Dr. Charles Russell Ely was born on February 20, 1870 in Columbus, Ohio. The family soon relocated to Frederick, Maryland when Ely’s father, Dr. Charles Wright Ely was appointed superintendent of the Maryland School for the Deaf. Due to his father’s affiliation with the Deaf, Charles Russell Ely quickly picked up sign language and became immersed in the local Deaf Community.

In 1891, Ely graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts degree, continuing on to complete his master’s degree in 1892 from Gallaudet College, and completing his PhD at George Washington University in 1900. Ely’s interest in the Deaf Community remained strong; he started teaching at Gallaudet College in 1891, he employed positions as: instructor, assistant professor, professor in chemistry and vice president. Only briefly did he leave his busy post at Gallaudet when he took over his recently deceased father’s position as principal of the Maryland state school for the Deaf (1912- 1913).

Dr. Ely was very involved in science, especially botany. He was actively a member of numerous organizations, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Institute of Chemists, the Convention of American Instructors of the Deaf, the American Chemical Society and The Entomological Society of America and very involved in the local Washington DC ward.

December 25, 1897 Ely married Louise Day Crane of Orange, New Jersey. They later expanded their family to include 3 daughters: Elizabeth Day, Grace Darling, and Sylvia Louise. On February 22, 1939, Dr. Ely died suddenly at age 69 in his Kendall Green home, of a heart attack.