OK, for the good of the "cause," I'll stand aside and let "the dear Pastor" be villified!
Seriously, I believe the idea suggested of reading Russell's own writings to determine his true character is a much more direct way of assessing him than using the old scandals. I've been reading his works, and I don't like a lot of what I read. When I was JW (before they were so sensitive about people reading the old writings), I read the first volume of Scripture Studies and, in my youthful idealism, became favorably disposed toward Russell. (After all, his belief in the "restitution of all things" almost amounted to a belief in universal salvation, if not quite so, compared to the WT's Armageddon today.) But now, re-reading his works, I'm beginning to see that the the first volume was like a come-on, merely preparing the way for his prophetic dates and claims of grandeur. This technique is still used by JWs today - presenting the public with ideas that are more easily swallowed than with their advanced, convoluted thinking.
The Washington Post article should be preserved for history, but I wonder if the only concern is an objectively historical one by tossing it to us XJWs, many of whom are determined to "hurt" the WT in any way we can. That's like throwing food to sharks! But, we'd get our hands on it sooner or later, anyway.
The seriousness of dealing with Russell's memory can be summed up in few words: I'm sure we've all been exposed to basically two theories of WT history, one which starts out with Russell as a "bad egg" and goes from there, the other which portrays Rutherford, not Russell, as making the WT what it is today. If the second approach is held to, then anyone who has ever been involved with WT can afford the luxury of thinking they were involved in something that started out good (even if to a certain extent misguided) and then was corrupted later. But if Russell himself was an evil man, then the JW/XJW has given years of his/her life for something that was rotten to the core.
Whatever the facts are, we have to abide by them. But the view of reality we accept, whichever of the two theories of history we abide by, has consequences for our mental health and our own self esteem.
Justin