Russell, Charles Edward (1860-1941)

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Discuss Negroes Yearly, June 2, 1909

National Public Ownership League circular, ca. June 1916

List of Names Invited to Serve on a National Joint Committee, January 1918

General Committee on the Limitation of Armament Declaration and Membership, November 1921

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Birth Date

1860-09-25

Death Date

1941-04-23

Birthplace

Davenport, IO

Biographical Text

Charles Edward Russell attended St. Johnsbury Academy while working with his father on the newspaper. Russell then worked as a journalist for the Minneapolis Journal, the Detroit Tribune, the New York World, Cosmopolitan, and the New York Herald. He later wrote for the New York World, the New York American, and the Chicago American. He soon gained a reputation as a muckraker, reporting on the harsh conditions of Chicago stockyards, the Trinity Church's role as a leading landlord of New York City slums, and the faults of capitalism. In 1908, he joined the Socialist Party. In 1909, Russell and others, including Jane Addams, founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Russell served on the Board of Directors until his death. In 1910 and 1912, he ran for governor of New York on the Socialist ticket, and for U.S. Senator of New York in 1914, but by 1916 he left the Socialist Party due to his support of Woodrow Wilson's war "preparedness campaign." He was expelled from the Socialist Party in 1917 because of his support for American intervention in World War I. Russell was named by Wilson to join a mission led by Elihu Root to keep the Provisional Government of Alexander Kerensky in the war. Russell later joined the Social Democratic League of America and helped found the American Alliance for Labor and Democracy.

Russell married Abby Osbourne Rust in 1884. They had one son together. He later remarried to Theresa Hirschl in 1909. Russell died in 1941.