Russell was born in
Albert Lea, Minnesota, to Lora and Emil Nelson. She married Clarence Russell in 1935. Their son is the author Dick Russell. She studied music in Paris, and at the
Sherwood Music School (today Columbia College) and the
American Conservatory of Music, both in Chicago. Her teachers included
Robert Casadesus and
Yves Nat. As a pianist, Russell performed in France (Bordeaux and Paris) and throughout the United States (Beloit, Dallas, Chicago, Houston, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and New York). As a church organist, she worked in Chicago, Kansas City, and Minneapolis. She was a keyboard instructor at MacPhail College of Music from 1942 to 1947, and at the
University of Missouri Kansas City from 1961 to 1971. Russell also gave a keyboard workshop at the El Paso Institute of the Arts in 1974. Russell died on 30 March 1989 in
Aurora, Colorado. Russell composed organ and choral works suitable for church performance, and teaching pieces for piano. She often collaborated with
Ethel Tench Rogers. Many of her piano pieces were included in pedagogy collections. Her works were published by
Belwin Mills Publishing Corp., CPP/Belwin Inc., Harold Flammer Inc., J Fischer & Bro., ProArt Publications, and
Summy Birchard. ==List and compositions==