December 13 in A.A. History

In 1899, Leslie (or Lester^*) Earl T. [left, as an adult] was born in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, to Estella L. Konkle and Frederick Clement T. He went by the name “Earl” and got sober in 1937, likely in July. Earl would become a founder of Alcoholics Anonymous in Chicago, Illinois, where the first meeting was held on 20 September 1939. His story in the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, is titled “He Sold Himself Short” and appears in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions.

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^*His birth records list his first name as “Lester;” all other records show it as “Leslie.”

In 1913, W. Franklin, President of the Kentucky Distillers and Distributing Co. in Kansas City, Missouri, wrote a letter [right] to the Keeley Institute in Dwight, Illinois. This commercial medical facility offered alcoholics a treatment known as the Keeley (or Gold) Cure from 1879 to 1965:

     Gentlemen: Our customers are your prospective patients. We can put on your desk a mailing list of over 50,000 individual consumers of liquor. The list is the result of thousands of dollars [$1,000 in 1913 ~$32,700 in 2025] of advertising.
    Each individual on the list is a regular user of liquor.
    The list of names is new, live and active. We furnish this list in quantities at the prices listed below. Remittances to accompany each order.

40,000 to 50,000  . . . . . . . . . .	$400 [~$13,100 in 2025]
20,000  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	$300 [~$9,800 in 2025]
10,000  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	$200 [~$6,500 in 2025]

     We will not furnish this list in lots of less than 10,000. Discontinuance of business January 1 is the occasion for selling our mailing list.

    The Anti-Saloon League responded by publishing the letter in its official journal, The American Issue, along with scathing commentary [left]:

     After poisoning the people, after robbing them of their money, these coyotes wish to sell the list of addresses to a Keeley Institute because, as they say, "OUR CUSTOMERS ARE YOUR PROSPECTIVE PATIENTS."
    Is it any wonder that Senator Borah said regard W. Franklin, president of the corporation who wrote the letter, "If he was not an idiot, he would be a criminal."
    Mr. Franklin is likely not an "idiot." The "idiot" is the voter who champions the licensing of this sort of a thing as a "temperance measure."

In 1937, Bill W. and nine other men—Dr. Silkworth of Towns Hospital; Dr. Leonard Strong, Bill’s brother-in-law; and seven other alcoholics: Dr. Bob S., Paul S., Hank P., Ned P., Bill R., Joe T., and Fitz M.—attended a 6 p.m. dinner hosted by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. [near right] in the executive dining room at 30 Rockefeller Plaza [far right]. Although Mr. Rockefeller did not attend, the Rev. Willard “Dick” Richardson was present, along with select Rockefeller associates: Albert Scott, A. LeRoy Chipman, and Frank Amos. After dinner, they adjourned to the boardroom next to John D.’s office. Bill was informed that he was sitting in the seat just vacated by Mr. Rockefeller himself. The dinner and meeting lasted five hours.
    As he was leaving, Amos approached Bill and asked him to take on an alcoholic known to both Amos and Richardson: Jack D. This must have felt like a test to Bill; nevertheless, he agreed to “start work with him, provided [Jack D.] was willing.”

In 1939 [Dec 20?, possibly Nov 29?], The Akron “alcoholic squad” distanced itself from the Oxford Group. Meetings were relocated from the residence of T. Henry and Clarace Williams to the homes of Dr. Bob S. and other members.

In 1941, the first A.A. meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, took place in Room 152 of the Henry Hotel [left]. It had been arranged by two non-alcoholics, Tim O’Leary and attorney David Janavitz, both of whom had alcoholic employees. Attendees included Si H., Howell J., Jake H., Arch K., and Jim K. In early 1941, the group would relocate to the downtown YMCA on Wood St. However, they would soon have to vacate the “Y” as space was needed for servicemen preparing for war. Over the next few years, the group would move half a dozen more times.

In 1949, in a letter to Jack Alexander, Bill W. outlined major turning points in A.A.’s development, including the decision to leave the Oxford Group, Rockefeller's insistence that they did not need money, formation of the Alcoholic Foundation, and the writing of the first two chapters of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

December 12 in A.A. History

In 1865, Ella A. Brock and Gardner F. Griffith [left] were married in Dorset, Vermont, by Rev. W. W. Whitney [right: marriage record]. They would have three children: Clarence H. (1867), Emily E. (1870), and Amelia B. (1876). In 1895, Emily would give birth to Bill W.

In 1890, William “Bill” D. [left] was born in Bardwell, Kentucky. He would sober up in June 1935 at Akron Ohio’s City Hospital with the help of Bill W., Dr. Bob S., and possibly Edgar R. His story, “Alcoholic Anonymous Number Three” appears in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

In 1937, Bill W. held a “setup meeting” the night before a group of alcoholics—chosen by Bill—was to attend a Monday dinner hosted by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. [right, c. 1937]. The attendees were Lois W.^*, Dr. Bob S., Paul S., Hank & Kathleen^* P., Ned^† P., Bill R., Joe T.^‡, and Fitz M. There is no known record of what transpired.

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^*Nonalcoholic

^†Ned had recently joined the New York Group. Hank had given him a job at Honor Dealers, but he wouldn't remain sober for long and would eventually prove to be a con man, relieving the Parkhursts of “a car, a new suit, and some of Hank’s papers” within a couple of months.

^‡Joe had been associated with the New York Group since 1936 but had fluctuated between drinking and sobriety. He was apparently deemed sober enough at this time to be invited to the dinner.

In 1940, an A.A. meeting was held in St. Louis, Missouri, marking the first such gathering in the city and in the state. 
    After returning from his meeting with Bill W. at the 24th St. Clubhouse in New York City, Father Ed Dowling [left] was contacted by F., who claimed that his son-in-law had a drinking problem. However, it was actually F. himself who had the problem and needed help. With Father Ed’s support and encouragement, F. gathered four other prospective members and organized the first A.A. meeting in St. Louis—and in the state of Missouri—at the Gibson Hotel [right], 5883 Enright Ave.

December 11 in A.A. History

In 1934, it was a typical winter day in New York City, with temperatures around 20℉ [-6.7℃], accompanied by wind and clouds. Following an angry argument with his wife, Lois [near right], the day before, Bill W. [far right] spent a disastrous night on the subway begging for money to buy booze, then drinking himself into oblivion. Bill returned home to 182 Clinton St., Brooklyn, in the morning. Lois was at work.
    Upon seeing the damage he had inflicted by throwing Lois’ sewing machine against the wall during their fight, Bill felt a deep sense of remorse. Remembering Ebby T.’s success with the Oxford Group, he wrote a note for Lois explaining that he was heading to Charles B. Towns Hospital [left, c. 1940] for his fourth round of treatment for alcoholism there. With only 6¢ in his pocket and the subway fare costing a nickel, he stopped at a grocery store where he still had credit and bought four bottles of beer. He arrived at Towns Hospital with a beer in one hand and two philosophy books in the other, announcing to Dr. Silkworth [right] that he had found the answer. Those beers would be Bill’s last, as he was admitted for the final time to undergo the Towns-Lambert treatment.^*
    For the rest of his life, Bill would give this date as the day of his last drink.

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*The treatment in brief: Every hour, day and night, for two days, administer a mixture of three herbal extracts: Belladonna (deadly nightshade, 7.4 ml) [top right], Hyoscyamus (prickly ash, a trace?) [middle right], and Xanthoxylum (henbane, 3.7 ml) [bottom right] (note that omitting any of these ingredients interferes with the “cessation of desire” effect, i.e., stopping cravings). The dosage depends on the body's reaction to belladonna. If the face flushes, the throat dries, and the pupils dilate, stop or reduce the dosage until these symptoms subside. However, the treatment must continue until these signs appear, or the cravings will not disappear completely. Additionally, every twelve hours, administer a strong laxative of C.C. (Compound Cathartic) pills (80 gr. extracti colocynthidis compositi, 60 gr. hydrargyri chloridi mitis, 16 gr. cambogiae and 20 gr. resinae jalapae) and blue mass (typically 34% rose honey, 33% mercury, 25% althea (or hollyhock or marshmallow), 5% licorice and 3% glycerin). Once a significant number of green stools appear, give castor oil to completely cleanse the gut.

In 1937 , Dr. Bob S. [far left] and Paul S. [near left] drove from Akron to Brooklyn, arriving late in the day. They would be among the alcoholics attending a dinner given by associates of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. the following Monday, two days later.

In 1941, in Texas, The Dallas Morning News reported, “Alcoholics Anonymous Chapter Formed Here to Aid Victims” [right].

December 10 in A.A. History

In 1934, having gone to Calvary Church Rescue Mission just three days earlier with Ebby T. while drunk, and then spending two days at home detoxing, Bill W. returned home roaring drunk. This provoked an argument with his wife, Lois, who angrily shouted, “You don’t even have the decency to die! You’re crazy! You’re! Crazy!” In a fit of rage, Bill picked up her sewing machine [right: a 1934 model] and threw it against the wall, terrifying Lois. He then left and rode the subways all night, panhandling for money to buy booze. For a long time, Lois was plagued by deep regret for her outburst.

In 1975, the first Birds of a Feather (BOAF) Nest (i.e., group) was formed in Seattle, Washington. From their website:

    Birds of a Feather International [left: logo] is a worldwide network of meetings based on the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. It was established for pilots and cockpit crew members active or inactive in private, commercial or military aviation. BOAF provides AA meetings worldwide (including ZOOM [Oops! Not all these are what you might think!] meetings), a yearly convention, a newsletter and a website for pilots and cockpit crew members in recovery.

December 9 in A.A. History

In 1985, David “Dave” B. [right], 76, died with 40 years of sobriety. In April 1944, he founded the Montreal Group, the first A.A. group in Quebec, and served as a Class B (alcoholic) General Service Board Trustee from 1962 to 1964. His story, “Gratitude In Action,” appeared in the fourth edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.
    In 1959, Quebec had established its own literature committee—Les Editions Francaises A.A.—where Dave had played a significant role in translating the Big Book and other A.A. materials into French, advising the General Service Office on the challenges encountered. One outcome was a French version of the Big Book, le Gros Livre, Les Alcooliques anonymes, which became the foundational text for all French-speaking groups worldwide.

December 8 in A.A. History

In 1903, test pilot Charles Manly made a second attempt at manned flight in Professor Langley’s heavier-than-air craft. His first attempt in October had ended in a crash into the Potomac River after a wing apparently clipped the launcher. The plane was still catapulted, still lacked landing gear, still had controls only for pitch and yaw, and still had none for roll [see diagram at left]. During this second attempt, the plane broke apart as it was launched toward the Potomac. Miraculously, Manly survived once again.
    Newspapers took great delight in reporting the failures [right: The New York Times, 10 Dec 1903, page 8], and some Congressmen harshly criticized the project.
    The Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, refers to these events in the chapter “We Agnostics” on page 51.

December 7 in A.A. History

In 1934, Ebby T. took a drunken Bill W. to the Oxford Group meeting at Calvary Church Rescue Mission [right] after Bill had expressed interest the day before. At the meeting, Bill ended up “testifying” from the podium, and perhaps even accepting Jesus Christ as his Savior. Amazingly, on the way home, Bill lost all desire to drink and spent the next two days in his bedroom tapering off alcohol.

In 1949, Sister Ignatia accepted the College of Steubenville’s 1st annual Poverello Medal of St. Francis of Assisi [far left: The New York Times announcement, 3 Dec 1949, p. 14, the medal itself, and the certificate that came with it] on behalf of “the entire fellowship” of Alcoholics Anonymous, in recognition of its “tremendous contribution… to Humanity.”

In 2022, the United Kingdom’s BBC Two premiered the documentary I’m An Alcoholic: Inside Recovery, which for the first time allowed cameras into Alcoholics Anonymous (UK) meetings while protecting members’ anonymity through the use of deep-fake imagery. This potentially troubling visual manipulation technique demonstrated a positive application in this context, as it altered members’ faces to make them unrecognizable to close friends [right: altered faces, as seen in the film]. The one-off documentary also explored the organization’s roots in the pre-World War II United States and discussed its role in modern society, commemorating A.A.’s 75th anniversary in the UK. London England’s The Guardian described it as “a sensitive and impeccably balanced documentary.”

December 6 in A.A. History

In 1934, Ebby T. visited Bill W. [near right: Bill & Ebby] for the second time, this time accompanied by his Oxford Group (OG) friend, Sheppard “Shep” Cornell [left] . They came to discuss the OG with Bill. Although Bill was unimpressed by Shep, his curiosity prompted him to ask Ebby to take him to the Calvary Rescue Mission, where regular OG meetings were held and where Ebby was staying. Lois W. later noted that Ebby visited several times.

In 1939, Herbert “Bert” T. [right], who owned a fashionable clothing business on 5th Avenue in New York City, loaned Works Publishing, Inc. $1,000 [~ $23,300 in 2025]. 
    In 1954, Bill W. described what had happened:

    … We learned [that Bert’s shop] was mostly on mortgage, [Bert] having drunk nearly all of it up.… 
    I went up to Bert one day and I said “Bert, there is a promise of an article in Liberty magazine.… It won’t come out until next September.… Bert, when that piece is printed, these books will go out in carload lots [i.e. railroad cars]. We need $1,000 bucks to get us through the summer.” 
    Bert asked, “Well, are you sure that the article is going to be printed?” “Oh yes,” I said, “that’s final.” He said, “O.K., I haven’t got the dough but there’s this man down in Baltimore, Mr. Cochran, he’s a customer of mine, he buys his pants in here. Let me call him up.’’
    Bert calls Mr. Cochran long-distance, explains the situation, and asks, “If you’ll just buy a couple of thousand of those books and put them in the large libraries, of course we would sell them for that purpose at a considerable discount.… Would you loan the Works Publishing Company this [$1,000]?”
    Mr. Cochran asked about the company balance sheet, and after he learned, he said “No thanks.”
    So Bert then said, “Now Mr. Cochran, you know me. Would you loan the money to me on the credit of my business?” “Why certainly,” Mr. Cochran said, “send me down your note.”
    So Bert hocked the business that a year or two later was to go broke anyway and saved the book Alcoholics Anonymous. The thousand dollars lasted until the Liberty article came out. 800 inquiries came in as a result of that, we moved a few books and we barely squeaked through the year 1939.

In 1940, Dr. Gilbert “Gib” K. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, wrote to the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City a second time, requesting contact information for the nearest A.A. groups—in Madison, Wisconsin, and Chicago, Illinois—and enclosing $3.50 [~$79 in 2025] for a copy of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. More than six weeks earlier, on October 23, he had contacted the Foundation for help. The reply, dated December 3, informed him of the book’s cost and offered, if he requested it, contact information for the two nearest A.A. groups.

In 1979, Henrietta Buckler Seiberling [left], 91, a key figure in the founding and development of Alcoholics Anonymous, died at her home in New York City. In 1935, she had opened her home, Stan Hywet’s Gate Lodge in Akron, Ohio, to two alcoholics, Bill W. and Dr. Bob S. This meeting had marked the beginning of the worldwide A.A. movement, in which she would remain involved until the end of her life, even though she was not an alcoholic.

December in A.A. History—day unknown

In 1912, in Paris, France, La Clochette (The Little Bell) published the earliest known version of what would later be known as “The Prayer of St. Francis.” This version was published anonymously under the title “Belle prière à faire pendant la messe” (A Beautiful Prayer to Say During the Mass) [left]. 
    La Clochette was a small spiritual magazine that published monthly in French from 1901 to 1919, operated by a Catholic Church organization in Paris called La Ligue de la Sainte-Messe (The League of the Holy Mass). Founded by Father Esther Bouquerel (1855–1923), who also edited the magazine, it had about 8,000 subscribers. The author of this prayer could very well have been Father Bouquerel himself, as he wrote the majority of the texts in La Clochette. Some researchers have noted similarities between this prayer and Pope Leo XIII’s 1899 la Prière de la Consécration (du genre humain) au Sacré-Cœur de Jésus (The Prayer of Consecration (of the human race) to the Sacred Heart of Jesus). However, the true identity of the author remains a mystery.

In 1934 [late December], Bill and Lois W. started attending Oxford Group meetings in New York City with Ebby T. [near right] and Shep Cornell [far right], who held a seat on the New York Stock Exchange and, along with Ebby and Lois’ families, also summered in Manchester, Vermont. Lois described it as “an ecstatic time for us both.”

In 1938, Bill W. [left, late 1930s] and others have often claimed that the editing of the working manuscript for the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous (as well as the preceding draft chapters), resulted in scenes where members “fought, bled, and died” throughout one chapter after another. They assert that Bill was merely an umpire, recording the consensus as it developed. However, the reality was that the actual arguments and discussions mostly took place between Hank Parkhurst [near right], Fitz Mayo [far right], and Bill himself at the Honor Dealers headquarters in Newark, New Jersey.
    Correspondence between Bill and Ruth Hock [left], who, as Hank’s secretary, witnessed virtually everything from those early days, confirms this. While others may have contributed punctuation and some rewording, the main debates revolved around whether to include the word “God” in the Steps and to what extent. Fitz was deeply religious, Hank was adamantly atheistic, and Bill initially refused to make any changes to his Twelve Steps, which he believed were “inspired.”

December 4 in A.A. History

In 1950, Bill W. wrote to Scott B. that one of the compelling reasons for wanting to write Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions [left: first edition cover] was the realization that the original text of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, had become “frozen”—too “sacred” even for the taste of its principal author, Bill himself.

December 3 in A.A. History

In 1940, the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City responded to a request for help from Dr. Gilbert “Gil” K. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, made on October 23.

    As you already know, our work extends far beyond the book itself and is carried on mainly through the efforts of one alcoholic who has recovered in behalf of others. This mutual effort in various localities gradually leads to weekly meetings which are held without dues, fees, or obligations of any sort whatever, merely a desire on the part of AA members, now numbering some 1,500, to aid others similarly troubled. Since you already acknowledge the fact that alcohol is a problem to you, you have already taken the most important step toward a solution. And too, since you are obviously seeking an answer to the problem you are naturally another step closer to reaching an answer. Therefore, if you are at all open minded to the principles and methods of AA you should have little difficulty in solving the problem as we have. We are sorry indeed to advise you that we have no A.A. Fellowship in Milwaukee or its immediate vicinity; the closest to you being located at Madison, Wisconsin or Chicago Illinois. If you are interested in contacting our members at either locality, and it is possible for you to do so, please let us hear from you again and complete information will be forwarded.

Today in A.A. History—December 3–5

In 1979, the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association (AMA), the AMA’s principal legislative and policymaking body, endorsed the dual classification of alcoholism in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), recognizing it in both the psychiatric and medical sections [right: resolution from the AMA’s Proceedings of the House of Delegates 33rd Interim Meeting, page 208].

December in A.A. History—day unknown

In 1938, in the midst of one of Bill W.’s “imaginary ulcer attacks,” a “depressive snit,” and a severe case of self-pity (“Poor me! Poor Bill Wilson!”), he wrote the Twelve Steps. Later he recalled that he “relaxed and asked for guidance, then picked up his pencil and [a] cheap yellow tablet” to begin writing:

    The words kept right on coming.… I didn’t seem to be thinking at all as I wrote. The words just flowed out of me and I’ve come to believe that these Steps must have been inspired.

     His most likely source, however indirect, was his own experience. At least eleven of the twelve steps can be found in the first two drafts of his story [right: “The Strange Obsession,” his earliest draft, May 1938] for the book that would eventually become the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

    This "First draft", the “original” Twelve Steps, as reverse-engineered by William Schaberg in Writing the Big Book on p. 458, are shown below (column 1), alongside the Twelve Steps from The Book That Started It All: The Original Working Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous (column 2), and those published in the first printing of the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous on April 10, 1939 (column 3). Differences are highlighted, with edits from version to version indicated as deletions and additions:

	First draft	Original Working Manuscript	Alcoholics Anonymous, 1st Edition, 1st Printing
1.	Admit you are powerless over alcohol—that your life has become unmanageable.	Admit you are Admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that your life has our lives had become unmanageable.	We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2.	Come to believe that God could restore you to sanity.	Come Came to believe that God a Power greater than ourselves could restore you us to sanity.	Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3.	Surrender your will and your life over to the care and direction of God.	Surrender Made a decision to turn your our will and life our lives over to the care and direction of God as we understood Him.	Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God and direction as we understood Him.
4.	Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourself.	Make Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourself ourselves.	Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5.	Admit to God, to yourself, and to another human begin the exact nature of your wrongs.	Admit Admitted to God, to yourself ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of your our wrongs.	Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6.	Be entirely willing for God to remove all your defects of character.	Be Were entirely willing for that, God remove all your these defects of character.	Were entirely willing that ready for to have God remove all these defects of character.
7.	Humbly, on your knees, ask God to remove your shortcomings—holding nothing back.	Humbly, on your our knees, ask God asked Him, to remove your our shortcomings—holding nothing back.	Humbly, on our knees, asked Him to remove our shortcomings—holding nothing back.
8.	Make a list of all persons you have harmed, and become willing to make complete amends to them all.	Make Made a list of all persons you have we had, harmed, and become became willing to make complete amends to them all.	Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make complete amends to them all.
9.	Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.	Make Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.	Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10.	Continue to take personal inventory and when you are wrong promptly admit it.	Continue Continued to take personal inventory and when you are we were wrong promptly admit admitted it.	Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11.	Seek through prayer and meditation to improve your contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for you and the power to carry that out.	Seek Sought through prayer and meditation to improve your our contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for you us and the power to carry that out.	Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12.	Having had a spiritual experience as the result of this course of action, try to carry this message to others, especially alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all your affairs.	Having had a spiritual experience as the result of this course of action, try we tried to carry this message to others, especially alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all your our affairs.	Having had a spiritual experience awakening as the result of this course of action these steps , we tried to carry this message to others, especially alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Summary: “First draft” vs. Original Working Manuscript

• Throughout, changed 2nd person present tense to 1st person plural tense (i.e., “you come” to “we came”, “you make” to “we made”).
• In Step 2, changed “God” to “a Power greater than ourselves”.
• In Step 3, changed “Surrender” to “Made a decision to turn”, and added “as we understood Him” to “God”.
• In Step 6, changed “for God to” to “that God”.
• In Step 7, changed “God” to “Him”.

Summary: Original Working Manuscript vs. Alcoholics Anonymous, 1st Edition, 1st Printing

• In Step 1, changed “Admit” to “We admitted”.
• In Step 6, changed “willing that” to “ready to have”.
• In Step 7, removed “on our knees” and “—holding nothing back”.
• In Step 11, added “as we understood Him” to “God”.
• In Step 12, changed “spiritual experience” to “spiritual awakening”, “this course of action” to “these steps”, and “to others, especially alcoholics” to “to alcoholics”.

December 1 in A.A. History

In 1940, Illinois’ Chicago Daily Tribune (now know as the Chicago Tribune) began a four-part series by Nall Hamilton on Alcoholics Anonymous. The first article was titled “Weekly meetings help ex-alcoholics to shun barrooms” [left]. This series would generate hundreds of inquiries and attract many new members.

In 1941, the Columbus Group of Columbus, Ohio, moved from the basement of the Columbus Y.M.C.A. [near right, c. 1933] to the Southern Hotel [far right]. It had grown to 21 members, having been started with just six alcoholics only 28 days earlier.

A.A. History in November—day unknown

In 1934, Rev. Dr. Samuel M. Shoemaker III [right, c. 1940] wrote in his personal diary:

A significant thing… met Bill W――.

Note that this was the month before Bill W.’s final stay at Towns Hospital.

In 1934 [late], while staying at the Calvary Rescue Mission [left] in New York City, Edwin “Ebby” T. [near right] learned about the drinking problem of his old schoolmate, Bill W. [far right, late 1930s]. Ebby called Bill (or his wife Lois), who invited him over for dinner. During his visit, Ebby shared his recovery experience, “one alcoholic talking to another.” Although Bill, who was intoxicated at the time, and Ebby, who was sober, later had very different recollections of this key event, Lois’s brief account—not surprisingly—generally aligned with Bill’s.

      Earlier in the year, while in Vermont, Rowland Hazard, III [far left] and Francis Shepard “Shep” Cornell [near left] had introduced Ebby to the Oxford Group. Later, Rowland had taken Ebby to the Calvary Rescue Mission.

In 1935, John Henry Fitzhugh “Fitz” M. [right] was discharged from Towns Hospital and became the third person to get sober and join A.A. in New York, following Hank Parkhurst and Bill Ruddell. His story, “Our Southern Friend,” would appear in all four editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.
    A “blue blood” from Maryland and the son of an Episcopalian minister, Fitz was said to be quite handsome, with chiseled features and the quiet, easy charm of the landed gentry. He embodied the qualities of a true Southern gentleman. Lois W. described Fitz as an impractical, lovable dreamer. His intellectual and scholarly traits gave him common ground with Bill W., who—like Fitz—was also a dreamer.
    Alcoholism may have run in his mother’s family. Although they never drank at home, Fitz discovered during his first drink in college that it alleviated his fears and sense of inferiority. He had attempted to enlist during World War I but could not pass the physical examination, which further contributed to his feelings of inadequacy. He had held a good job with a large corporation until the onset of the Great Depression. Subsequently, he had worked various jobs—as a traveling salesman, teacher, and farmer—but he couldn’t stop drinking. He had been drunk during significant moments: when his mother-in-law died, when his own mother died, and when his child was born. His wife had heard about Towns Hospital in New York City and urged him to go; he eventually agreed.

In 1937, the first challenge Bill W. [left, 1930s] and Hank P. [right] faced with the project of writing a book about A.A.—what would eventually become our Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous—was funding. The United States was still in the throes of the Great Depression; overseas, the specter of another world war loomed. The two men spent the entire month trying to raise funds for the book, to no avail.

In 1949, the shortened form of the Twelve Traditions was first printed in the A.A. Grapevine [right: cover]. Two changes in wording were made later: “primary spiritual aim” was changed to “primary purpose” in Tradition Six, and “principles above personalities” was changed to “principles before personalities” in Tradition Twelve.
    The entire Grapevine issue was dedicated to the Traditions in anticipation of the 1st International Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, in June 1950, where Bill W. would seek approval^* of these Traditions. In the same issue, in an article titled “A Suggestion for Thanksgiving,” Bill pointed readers to an article by Tom Y. (the immediate past editor of the Grapevine), “You Have a Stake in the Future of AA.” He suggested that Thanksgiving^† week be dedicated to discussing the Traditions and added, “If the groups respond positively to this idea, special material on the Traditions will be sent out from the General Service Office to all groups.”
    The replies were overwhelmingly in favor. As a result, November became known as Traditions Month and later as Gratitude Month.

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^*When Bill presented the Traditions for approval in Cleveland, he omitted Tradition 10. In Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p. 102, Bill wrote Tradition 3 as “The only requirement for A.A. membership is a sincere desire to stop drinking” [emphasis added].
^†This reference clearly was taken to pertain to the United States Thanksgiving holiday. Might it not have been better for a U.S./Canada general service structure to alternate between this and the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday, on the second Monday in October?

In 1950, the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City published the pamphlet [left] titled “Your Third Legacy: Will You Accept It?” by Dr. Bob S. and Bill W. This pamphlet outlined the plans and procedures for the General Service Conference and included a “Temporary Conference Charter” with “Twelve Suggested Principles.” Below are edited excerpts from the pamphlet regarding elections.

    The Alcoholic Foundation invited one Conference delegate from each State and Canadian Province. Seven states with large AA populations were assigned additional delegates. Delegates were divided into two Panels so that half would be elected and half would rotate in odd and even numbered years. Panel 1 areas were asked to form a committee to organize an election assembly no later than March 1951. Bill W traveled across the US attending over two dozen assemblies electing area committees and Conference Delegates.
    Each group could select a Group Representative to attend and vote at the assembly. Group Representatives later came to be called “General Service Representatives” or GSRs. They placed an “A” next to their name in the assembly registration book to indicate they were “available to serve” as a Committeeman or Delegate. Nominations were not accepted from the floor and elections were by written ballot.
    The Area Delegate, Officers and Committeemen were chosen by election or by lot or combination of both for terms of two years and took office in April following their election.

1. To begin, the assembly decided by simple majority the number of Committeemen to be elected. Committeemen later came to be called “Committee Members” and then “District Committee Members” (or DCMs). Elections were decided by plurality. The first three Committeemen elected from the pool of those “willing to serve“ automatically became the Area Chair, Treasurer and Secretary in that order. The newly elected Chair immediately presided over the remainder of the assembly. All new Committeemen and Officers were automatically in nomination for Delegate (unless they declined).
2. For the Delegate election, the assembly was asked if it was willing to make a single attempt to elect a Delegate by written ballot. If 2/3 agreed, a ballot was cast. If the assembly declined to vote for a Delegate by written ballot, or if the single attempted vote failed to produce a 2/3 majority, the election was decided by lot (“from the hat”).
3. The Chair then opened the assembly for discussion. Questions on the General Service Conference, or instructions to be given to the Delegate, were brought to the floor. Initially, Delegates were both informed and instructed. The Chair closed the assembly after announcing the date and location where the Delegate would make a post-Conference report. The Secretary recorded the results and prepared a written report of the assembly proceedings.

In 2005 , the first Mongolian conference of the Eastern Region focused on the theme “From 2 Steps to 12 Steps.” The participants began to realize “we had to work with 12 steps,” a practice that was not widely adopted. Additionally, they were not adhering to the Twelve Tradition [left: Нэргүй архичид, Mongolian for “Alcoholics Anonymous;” right: Mongolian A.A. logo superimposed over the Mongolian flag].