On Jan. 29, 1976, Eleanor Russell was honored at Syracuse’s Civic Center by the Syracuse Jaycettes.
Just 24 years old, she was given the group’s annual “Distinguished Service Award” and named its “Outstanding Young Woman of the Year.”
Despite her young age, her accomplishments filled nearly half of an entire newspaper column.
Russell helped found the area’s first Community Arts School at Syracuse’s Dunbar Center in her early teens. At 15, she was made a member of Mayor William Walsh’s advisory council and helped set up Y.E.S. (Youth Employment Summer) program.
As a student at Nottingham High School, Russell was one of the founders of “Soul Generation,” an organization of students who used dance and acting to teach Black pride. She also developed projects for the Girl Scouts, YWCA and Girls’ Club.
And she was one of the most prominent Black actresses in Syracuse, a trailblazer who appeared on arguably the city’s most iconic television program.
Eleanor Russell, of Syracuse, passed away peacefully on Thursday, October 9, at Sunnyside Care Center.
She was 74.
According to newspaper archives, she was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Green.
Her mother and grandmother were her earliest influences.
“My grandmother could not read but she taught me by memorizing children’s books and then making me read the words until I could recognize them on the page,” she told The Post-Standard in 1982. “It was my grandmother who made me understand my ethnic heritage.”
“My mother gave me the foundation for acting and taught me the discipline needed by having me take part in the religious pageants she conducted.”
Russell called “Soul Generation” at Nottingham a “basement organization.”
Growing out of the school busing crisis of the 1960s, Black students created their “own fraternity and sorority.”
“Our aim was to build a bridge of racial understanding, not just for Black young people but for all children in the inner city,” Russell said in 1977.
The grass roots organization received national attention, gave performances in “nearly every school in Onondaga County,” and across Upstate. There was a Syracuse TV show and a chance to perform in Africa.
Russell studied at Onondaga Community College and Syracuse University.
Becoming an actress was tough.
“It is difficult for a Black actress to get into theater,” she said in 1982, “very difficult.”
She earned rave reviews from the start though.
“From the moment Miss Russell first stepped before a Syracuse audience in ‘A Raisin in the Sun,’ (1969) she proclaimed herself an actress of worth,” Herald-Journal theater critic Joan Vadeboncoeur wrote in 1975.
She played the title role in “Carrie” and wowed audiences in “Blues for Mr. Charlie” for Salt City Playhouse.
Russell was the last major cast member to join the long-running Syracuse children’s program “Magic Toy Shop” on Channel 5, joining the group in 1971 when she was 19 years old.
(The show ran from 1955 to 1982.)
Her character, Ellie, was host of a segment, “A Quiet Place,” where she read books and talked to children about their feelings.
She was the first Black member of the cast, but Jean Daugherty, the show’s “Play Lady,” told reporter William LaRue in 1993 that Russell was not chosen just to add racial diversity.
“We just found somebody who had the right spirit,” Daugherty said.
Russell told the Herald-Journal in 1993 that “Magic Toy Shop” was just as popular with Black children as it was with whites. She said cast members had made personal appearances in the Black community since the 1950s.
On her first day with the show, Russell said, friends and family packed her house to wish her well.
“There were people standing along the block to see the station car, and there were people waiting in the parking lot when I got off work,” she said in 1993. “The great thing about ‘The Magic Toy Shop’ is that you were colorless.”
In 1980, she was named an International Rotary Fellow and studied in England.
“She was an actress, singer, student, and teacher throughout her life,” her obituary said, “and a dedicated champion for civil rights, women’s rights, and LGBTQ rights. Eleanor lived her faith with unwavering conviction and joy.”
There will be two memorial services, each held in a place that was deeply meaningful in Russell’s life.
Both gatherings are open to all who wish to attend, and each will also be livestreamed for those joining from afar.
The first will be on Saturday, November 15, at noon, at Tucker Missionary Baptist Church, 515 Oakwood Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13205. Please contact Pastor Eric Dickson for more information at etdickson@yahoo.com.
The second service will be on Saturday, April 18, at 1 p.m., at Plymouth Congregational Church, 232 E Onondaga Street, Syracuse, NY 13202. Reach out to Pastor Craig French for more information at cfrench@plymouthsyr.org.
Donations to both churches are welcome in memory of Russell.
To offer condolences or other inquiries, please contact Eleanor-memorial@googlegroups.com.
Garland Brothers Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
