Who is George Wallace from The Strange Career of Jim Crow and what is their importance?

Elected as Governor of Alabama in 1962, George Wallace declared that he was "drawing a line in the dust and tossing the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." He supported all efforts of Mayor Eugene Connor of Birmingham, when he closed all public parks and recreational facilities rather than submit to a federal court order to integrate them, stating he would "not be a party to any....compromise on the issues of segregation."