Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916)
Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Pastor Russell formed a Bible study group in Allegheny City in the 1870's; developed it into the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. It became the legal corporation for Jehovah's Witnesses. He lived in the Bible House nearby, 1894-1909; spoke here at Carnegie Hall.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In the 1870s, Charles Taze Russell gathered a small Bible study group in Allegheny City and, from it, built the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. Living nearby in the "Bible House" from 1894 to 1909 and speaking to crowds at Carnegie Hall, Russell became a nationally known religious teacher whose organization would grow into the legal and publishing backbone of the Jehovah's Witnesses. His movement spread from this Pittsburgh-area base across the country and the world.
Why it matters
Russell's work gave rise to one of the most recognizable religious movements to emerge from Gilded Age America, a reminder of the era's restless spiritual seeking and the printed word's power to build a global following.
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