A Modest Proposal

"Best Scenic Overlook #2" by Lindsey Lee, Google Maps

Richard Brevard Russell Jr. was born in 1897 and was the Governor of Georgia from 1931 to 1933 before serving in the U.S. Senate for almost 40 years (1933 until his death in 1971). A staunch segregationist, Russell was a leading opponent of the civil-rights movement for decades, and with Strom Thurmond co-authored the so-called Southern Manifesto, which opposed school integration and civil rights. He strongly defended white supremacy and apparently did not question or ever apologize for his segregationist views, votes and speeches. For decades, he was key in blocking meaningful civil-rights legislation intended to protect African Americans from lynching, disenfranchisement, and disparate treatment under the law.  In 1964, he boycotted the Democratic National Convention along with Herman Talmadge and Russell Long in protest of President Lyndon Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act.

In short, he was a racist piece of shit who carried 19th Century racial biases way too long into the 20th Century.

But due too his long tenure in the Senate, as well as the popularity of his views among a certain portion of the Georgia electorate, his name has been memorialized on various buildings and other structures in Georgia. A bronze statue of Russell stands on the lawn of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, and the Richard B. Russell Federal Building is the primary home of most federal offices in Atlanta (in Washington, D.C., the Russell Senate Office Building is the oldest of the three U.S. Senate office buildings). A Richard B. Russell Dam and Lake, part of the Richard B. Russell Multiple Resource Area, is located on the upper Savannah River, and a Georgia state park on the shores of that lake also bears Russell's name. There's a Richard B. Russell Airport in Rome, Georgia, and the USS Richard B. Russell U.S. Navy submarine served from 1975 to 1994.  There are Russell Elementary Schools in Warner Robins and .Smyrna, Georgia and a Richard B. Russell Jr. Middle School in Winder, Georgia.

In 1939, the Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway (GA 348) was constructed in the Chattahoochee National Forest in the North Georgia mountains.  Today, it is part of the Russell-Brasstown National Scenic Byway.

There is nothing much that can be done about a long-term Senator's name appearing on numerous roads, schools, and buildings.  But in the field of geology, rock formations are named for localities where the rocks are prominently displayed.  The Clairmont Formation is named for conspicuous exposures of the rock on Clairmont Road, and the Zebulon Formation is named for the town of Zebulon, Georgia.  There are numerous bedrock outcroppings along the Richard B. Lewis Scenic Highway, and in the early 1980s, geologists coined the name "Richard Russell Formation" (later the "Richard Russell Gneiss") for those rocks and described the terrane in which the rocks occur as the "Richard Russell thrust sheet."

I don't ascribe racism or any other sinister motive to the naming decision.  The geologists were merely following standard geologic convention in the nomenclature, naming the rocks exposed along the Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway the "Richard Russell Formation."  It's a sparsely-populated, wilderness area, and there weren't that many other geographical names nearby.  Besides, after serving as a Governor and Senator for some 40 years before finally passing away in 1971, the name "Richard Russell" was familiar to Georgians and probably lacked the "shock value" to geologists in the early 80s that it has to folks today.

Since that time, the name "Richard Russell Formation" has appeared in geological maps and various reports, academic theses, and professional journals.  It's entrenched in the geologic literature, and it wouldn't be easy to replace the name.

But it wouldn't be impossible either.  From time to time, geologic formation names are changed.  For example, sometimes it's realized that the rocks at the type locality, the place for which the rocks are named, are actually part of a different formation, and a new type location is designated and the name changed to something more appropriate.  There are other reasons, too, but to my knowledge names have not yet been changed due to political correctness or sensitivity with regard to offensiveness (although some USGS topographical maps have been edited to remove the notorious "N-word" from geographic place names).   

I dislike Russell being given legitimacy by having his name continue to appear in the geologic literature some 50-plus years after his death, and I don't like parts of Georgia carrying on the legacy of his hateful views.  So I would like to propose a face-saving compromise that allows for a name change without opening the Pandora's of political correctness.  

While it may seem logical to name the rocks along the Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway the "Richard Russell Formation," it's also a bit vague.  Where along the 17-mile highway are these rocks?  Well, it turns out the rocks are most dramatically exposed at Hogpen Gap, where the Appalachian Trail crosses the Highway.  One of the identifying characteristics of the formation are the numerous fractures from which groundwater seeps, and in winter the exposures at Hogpen Gap are commonly photographed for the picturesque icicles and ice flows emanating from the outcrops.

Since the rocks along the You-Know-Who Scenic Highway are well known and something of a tourist attraction in themselves, I propose that the rocks be more accurately renamed the "Hogpen Gap Formation" (or "Hogpen Gap Gneiss" is you prefer) for geographic accuracy, rather that the vaguer "Richard Russell Formation" (or "Gneiss").  By extension, the name for the underlying tectonic terrane should also be changed to the "Hogpen Gap thrust sheet."  

It's up to someone other than I to formally propose the change, and I won't even ask for attribution or citation. It's also up to others to change the name of those office buildings (in 2018, Charles Schumer proposed renaming the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington to that of the deceased Senator John McCain).  And someday, someone will take down that statue at the Georgia Capitol.  But meanwhile, can't we just call the Richard Russell Formation the "Hogpen Gap Gneiss"?

Nest Up: That Georgia lake and National Recreation Area names for Trail of Tears commander Winfield Scott.