The U.S. Senate’s Oldest Office Building Honors a Racist
Richard Russell was a segregationist and a fervent opponent of Civil Rights. So why does his name still adorn the Russell Senate Office Building?
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More than 12,000 men and women have served in Congress since 1789. But only six have received the highest honor that Congress can bestow—to have their names on a Capitol Hill office building as an inspiration to future legislators. This illustrious group includes three powerful House speakers (Sam Rayburn, Nicholas Longworth, and Joseph Cannon); liberal Senate icon Philip Hart; and Republican Senate leader Everett Dirksen, who was a pivotal supporter of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. But the sixth figure in the group, Georgia Senator Richard Russell, is a national embarrassment.