Wallace, Lucy Hopson

Person

Staff Only

Dates

Existence: 1901-1987

Biography

Lucy Hopson Wallace (1901-1987), photojournalist, author, and civic leader, was born on June 15, 1901, in Riesel, Texas. Her first newspaper job was as a "stringer" for the Valley Morning Star. She acquired professional skills in photography, edited the weekly Mission Times, and accepted assignments from the three valley dailies. Wallace researched and wrote Real de Catorce, Mexico: The Incredible City (1965), which won the Texas Women's Press Association award and the National Women's Press Association 1979 award for the best book written and published by a member. To celebrate the third edition of the book in 1984, a special tour was arranged in her honor to the Spanish colonial city of Real Catorce, high in the mountains of Mexico above Matehuala. During 1941â42 Wallace was instrumental in the organization of Valley By-Liners. Among the group's activities was the writing and publication of three regional books: Gift of the Rio (1975), a comprehensive study of the history and growth of the lower Rio Grande valley; Roots by the River (1978), winner of the Texas Historical Commission's award in 1979; and Rio Grande Round-Up (1980). In 1989 Valley By-Liners established the Lucy Wallace Journalism Scholarship at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg. Wallace was a charter member of the Hidalgo County Historical Commission and a member of the Hidalgo County Historical Society. She was also president of the Texas Woman's Press. She researched and wrote texts for many of the historical markers in Hidalgo County and authored the history featured with the sesquicentennial map of Hidalgo County. With Margaret McAllen of the McAllen Ranch she had an active role in launching the Hidalgo County Museum in Edinburg. She contributed considerable memorabilia and effort to Hidalgo Archives Alert, a project aimed at collecting early photographs and other records for preservation and research. Wallace died on April 14, 1987, after a prolonged illness. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Florence Ward Barton and Dorothy Abbott McCoy, "Lucy H. Wallace," in One Hundred Women of the Rio Grande Valley, ed. the Rio Writers (Austin: Eakin Press, 1983). Jean and Robert McElroy, Lucy N. Wallace: The Incredible Lady (Mission, Texas, 1987).

Citation:

SOURCE: Handbook of Texas Online.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

Hurricane Beulah

File — ELIBR-0154, other: Drawer 1, Folder: 16

Scope and Contents

Folder contains (1) printer's proof sheet with two images of damage--a man walking in a flooded street and a plane blocking street traffic at a Conoco gas station.

Dates: Majority of material found in 1850s—2000s

Found in: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Special Collections and Archives, Edinburg Campus / Miscellaneous Photographs Collection / Photographic prints by topic

Lucy Wallace Collection

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: ELIBR-0020

Scope and Contents

File includes mock-up cards for "Outdoors in the Valley" and "Gift of the Rio."

Dates: 1960-1975; Other: Date acquired: 19800000

Found in: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Special Collections and Archives, Edinburg Campus