Building Atlanta: The Story of Herman J. Russell Documentary (Full Version)

[Music] children are like adults they have role models they have people that they look up to Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella when they were coming in in late 40 I and all of my buddies we wanted to be like him and if you don't know of anyone who's in business then that's not something that the youngsters are going to aspire to [Music] I think entrepreneur is amiss really the key that drives America my father was the epitome of being able to recognize an opportunity find the resources to take advantage of that opportunity and add value in that equation he would like to say you really want to control your own destiny punch winner ship is the ultimate way to do that he wasn't a guy who's just that loaned him up a few million dollars to get started he's the entrepreneurs entrepreneur so anybody who want to have their home he was that guy who gave us hope that it can be done and it carries us a long way Caryn's me the importance of a film like this is to expose hey folks who look like me to a guy named Herman Russell they may not know them but created something from nothing to something great and Lana without an ETA I don't know what that looks like I don't think I want to know what that was Herman and I were born within a month of each other and within three miles of each other I was I was born on the north side of town he was born on the south side of town but the two worlds could not have been more different everything in the world I was born into was designed to make sure I succeeded everything in the world he was born into was designed to be sure he did not succeed and Herman's in his lifetime overcame all of that he was poor I remember him saying that when he was growing up they couldn't afford to buy cow's milk they would buy evaporated milk and water it down I know the condition my parent was again I know we were so poor that I didn't have a decent pass shoe - laughs I remember when it rain and she would get filled up of water he was born at a time when the state law was segregation the customs in business custom socially were all designed to put him down and in addition to that Herman was born with a speech defect and he was dyslexic [Music] his family grew up with not much but they had family some of it was a great community the people knew each other and people respected each other is praised that you live place that you fellowship me a error that you you share you give love to one another you are concerned about you neighbor kid it's a praise where people have dialogue his mother taught him compassion and was a woman of great faith and very committed to the church and would work every day she was a laundress and she would go and wash people's clothes and then walk home and you know take care of the family and cook the meals and do all the things that she would do as a wife he had schoolteachers who were highly skilled people there were segregated schools the most qualified job you could get was the schoolteachers job and they taught personal pride and they taught them we were bigger than our circumstances he was very entrepreneurial ambitious in his early age it was an inner will he says I can do this I can control my destiny there was something different about him that was more powerful and more positive that's what I think I think they will see training and the love he was surrounded by loved and you can do this as a young boy he saw that his community didn't have a shoeshine stand and he recognized that that was a need that was in the area and he saw an opportunity also to retail sell candy sell shoelaces and just provide an e to the community his father told him whoa I mean you know you got to have him for me it was a little bacon lot of whatever and he's gonna feel this little Shanter shine the shoes and he got one of his brothers to walk with him down there so he the brother walked with him all the way till they got to the courthouse but then when do time to go is he the brother would go in but I'm gonna tell me went on and myself can you visualize the little black boys standing in line and then funny and look how cruel people are and finally they said the poor what you old boy he's nervous and he stammered it in but he eventually gets out the point that he wants to start a shoeshine stand in his Summerhill old neighborhood and the alderman just kind of looked at him and laughed and and said little you don't need to start a shoeshine business or you need to just go home and your others in the crowd laughed at him [Music] he and his brother take them many mile trip back home after that council hearing and he knew that that was a turning point for him because he was going to do the shoeshine staying anyway he put up his shoeshine stand his coca-cola box and actually he made enough money as a 14 15 year-old to buy a lot across the street from his house for a hundred and fifty dollars they said and in his spare time because his father was a contractor he got leftover stuff from his father's contracting business and he built a house on it and he used that house to rent to pay his way to Tuskegee to college to get a degree as a contractor and so he's an amazing sort of fella to take stuttering handicap and turn it into a college degree believe it or not I will one of the best shoe-shiner that you have ever seen [Music] back in the forties there were all the two high schools in Atlanta for african-americans one was Booker T Washington High and the other one was David T Howard high the first high school was Booker T Washington on the west side where all black people went including Martin Luther King jr. the second high school for blacks in Atlanta is called David T Howard Washington High we went one semester and then we went on came back and finished house we got a football team I was in the eighth grade when I met her buddy he played football Herman was an N and I would go back watch him play and practice he has a trophy where he says most valuable player and he said it was a city-wide award that he won as the most valuable black player in the city school system sometimes he would embellish a little bit about his athletic proud this way up was so me I'm assuming and all of that was fact well he did what he was supposed to do he was an so he called fascist and he were good but he went outstanding Herman was the campaign manager for Ralph Smith who ran for the presidency of the student body and Herman as the campaign manager for his candidates had to introduce her and so I instantly had great admiration for him to have no issues with speaking given his speech impediment and I've never forgotten that and he added all of his life it never stopped him from being an advocate it never stopped him from expressing himself and it said some about his confidence and what he needed to say it was just terrific [Music] there was such a close relationship between him and his father he worked all through high school working with his dad I have to give a lot of credit to my father because he believed in real estate owning only your home a piece of land he said probably never wash away his father did not have a formal education but had more sense than anyone he knew his father had an unbelievable influence on his work ethic he always described him as being a master plasterer meaning that he was one of the best in the city at what he did and would be hired by many all over the city his father did the Fox da de places like that historical home [Music] my grandfather overcame a lot of obstacles so she think about it he was doing this work been to minis I mean they were lynching black people in it he had to be very subservient my father never had never heard of white person called him mr. Russell alway would bar a preacher I was determined to improve their life in my life and in many time I say hell was suffocation I'm gonna be what I want to be [Music] he became a master placer at the age of 14 years old and when he went to Tuskegee he continued to do work in Tuskegee and his brother Rogers Russell jr. and others would come up to do projects to the sheriff in Tuskegee you know total boys they need to get back to Atlanta and stop eating this business from the local boys because at some point they were doing enough business that they get the radar the war got around that this young black fella was doing business in Tuskegee and he eventually had you know he got the message from the sheriff that I want your crew out of town by sundown [Music] Herman gradually came back and was plastering with his father the next day I would see him sometimes at the end of the day didn't have on a shirt and tie like most of us he had on plastering clothes and he was all spotted up and sweaty and everything but that was his job and he understood it now when you saw him at a party on Friday night he was all sharp and all dressed up but Herman unlike a lot of people understood his work and what he had to do and if plastering that wearing overalls every day he did that even hard work at this work work work I just talking with a fine young man and I said whoever gonna get him gonna get some lag I saw her on ice and out with many of them he was in love with an old girl named every wise so family look every while I said we were that one last long course I got to marry a girl from my own time he's Jackson v OT both my husband and Herman were native Atlantan so she don't find around too much of these days ot you it come from a farming community Union point is about halfway between here and Augusta Oh Tia was there thoughtful person very giving person but very tough I mean she would stand her ground that was with Herman and the lovers she was quite a character but lovely character she was probably only one that challenged my dad like if he said you're gonna have to go get the cows she say something back to him I'm too old to go down in the past I should be dating up finally got him until you meet over to our house and I want to go in no time even why why do you and then the picture cuz that conjugator had Claudia say he couldn't have fun getting closer I'll shoot a beautiful girl built up it pretty long half and they got in love and they have a family Oh Tia was the glue that held that family together Zico heroin just did his business and we're over he came home he was not the king of the roof he ran his business but she ran the household it was very clear when he stepped across that doorstep that there was a new boss in the house and it was Otilia Hackney rusty I would rather honestly my father deal with me on issues than my mother because she did not play initially gentleman work I mean he physically worked with his hands and terms of doing jobs at the end of the day she's out pull things together to make sure that the deals that he had made the promises he had made and the money he collected and so on that they were adequately cared for and put in the right place she but suggests things to him and then many of us is just simple to tell him that this is what you know that needs to happen here and she always had his dinner and when he came home from those plastering jobs and so on she was there to make sure that he in a decent meal she was a very strong person and excellent help made I would say I remember here in Herman's say how fortunate he was to have a marriage that was as wonderful as he a Nokia determination consistent durability faith love carrot consideration that's how their love was it was broad and endless [Music] it was the 1943 gubernatorial campaign the primary and I'm sitting with my father at eight years old this thing to WSB radio and Eugene Talmadge comes on and it says this is your governor Eugene Talmadge I am running for reelection I have two planks in my platform and roads I'm against the first and for the second Herman Russell's involvement in the civil rights movement is very significant though very quiet we focus on the charismatic leaders direct action demonstrations but when you think about the organizational structure of the sub race movement who's actually paying for the legal fees it's made for the legal representation whose felony students out who's paying for the offices and the rental space he was a part of the strategic planning with Martin Luther King and his lieutenants he and Martin Luther King had a pact that Herman will continue to grow his business and have economic success and he would play a role in helping to make the civil rights movement continue by making sure that the leaders could get bailed out of jail Herman from the very beginning was always there as a resource when Martin wanted to relax he went to Herman's swam a good food and Herman Russell provided that sanctuary for him [Music] the uplifting and the improvement in the quality of life of black people in Atlanta or anyplace else is in strictly intertwined with economy they're in the struggle to create an open society for all of God's show he was a economic generator that he produced jobs and that is so very meaningful herman dieded expanding his plastering operation into commercial plastering operation from residential and then also fireproofing when fireproofing became an important issue for fire marshals and for governmental regulations he made his first million in Jim Crow Tears what Herrmann brought to his business was excellence satisfaction understanding the customer needs and he met the need and the needs were more important than whether Herrmann was black or white he was smart he was strategic he understood that there is no substitute for excellence and even the meanest segregationist wants his elevator to work [Music] as a young person it would be difficult for someone to understand that anybody couldn't walk into any town any County in the state of Georgia and put your greenback dollar down and buy what you'd like to buy the discrimination that took place it had to hurt Herman a lot but being Herman he found the solution the chapter in the book that's one of my favorite chapters my brother from another mother or that's what he and mr. Cochran say we grew up with mr. Cochran we knew him as the real estate guy we knew that he and my father were close his wife Georgia and my mother were closed they would come over house at that time Hut was expanding their program on affordable housing Herman told Jim he said I need to buy a property for a HUD projects and he proposed that they go in together and Jim would go out and find the land and he would just tell people it was honest she said I am representing the client in Atlanta he's interested in buying this property what we did say it could say that Herman was black and if they didn't ask anything he didn't say anybody mr. one before he passed told me a story they were in Americus Georgia he said they he was representing a black man he said he had to get out of there he said they were coming to get him so he said he had a couple of those we did it we got out of there quickly and safely herman appreciated that jim he was counting on at risk frankly a lot of those of us who have regard a certain degree of success we've all had to do things like that in one form or other some years ago I had a friend who was a law professor and I had him front a couple of deals for me that I know I was not able to do without having a white face they're in charge of it if that's what it took to get the job done didn't you do that they'd never met a black man that had that type of money they could come in and make that type of investment [Music] Hermann Russell had a way where there was no animosity it was none of the loving that man that book says treat people how you want to be treated and if we all live that way we'd all be better off the one thing that I've learned since I was a kid is that anger is not a helpful emotion [Music] you can't think clearly you can't think thoughtfully you can't think in a planned way if you are clouded with anger you can't let things that go wrong distract you from your goal and Herman was a master of that and so he played a very very important role that action form was a group of black and white business leaders in the city and the ground rules were you closed the door and you talked about what was on your mind you know you there's no PC you just said it Lee whatever was your concern about Herman was always it was a key member of that air once a month we would have a dialogue for about two or three hours and talk about how we can improve the quarter alive for people in this great city the idea was to put in place a group of relationships that can be called upon when needed to deal with issues and indeed we did just that we got to know each other very well and out of that group some real lasting friendships very often the whole thing that's a bar to Friendship is ignorance it still remained that they did leave one side of town and the blacks live in another but they make things for because they could dream things and get together there was no riot outright burnings and looting and all better and nothing like that ever happened in Atlanta he was able to garner the respect of the community the black community the white community the Asian community the Hispanic community we had a very divided society in many ways we still do but Herman would throw parties back then way before he and I ever met and he would have blacks and whites there he just really loved people and it didn't matter to him what their background was what their color was all Ray's got some you you draw you draw and that's good that's good we all got to find ways to work together I asked the Lord every night before I go to be Lord even have a clean heart clear my mind you clears my heart the Lord knows that no person he said love no one another he had been taught to love the Lord and with a clean heart you can forgive people Atlanta was a special place even when Herman Russell was born and people who lived in Atlanta right after the Civil War made a determination that Atlanta was gonna rise out of the ashes who does it all the other southern cities were old traditional been there forever cities in Atlanta was a Hustler's town there was a sense from its early years that lana was going to be a place that was different from much of the south in terms of Commerce and business yes we were telling in segregated south but we can be different this is our home we're gonna make it work in 1962 we elected Ivan Allen jr. who understood it from a business point and he understood it from an equality point that he made the difference he came to Washington to testify for the Civil Rights Act and he was a real agent of change that is one of the untold stories of the civil rights movement the role white people conservative some moderates and liberals played in inching the movement a law some of us thought he would taking a big risk that he would kill his political career entire not because he took that position what we were worried about that would be the other way round it will show that that was the right thing for him to do and he end up being one of my hero when the moment came when the mayor of Atlanta became an african-american for the first time that was a seismic event in Atlanta the coca-cola company was the company that stepped up and created the Atlanta covenant it used to be called where okay the the economic power and the good city is still in the hands of whites and the political power is now in the hands of African Americans and the thing to do is to build a partnership to make that work Maynard Jackson insisted that 25% of each contract that the government let be done by a minority a person of an opposite race there was also ordinance that said that if a black company had a contract with the city it had to have a partner that was 25% white [Music] for some Atlantians he was moving too fast but you had individuals who believed in building downtown Atlanta having Atlanta remain as this commercial epicenter and they wanted to create change these individuals like John Portman worked with and black contractors like HT Russell and they said we can build this city and we can share the wealth and we could all win that was a thirst among a lot of whites for a means by which they could move this nut forward and Herrmann early on provided that opportunity so did just a hill that partnership between mr. Russell and mr. Hill really came to the forefront because they would be able to build and help folks that he was able in some instances to finance or ensure that they work in tandem because of the personal relationship and because of their their joint desire to see the black business community thrive and grow and become a central part of the economy of Atlanta the reason why I'd learn a life existed was because blacks are not able to get insurance and so mr. Herndon had the vision to learn from this company and became one of the largest in the country they became friends they talked every day about business civic community etc they literally carried on that way for 30-plus years they became business partners and concessions they supported each other they were leaders they brought other people into the network it was unique to Atlanta I mean he took it nationally there were very close like brothers he almost daily went to her miss office the land was growing you are going to have the airport expanded and the budget was going to be at least a half a billion dollars that was a lot of money back in 1970 mr. Russell's comfortable sitting right there at the position to take advantage of all that and if it hadn't been for with his company doing that other companies in my opinion would not have had the opportunity our company had the general contract to build Colony Square which was much better than anything we had ever built before so we were kind of gulping it that our what we had to do and when our bids came in from drywall contractors the low bid was which was a huge subcontract on this huge project was from the agency Russell company [Music] I'd heard of them I was aware that it was a minority company and I felt like we were in so deep I was looking for companies that were bigger than we were to help us subcontractors and his was not one of them but we checked him out and everything came back good in terms of that performers so we gave him a job and got started and I was worried originally about having him keep up with us what I quickly found out was that how problem with Herman Russell was staying out of his way it was just marvelous to see how he did it and how strong he was as a hands-on manager it was later when Delta put us together his general contractor Joe adventure partners that we really got together we became personal friends and after a while our friendship was much more part of the whole relationship than our business model [Music] my father time whenever he would meet somebody it was a genuine relationship people tell me that he could walk in a room and just like he just had so much charisma I mean he was like breaking barriers mr. Russell was critical for Atlanta at the time that we looted that he was changing minds impacted lives and really helping to create the foundation of this Atlanta that's too busy to hate he has a warm smile looks right at me when he talks the South was changed he was still very difficult Herman taught me a lot about what life was really like because I grew up in a household with a father they've grown up in South Georgia and segregationists and all that and I just didn't have an experience with him I like her the fact that he was able then to go from being a joint venture partner to being the prime contractor for businesses also helped others because you were diversifying the black economy in the sense that people could get into various types of businesses think of it he's been on the lowest ring you can think of a business shoe shotgun to you know being on some of the most powerful boards in town what Herrmann is was so unique and was how he was okay no matter what the circumstances Herrmann was a success in business before affirmative action became the way business was done in Atlanta and ahead Norris the country he would have been a success in any County just because he would not be successful when I go out to look for onion Aveda to bring home or I'll always look for someone 10 time shopping I am [Music] Herman was an activator a motivator and educator he was famous for unlocking the unusual potential in people I am a living example of a graduate from the Herman Russell University there are a number of individuals in this city and around the country who can be considered a part of the HJ Brussels University but because the number of people work they all got their start they all watched him started then left when did their own and purpose to try to model themselves after what he did that was a little black boy from the Bronx I didn't have anybody in my family that was an intrapreneur and the idea that somebody believed me enough to give me a 20% interest in a company was amazing it changed my life mr. Russell gave me freedom the carp long said just get done what I need to get done and I did that when I brought first computer they see everything and it was lots of fun he had a great saying was squeeze all that juice out that orange Dave he shared a lot with me he always took time for me he didn't want you to ask for him he wants to see you put the work in put the effort in and he would help you in a heartbeat if he came into the room and spoke with you he speak with you as if you were the only one in the room HJ was very kind but he also had an ability to exercise tough love which it's something that I'm not as good Herman had a guy who worked for him who was very good but when he got paid on Friday he wouldn't go straight home he would go hang out and drink and be merry so on Friday instead of paying him Herman would take the paycheck and give it to his wife personally I was working for either Andy or Maynard and I got a call in my office and there had been a problem related to the water system around one of the Russell properties and I told him I'd get back to him he said now surely understand that when you commit to me that you're gonna get back to me I'm counting on that I don't want to have to come down there and see you in person he really mentored me kind of on-the-job training on how to work with corporate leadership in Atlanta and that served me very well 15 or 20 years later when I was mayor of Atlanta I was not well-off in my childhood and so I have very simple tastes and I bought a car for 250 dollars the 1967 Dodge Dart the driver's door wouldn't work so I always came in on the passenger side there was no air conditioning we walked outside and he looked at the car he said that's your car and he walked over and looked at it and he looked at me and he said boy I think you and I are gonna get on just fine Advocaat 'ok I bought a pickup truck for about $125 we used to go to party and cocktail party in that old pickup truck and I used to have to park a cup of rock away from the house that we were we were gonna go to for the party and that was very embarrassed to my wife to get out get out of this old ragged pickup truck in a cocktail dress we would say that Carmen would hold on to the dollar till the Eagle would rent beat hold it so tight we were sitting on them in a board meeting one day and we were talking about something he said somehow we said we read something you know so he put a hundred dollars out and threw it on the table that's one of the few times in my life I had a hundred dollar bill in my pocket so I took mine I said you ain't the only one got $100 bill math well he was his other pocket he pulled out a wire that's okay mr. Russell you win I ain't got that pocket Herman was never broke yeah he always had some money he turned and so he earned every single egg he got it was because of his lifestyle live lightly but work hard that's what Herman did for me the only live below it means but he worked extremely hard he didn't take excuses we were went to an event in South Atlanta and he thought a pity on the floor and he went and bent over picked up the penny looked at me and said Noel see how God has blessed me today amazing man he can take a penny and turn into a hundred dollars and he he was that guy he was just that guy I was privileged to sponsor Herman his first african-american member of the capital city club you simply don't need to be a member of the cap suit but I'll you know I'm staying with making history here I'll be glad to do I picked up the phone one day a couple months later and Herman said who is gonna pay this blankety-blank initiation fee [Music] Herman was a real dealer so you had to really have you act together in dealing with him otherwise you could lose your shirt I saw the Ray Charles movie you know race it we call it country dump you had a way of kind of doing that country dump thing but at the end of the day I'll tell people you walk out of the room and your pants be missing about a half a dozen polished Wall Street types came in to talk about this deal that they thought could be done and they had slight presentations it was really elaborate and sophisticated and they were find around a lot of language permanence anything really kept looking over at me and once in a while he'll knock me on the hand to get my attention and so on I wasn't her finish she said so let me see if I get this right what you really mean is you want me to use my political influence to get such-and-such and they're looking for me to invest my money to do such-and-such what do I get up and the guys solder looked at each other and HJ cut right down to it he said I can't use my relationship just to make some money for you and based on what I'm looking at here is no economics in it for me and I'm not sure this really works he is very nice Chuck everybody's hand he laughed he patted him on the back and say all right let me let me think about it for you back and that that happened many times under estimate Herrmann at your own peril they assumed something just from what they perceived him to be a niche there was a sharp as anybody I don't let anything get in my way I believed in myself I know God we're at his best when he gave me life and if anybody get in my way they have a problem I don't care where you went to school you can go to whatever university you think is great and wonderful and special you couldn't learn what HJ had in those classrooms he could see in a business what it would look like down the road and I mean that's magical and as Michael would say his dad could see around corners not many of us can see around corners in a new early 80s Herman was systematically buying up parcels that may become vacant acquire and acquire and acquire and he did that over many many years so it's not just a boom here it is he actually always had a long view who knew all this was happening in this in this market off the north side drive now with you know the billion dollar stadium up the street when it was just you know shotgun houses and all that kind of stuff there's a ton of property in this area that you know this guy has dumb print on it he would always say this is gonna be part of downtown and look where we are how did he know I don't know how he knew he had a gift it was a gift there's no other way to say he could see and visualize opportunities where others couldn't and he would just dare to step into the space which I love I absolutely loved he knew how to merge business politics family community he knew how to pull all of that together and in the end what you see is the result of the HD russell company and it's conglomerate of everything that is doing [Music] I think the most fascinating thing that you can do in life to build a building and realize that building will be there for the next 100 to 200 years [Music] the ultimate tribute to Herman Russell is that his two boys and his daughter are carrying the baton that he passed off to them they are running the business Herman's brick-and-mortar Legacy's there to be seen I mean it's out there and they'll always be there and this new venture that his family is undertaking to create this incubator for entrepreneurship is the Harmon Russell all over again and that'll be very successful too if it's it's some profit today that we did not have back in the days that I was coming up and some here the knee of the people is much greater today that it was when I was coming up as a kid so we all got to get bids we all got to get it wrong so important our seyis Russell center for innovation entrepreneurship it's a nonprofit that we started as a family 504 ferry ohta Russell headquarters located at Council berry it right along Northside Drive and Fair Street we want to turn that building into somewhere where entrepreneurs of the future can come in and be trained on how business works and how to make their dreams a reality it's hard when you've never seen it happen to believe that it's possible my granddad showed me all this possible from a little boy that grew up in Summer Hill with a speech impediment to see things in life that most people never see we want to connect with individuals connect the bridge of accessibility and exposure so these neighborhoods that are underserved as talented and as dedicated as hard-working that he was there were still some people along the way that had to help him to get to where he was he wanted to pass that on Herman never stopped growing he was learning new things and teaching new things until his last days Harmon says in his book if a door is not open you go right to the back door and if that door is not open there's always a window and if the windows were closed what else a chimney over the course of his life he saw the Civil Rights Act passed he saw the driving rights back pass he saw fair housing pass he saw minority and female business programs adopted locally and nationally he saw a real open door and Herman was someone who understood the value of walking through an open door even if it was just cracked and lanta grew with Herman and Herman grew with Atlanta you really got to ask yourself what I want to do in life you need to quickly accept it you need to work hard at it get a good education work hard bond and midnight are be honest to yourself and other also keep in mind that you have an obligation to give back to society that is very important and you got to love what you do you got to love it let's do the best that you can get ready to open it under so and if you do don't say I have no data matter that you gonna reach your goal [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: H.J. Russell & Company

Views: 100,921

Keywords: Building Atlanta: The Story of Herman J. Russell, Documentary, Herman J. Russell, H. J. Russell & Company, H. J. Russell, Michael Russell, Jerome Russell, Donata Russell Ross, Atlanta, Concessions International, Businessman, Black History, Building Atlanta, We Build, Russell Family, Ivan Allen, Maynard Jackson, Andrew Young

Id: inbvs9qzYmo

Length: 53min 33sec (3213 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 04 2020