smiddy3, in a WT study article in 2017 the WTS said the following. This is proof that jws do not really read, study or listen at the weekly WT study. The WTS mentions Russell, several times each year, I checked only back to 2006. When the history book Proclaimers was published in 1993, required readings from the book were scheduled on the theocratic ministry school each week. Since then, there is no incentive for jws to read that book. (Most jws today cannot explain the WT teaching of 1914 or overlapping generations. History has even less meaning to them.
2017
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2017283?q=taze&p=sen
8 In the late 19th century,
Charles Taze Russell and some of his associates endeavored to
reestablish true Christian worship. To help them disseminate Bible truth in
various languages, Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society was legally incorporated in
1884, with Brother Russell as president.* He
was an outstanding student of the Bible, and he fearlessly exposed as false
such doctrines as the Trinity and the immortality of the soul. He discerned
that Christ would return invisibly and that “the appointed times of the
nations” would end in 1914. (Luke 21:24) Brother Russell devoted his time, energy,
and money unsparingly to share these truths with others. Clearly, at that
pivotal time, Brother Russell was used by Jehovah and the head of the
congregation.
9 Brother Russell did not seek glory from humans. In 1896, he
wrote: “We want no homage, no reverence, for ourselves or our writings; nor do
we wish to be called Reverend or Rabbi. Nor do we wish that any should be
called by our name.” He later stated: “This is not man’s work.”
10. (a) When did Jesus appoint “the faithful
and discreet slave”? (b) Relate how the Governing Body has been
progressively distinguished from the Watch Tower Society.
10 In 1919, three years after Brother
Russell’s death, Jesus appointed “the faithful and discreet slave.” For
what purpose? To give his domestics “food at the proper time.” (Matt. 24:45) Even in those early years, a small
group of anointed brothers who served at headquarters in Brooklyn, New York,
prepared and distributed spiritual food to Jesus’ followers