{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.isakson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=c4ba8b96-d087-408a-834b-bef68ac4e37b", "Isakson Pays Tribute to Legacy of Herman J. Russell", "2014-11-21", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "GA", "Johnny Isakson", "I000055", "www.isakson.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga, paid tribute to the legacy of business and Civil Rights leader, Herman J. Russell. He delivered the following remarks on the floor of the United States Senate on Thursday, November 20, 2014:\r\n\u201cMr. President, on Saturday night of last week, Georgia, Atlanta and America lost a great citizen.\r\n\u201cHerman J. Russell was one of the greatest African American business leaders and Civil Rights leaders the world has ever known. He passed peacefully in his home after a short illness, but his legacy and his life will last forever, not just in the history books but indelibly on the skyline of our city.\r\n\u201cHerman J. Russell, in 1952, started a small plastering company called the H.J. Russell Company. He had just graduated from Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, and came to Georgia to make his fortune and his fame. He started out plastering walls and plastering ceilings; and he finished his career building Georgia domes, building the Georgia Pacific Building, building the 1996 Olympic Stadium, and building buildings throughout the Atlanta skyline.\r\n\u201cWhile doing so, he made a lot of money that he reinvested back, not just into investments, but into his community. In 1999, Herman Russell, by himself, gave $4 million to Morehouse College, to Clark Atlanta University and to Georgia State University; and last December, gave $1 million to Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta to rebuild and help renovate the facility in downtown Atlanta. He was always giving back more than he asked.\r\n\u201cBut his greatest gift may have been the fact that he enabled Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement in the 1960\u2019s. It\u2019s well known that Dr. King would go to Herman\u2019s house to take refuge, take a swim and relax between the arduous times of the Civil Rights Movement. Herman Russell would finance the movement, and finance the movement\u2019s efforts; finance it so they could continue to move forward to bring about equality in the South. That\u2019s an indelible mark he\u2019s left on history, not just for our state, but for our country.\r\n\u201cHerman and his wife had three wonderful children. They\u2019re involved in the business today. The business today is still flourishing as it always has. In fact, the new Atlanta Stadium \u2013 the new Atlanta Dome Stadium, which will house the Falcons \u2013 is a $1.3 billion stadium that the H.J. Russell Company is integrally involved in.\r\n\u201cOur city has lost a great friend, a great African American, and a great entrepreneur; so great he was recognized by the Atlanta Chamber as its first African American member, and its second African American President. He\u2019s been recognized by the Butler Street YMCA, by the Atlanta and Georgia Business Council \u2013 by almost every entrepreneurial group there is \u2013 for his contribution to business, and his contribution to investment in the state of Georgia.\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s with great sadness tomorrow night that I\u2019ll go to Ebenezer Baptist Church, and be a part of the wake ceremony for Mr. Russell. But it\u2019ll be with great pride that I rise today on the Senate floor to make sure the record indelibly recognizes the life, and the times, and contributions of Herman J. Russell.\u201d\r\nSenator Isakson\u2019s remarks can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDN4IHe9H78&feature=youtu.be.\r\n\u00a0\r\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.isakson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=c4ba8b96-d087-408a-834b-bef68ac4e37b"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5361690893769264, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}