Russell Allen Blanchard
Born in Camak, Georgia, on October 2, 1907, to Walter and Rachel Elizabeth Chapman Blanchard, Russell Allen Blanchard became a leader in the banking industry in Augusta and the state. He graduated from the Academy of Richmond County in 1926 and the Junior College of Augusta. He went to work as a bookkeeper for the Georgia Railroad Bank in 1927-28.
He took classes offered by the Augusta Chapter of the American Institute of Banking, of which he was a charter member, and graduated from the Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University. In 1935, he was elected to the Augusta Chapter Board of Governors for the AIB. In 1941, he was the Assistant Cashier for the Georgia Railroad Bank & Trust. By that time, he was teaching the banking classes sponsored by the AIB. In 1947, he became cashier, in 1948, vice president and cashier, in 1957, executive VP, in 1966, 1st VP and, in 1969, President. In 1960, bankers in the state elected him president of the Georgia Bankers Association, a division of the American Bankers Association. An honor that speaks to his character was being named in 1967 as “Boss of the Year” by the local chapter of the National Secretaries Association. In the tribute, it said, he was a “man of unfailing high standards in all phases of his life, and his capacity to encourage and guide is true leadership.”
Blanchard left a strong legacy of community service. Early in his life, he became involved in the Boy Scouts. In 1924, as a teenager, he won the Boy Scouts contest in Augusta for the best good deeds. For many years, he lived in North Augusta, where he became Secretary of the Board of Trustees of North Augusta schools and a leader of First Baptist Church of North Augusta, teaching and serving as Superintendent of Sunday School and Chair of Finance and Building Committees. He was also active in the Augusta community. In 1947, he became chair of the Initial Gifts Committee for the Red Cross Fund drive. He was President of the Character Chest, which raised funds for five local charities: Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, YMAC, the YWCA, and the Salvation Army. His love of Boy Scouts continued into adulthood and in 1930 he became a Scoutmaster and a member of the board, serving as an officer. He also supported the Girls Scouts. He became a member of the Lions Club and the Rotary Club, serving a term as President of that organization. He was an active supporter of the Chamber of Commerce, the Empty Stocking Fund, and the University Hospital. In Augusta, he was a deacon of the First Baptist Church.
Blanchard was a faithful alumnus of Junior College of Augusta/Augusta College/Augusta State University. After the college acquired senior college status in 1963, Russell Blanchard was a founding member and first President of the Augusta College Foundation, a position he held for a decade. Blanchard proposed a goal of $5000 for that first year but raised in money and property donations over $46,000. In 1998, the college bestowed on him an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters and he was twice awarded the prestigious President’s Award from the university. In 2001, he established the Russell A. Blanchard endowment within the College of Business Administration. In 2005, the Blanchard Fountain at the entrance of the university was dedicated as a monument to his service, not only to the college but to the community.