November 14th in A.A. History

In 1939, New York City A.A. members, their spouses—more than 50 in all, including Jimmy B., Bert T., Morgan R., and Tom B.—and at least one non-alcoholic Trustee, Leonard Harrison, sign a letter to Bill W. The letter said, in part

We all know that, like the rest of us, you are confronted with the necessity of making a living… We feel that we owe a debt to you which can be measured only in terms of life itself and therefore, perhaps, it is hardly appropriate that we should ask that you to continue to make the sacrifices which you have in the past for the benefit of ourselves and others yet unknown. Yet we ask you, if you find it possible to do so, to continue for a time with the work of Alcoholics Anonymous. We feel that the loss of your guidance at this most critical period in the development of the movement would be nothing less than a major catastrophe. On our own part, we pledge ourselves to do whatever we can in every way to help you carry the load.

In 1940, the Alcoholic Foundation office in New York City mailed the first issue
the A.A. Bulletin to groups. Its purpose was to inform groups of important events. It evolved over the years and underwent several name changes. Today it is known as Box 4-5-9.

In 1943, in Los Angeles, California, at an open meeting at a Veterans Administration theater, Bill W. told 600 attendees how A.A. had enabled 10,000 alcoholics to recover. To the left is the Los Angeles Times article about this event.

In 1945, Bill W. wrote to Rev. Sam D., co-founder of A.A. in Atlanta, to enlist his help in stopping Carl K. from misrepresenting A.A. and causing controversy. Carl was the editor of his own magazine, The Empty Jug, for which Sam wrote a column, “Sam Talks Sense.” Bill complimented Sam’s column, but said that it was “completely surrounded by a whole page of hate,” and that Carl had had a “50 round bout with the demons of the liquor industry.” Bill stressed the need to avoid the subjects of “politics, religion and reform.”