A studio portrait photograph of Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Bible Student movement and first president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, taken around 1915, the year before his death. The photograph was originally published in the Watch Tower Society's own literature and is credited to a photographer named Mitchell. It has since been reproduced across the English Wikipedia biography of Russell, captioned "Russell in 1915," and the Wikipedia article on Jehovah's Witnesses, the movement his followers organized after his death, where it is captioned as depicting the founder of the Watch Tower Society. It shows Russell in later middle age, formally dressed, in the style of an early twentieth century clerical portrait.
Facts
Rights and Reproduction
Reproduction and CopyrightSourced to the subject's own accountThis particular 1915 studio photograph, first published in the Watch Tower Society's own literature, became the default historical image of Russell reproduced across both the Bible Student and Jehovah's Witness successor movements and outside reference works alike, its Watch Tower provenance making it readily available for reuse well before questions of image rights were commonly considered for reproducing a historical figure's likeness. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Jehovah's Witnesses directly: "in 1915," and the Wikipedia article on Jehovah's Witnesses, the movement his followers organized after his death, where it is captioned as depicting the founder of the Watch Tower Society."
Depicts
The photograph's sole subject, reused across multiple Wikipedia biographies and archives as the standard portrait of Russell.
Sources
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