Blandina (Ina) Dillard was born on February 18, 1868. Born at the family home, Farm Hill, in Ogelthorpe County, GA, she was the youngest of Fielding Dillard and America Frances Chaffin's thirteen children. She attended the Lucy Cobb Institute in Athens, Georgia, and became a third grade teacher. In 1891, she married Richard Russell, Sr., a lawyer in Athens, who became the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia in 1922. Judge Russell and Ina would go on to found one of the most influential families in modern Georgia.
The Russells had fifteen children on the family farm in Winder: Mary Willie (Bill, Billie), Ina Dillard Jr., Frances Marguerite (Dicksie, Dixie, Margo), Richard Brevard Jr. (R.B., Dick), Harriette Brumby, Robert Lee, Patience Elizabeth, Walter Brown, Susan Way, Lewis Carolyn, twins William John and Fielding Dillard, Henry Edward (Jeb), Alexander Brevard (Dickson, Dick, Alec), and Carolyn Lewis. Sadly, two of the children--Susan Way and Carolyn Lewis--died very young. Ina and her sister, America Patience (Aunt Pipey, Pinkie), alongside a governess, taught the children at home until they left for school at the age of thirteen or fourteen.
Ina's oldest son, Richard B. Russell Jr., became governor of Georgia in 1931. Richard was a lifelong bachelor, so during his term as governor, the Russells lived with him in the Governor's Mansion, with Ina fulfilling the role of First Lady of Georgia.
Ina died in 1953. The library at Georgia College is named in her honor, and a collection of Ina's letters to her family have been published by her granddaughter Sally under the title Roots and Ever Green: The Selected Letters of Ina Dillard Russell.
These papers contain mainly correspondence between Ina Russell and her husband, Richard B. Russell, Sr. and their son, Richard B. Russell, Jr., as well as other family members. The letters exchanged with Judge Russell and Senator Russell frequently contain commentary on political developments nationwide and in Georgia. The collection also includes family scrapbooks, books, newspaper clippings saved by Mrs. Russell, photographs, and a selection of stereo slides. The papers give an in-depth look at the social activities and mores of a large family at the turn of the twentieth century and contain information regarding Mrs. Russell's selection as Georgia's Mother of the Year and her work within the Presbyterian Church.
Additional family photographs can be found in Subgroup D: Winder Papers of the Richard B. Russell, Jr. Collection.
Ina Dillard Russell, Sr.'s letters also appear elsewhere in the Russell Family Collection, as well as in the Papers of Judge Russell and Senator Russell. Several of these letters have been published in the book Roots and Ever Green, edited by Sally Russell.
This collection is arranged into the following series:
Series I: Personal Papers and Letters\
Series II: Scrapbooks
Series III: Newspapers, Clippings, and Magazines
Series IV: Photographs
Series V: Artifacts
Series VI: Books.
Russell Family Collection: Ina Dillard Russell Papers. Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641.
Books, journals, and other publications listed in this finding aid have been individually cataloged and can be requested (for use in the Special Collections Library only) using the University of Georgia Libraries catalog.
Before material from collections at the Richard B. Russell Library may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permissions. Persons wishing to quote from materials in the Russell Library collection should consult the Director. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original.
Finding Aid Publication
Finding Aid prepared by Madison Ingram and Robert Lay, 2019-01-03.
