George Wallace, born in May 1878 in Mercer, Kentucky, was the eldest son of Cecelia Catherine (McCoy) and William Wallace. The family moved to Louisville when George was young. His father was employed in the government service and later became an attorney. Educated in private schools, George enlisted in the US Army at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War
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He served for two years overseas with the 77th Infantry Regiment; after his honorable discharge he returned to his native state and entered the University of Kentucky. He graduated in 1902 with bachelor's degrees in engineering and science, and received second honors in law. He worked for four years as a teacher before becoming principal at Paintsville High School; he left for his next appointment at Harrodsburg High School, where he served for two years.
After two years at Harrodsburg, he went to Danville High School where he became headmaster. In 1910 he accepted a position as principal of Lebanon High School, where he remained until 1917 when he was appointed principal of Scott County High School at Paris, Tennessee. Four years later he was transferred to Memphis High School where he remained until his retirement in 1943 to become director of vocational education.
During his tenure there were no disciplinary problems involving students or teachers; there were no cases of serious vandalism or property damage; no assaults on school property or persons; no arrests for major criminal offenses; no incidents involving weapons or drugs; no juvenile delinquency arrests or convictions during this period. The school did have its share of accidents, however - thirty-seven serious accidents were reported during this time. When George Wallace retired from teaching high school administration, he established a corporation that purchased an apartment building which housed seventy-five low-income families.
Wallace also invested in real estate and did some farming on the side to supplement income from these ventures. During World War II President Roosevelt appointed him special assistant to Secretary of War Patterson on civilian defense work related to food supply and housing shortages resulting from military buildup efforts. One highlight of this appointment came when Wallace negotiated with the president of Standard Oil Company to furnish 1 million bushels of surplus wheat for use by civilian agencies in Tennessee and Kentucky.
He joined the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) in 1959 and was elected vice president of its Memphis chapter two years later: he became president in 1962 and held this office until 1966 when it merged with AARP's national headquarters located in Arlington, Virginia - George Wallace continued as president
