Freestone County, Texas
Biographies 


David Riley Russell
(Dec. 4, 1902 - Mar. 20, 1964)

David Riley Russell was best known for his poetry. David was born on December 4, 
1902 in Fairfield, Texas, the son of John Lawson and Mary Sarah "Mollie" (Riley) 
Russell. David received a B.A. degree from Southern Methodist University in 1926 
and joined SMU as assistant professor in the speech and theater department. He 
received an M.A. degree in drama from Carnegie Institute of Technology in 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1931. He wrote four books of poetry, one of which, 
Sing With Me Now (1945), won the 1945 Texas Institute of Letters prize for poetry. 
His poems appeared in such papers and magazines as the New York Times and the 
Southwest Review as well as in local, regional, and national anthologies. He was 
poet laureate of Texas from 1945 to 1947. David also wrote plays that were produced 
at Southern Methodist University and in Dallas theaters. He was a member of 
several professional organizations, including the Poetry Society of Texas, of 
which he was president from 1941 to 1951, the Texas Institute of Letters, and 
the Texas Folklore Society. In 1941 Russell edited the Poetry Society's Yearbook. 
He married Mrs. Agnes Scaling McNeny on March 30, 1956. They had two children. 
Russell was a member of the Highland Park Methodist Church and the Brookhollow 
Golf Club. He was a board member the director of plays at Dallas Little Theatre. 
The Mr. and Mrs. David Russell Poetry Prize in a creative writing contest was 
given annually at Southern Methodist University. Russell died on March 20, 1964, 
and was buried at Hillcrest Mausoleum, Dallas.