IN MEMORIAM
The Honorable George L. Russell, Jr. 1929-2025 62nd Laurel Wreath Laureate, Retired Judge, Trailblazing Attorney, U.S. Army
T he Baltimore (MD) Alumni mourns the passing of the 62nd Laurel Wreath Laureate, the Honorable George L. Russell, Jr., who entered the Chapter Invisible on April 12, 2025, at 95. Numerous statements from local individuals and organizations were made in acknowledgment of Russell following the announcement of his passing. One of eight children, George Levi Russell, Jr., was born on March 19, 1929, in Baltimore, MD, to George Sr., a postal worker and Anna Marie Russell, a home- maker. Russell attended Baltimore City public schools and graduated from Frederick Douglass High School in 1946. As a high school student, Russell served as the school newspa- per’s sports editor and was a member of the debate team. He earned his A.B. degree in economics in 1950 from Lincoln (PA) University, where he joined the Fra- ternity as a 1947 initiate of
He prac- ticed law until 1966, when
Maryland Bar Association from 1973 to 1974. He became a partner at Russell & Thompson from 1974 to 1986, and then joined as a partner for Josey, Gibson, Allen and Mitchell. In 1982, he established Harbor Bank, one of the largest minority-owned banks in the country. In 1986, Russell merged his all-black firm with the predominantly white firm of Piper and Marbury, one of the top 100 law firms in the country–the merger was a historic first in the nation. In 1990, the Bar Asso- ciation of Baltimore City appointed Russell the chair
he became the first African American to serve as an associate judge of the Supreme Bench of Baltimore, from June 29, 1966, until January 2, 1968. From 1968 to 1974, Russell served as the first African American City Solicitor for Baltimore City. In 1971, the 42-year-old city solicitor lost the Baltimore mayoral race, marking the first time an African American had run for mayor in the city’s history. Russell then served as the first African American President of the
the Lincoln University Chapter, the Epsilon of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. After graduating, Russell spent a year working for the U.S. Census Bureau before attending the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore. In 1954, Russell was drafted; having passed the bar examination, he became a non-commis- sioned judge advocate for the U.S. Army in Ger- many until 1956, when he returned to Baltimore to practice law.
76 THE JOURNAL ♦ SPRING 2025
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