama at Birmingham was selected as the site for the cancer center, and a formal cancer center program was begun in 1970. Funding was received from the National Cancer Institute, and the center became one of the first eight NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Dr. John Durant served as its first director. Construction of the Lurleen B. Wallace Tumor Institute at UAB was begun in 1974 and was completed in 1976. The Wallace Patient Tower, an addition to University Hospital, was built in her honor, as was Lurleen B. Wallace Community College in Andalusia, Alabama.
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“The legacies that parents and church and teachers left to my generation of Black children were priceless but not material: a living faith reflected in daily service, the discipline of hard work and stick-to-itiveness, and a capacity to struggle in the face of adversity.”
—Marian Wright Edelman (20th century)