January 4 in A.A. History

In 1939, Bill W. wrote Frank Amos that the One Hundred Men book (which would be published shortly as Alcoholics Anonymous) was nearly finished but that more editing might be needed, that a copy had been given to Tom Uzzell for this work and that “one more consultation with the boys in Akron will be necessary.”

In 1939, Dr. Bob S. wrote to Ruth Hock that A.A. needed “to get away from the Oxford Group atmosphere.” But it would be December before the Akron’s “alcoholic squad” left and began holding their own A.A. meetings. [This may have actually occurred on the 5th or the 10th.]

In 1940, Sarah Klein, 53, daughter of a proud, privileged New York family, non-alcoholic wife of an alcoholic, and alcoholic Archie T. first met in his dingy third-floor walk-up room on Kirby St. between Cass Ave. and 2nd St. to form the first A.A. group in Detroit, Michigan. They would meet weekly and seek prospects together.
    In April 1939, Sarah had received and read an early copy of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. Impressed, Sarah wrote to the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City asking how they intended to put into practice what was written in the book. The Foundation replied that an unnamed member (Archie) who was sobering up in Akron would be returning home to Detroit in mid-summer. The Foundation also sent a letter to Archie, who was recovering at the home of Clarence S. in Cleveland, Ohio, informing him of the request from Detroit. He assumed that “S. Klein” was not only an alcoholic, but also a man.

In 1941, Bill and Lois W. had been invited to spend the weekend with A.A. friends Ruth and Wilbur S. in Chappaqua, New York. Their hosts picked them up at the local train station. Bill noticed that they’d passed through Chappaqua and were approaching Bedford Hills. Ruth said she had a surprise for them. She and Wilbur wanted to show them a house they thought would be perfect for the still-homeless couple. It was owned by a widow friend of Ruth’s, who admired A.A. greatly after seeing it help one of her friends. They found a charming, unoccupied country house on two acres atop a hill. Bill found an unlocked window, climbed in and pulled Lois in behind him. They stood in front of a fieldstone fireplace in a large wood-paneled living room. There were six more rooms: three bedrooms and a kitchen downstairs, a long library with bookshelves and a bedroom upstairs. Despite their initial misgivings, they fell in love with the place and bought it that spring.

In 1941, Jack Alexander wrote to Bill W., enclosing a manuscript of the article he had written on A.A. for The Saturday Evening Post.

In 1946, the first A.A. group in Suffolk County, New York, held its first meeting in Huntington.

In 1950, The Johnson City (Tennessee) Press briefly reported on a recently aired documentary “presented by” A.A.

In 2023, the newly translated Mongolian service manual was approved by the General Service Office of Alcoholic Anonymous World Services, Inc.

January 3 in A.A. History

Bill W. in France in 1919

In 1919, Bill W. [right: in France, 1919] wrote to Lois that the men of his artillery battery had “paid him special honor,” saying,

    Quite a touching thing happened just before we came here. The men presented Captain S. [Sackville] & I [sic] each with a watch chain and a ring. They lined up the whole battery and I tell you it was equal to promotion and decoration by [General] J. J. Pershing himself! Coming as it did from a clear ploy it was quite overwhelming. Wouldn’t have changed insignia with a Brig. [Brigadier] Gen. [General] It means so much more than promotion. In so far as I know we are the only people in the reg. [regiment] who have been so honored. I know you’ll be as happy and proud as I am. The watch is an elaborate gold and silver affair, the chain a very light gold one which several of the boys _^^rather shyly “opined” would look well against a “[illegible]” vest. The ring is a plain & gold one with a facet for a monogram [sic] Am terribly inflated & stuck up.

In 1946, Ian MacE. wrote to the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City asking for help and became the first A.A. member in New Zealand.
    Previously, he had tried every known treatment for his drinking problem without success. In late 1945 Ian had checked himself into the Nelson Psychiatric Hospital. While in the reading room, he picked up a copy of the No­vem­ber 1944 issue of Reader’s Digest and read an article condensed from Argosy, which had published the full article in October 1944. It was titled “‘Maybe I Can Do It Too!’” by Edward McG., an alcoholic who had recovered with the help of a fellowship called Alcoholics Anonymous. Ian had never heard of A.A. but he identified with the article in a way he had never identified with anyone before. A note at the end of the article said, “A postcard sent to P.O. Box 459, Grand Central Annex, New York 17, N.Y., will bring further information about this organization.” Ian wrote to that address and took the first step in his own recovery, and A.A. in New Zealand was born.

January 2 in A.A. History

In 1889, Bridget Della Mary Gavin was born in Shanvilly, County Mayo, Ireland. After immigrating to the United States, she entered the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine in Cleveland, Ohio and was given the religious name Sister Mary Ignatia. An accomplished musician, she was assigned to teach music. She did this for about ten years, but found it “too hectic” and suffered a nervous breakdown.
    After her recovery, her superior assigned her to work in the admissions office at St. Thomas Hospital in Ak­ron, Ohio. Despite the hospital’s policy of not treating drunks, she began secretly doing so in 1934. She would go on to help Dr. Bob S. and thousands of alcoholics, becoming known as “The Drunks’ Little Angel of Hope” [right: Sr. Ignatia interviewing an alcoholic for possible admission].

In 1896, Harry Tiebout was born in Brooklyn, New York. According to the unsigned introduction to Harry Tiebout: The Collected Writings (1999), “He would become the first psychiatrist to publicly recognize and uphold the work of Alcoholics Anonymous” and was “uniquely distinguished for having facilitated communication between the worlds of alcoholism and psychiatry.”

In 1896, Dr. Bob S. wrote to Bill W.,

    Have definitely shaken off the shackles of the Oxford Group and are meeting at my house for the time being. Had 74 Wednesday in my little house, but shall get a hall soon [top right: living room; below right: aerial view of 855 Ardmore Ave, Akron, Ohio].

In 1896, The Mid-Southern California (Area 09) Archives moved to its second location on Brockton Ave. in Riverside.

January 1 in A.A. History

Olney Hymns, p 53

In 1773, “Amazing Grace,” as it is now known, was first performed in public at a prayer meeting in Olney, Buckinghamshire, England. It was written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton to illustrate the day’s sermon, originally titled “I Chronicles 17:16-17” [left: from Olney Hymns (1779), p. 53]. It is not known whether the verses were accompanied by music; they may have been chanted by the congregation.
    Newton had grown up without any particular religious beliefs. He had been pressed into service in the Royal Navy. After leaving the service, he became involved in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1748, a violent storm had battered his ship off the coast of County Donegal, Ireland, so badly that he cried out to God for mercy. This moment had marked his spiritual conversion, but he continued to trade slaves until 1754 or 1755, when he ended his seafaring career. Newton then began to study Christian theology, was ordained in the Church of England in 1764, and later became an abolitionist.

In 1943, The Columbus Dispatch reported on the first anniversary of the Central Group of A.A. in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1946, The A.A. Grapevine raised the cost of an annual subscription from $1.50 to $2.50 [~$26 to $43 in 2025] and of each issue from 15¢ to 25¢ [~$2.60 to $4.30 in 2024].

In 1948, Harry G., an A.A. member from Indiana was in Tokyo, Japan writing a book about the war crimes trials of 1945–48. He started an English-speaking A.A. group, the first in Japan. After an article about A.A. appeared in Pacific Stars and Stripes, the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City was flooded with letters from members of the U.S. Armed Forces in Japan. The Foundation forwarded their names to Harry, who had written the Foundation in December 1947, suggesting that Japan was fertile ground for A.A. This would eventually lead to the establishment of Japanese-language groups throughout the country.

In 1975, Bill W.: My First 40 Years, Bill’s autobiography as told to Robert Thomsen, was published.

In 1988, West Virginia A.A. established the first statewide toll-free telephone hotline.

In 2002, The second meeting of the month-long Online Service Conference (OSC) was opened. There were 59 participants: 33 group representatives, plus alternates and the Steering Committee. This OSC continued the discussion of many of the issues considered at the first Conference. The agenda included:

1. definition of an “online A.A. group,”
2. online literature publication and AAWS copyrights,
3. using online A.A. to reach those who cannot be served by “face to face” A.A.,

4. anonymity guidelines for the Internet,

5. issues affecting world unity of the A.A. Fellowship, and

6. future OSC participation with other A.A. organizations.

In 2004, The fourth meeting of the month-long Online Service Conference (OSC) opened. Forty-eight groups were represented, with alternates and Steering Committee members bringing the total to 73.

In 2008,Robert “Bob” P., 90, died peacefully of “old age” at his home in Bellevue, Idaho, with his wife, children, and grandchildren by his side. He had been a writer, veteran, community leader, and longtime trusted servant in A.A. from 1961 until his death. He served on A.A.’s General Service Board from 1968–74 and as G.S.O. General Manager from 1974–84. His story, “A.A. Taught Him to Handle Sobriety,” appeared in the 3rd and 4th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. He also wrote a well-known unpublished manuscript of A.A. history in 1985.
    He is best remembered for his powerful and inspiring closing talk at the 1986 General Service Conference, where he addressed what he considered to be AA's greatest danger: rigidity.

    If you were to ask me what is the greatest danger facing A.A. today, I would have to answer: the growing rigidity—the increasing demand for absolute answers to nit-picking questions; pressure for GSO to “enforce” our Traditions; screening alcoholics at closed meetings; prohibiting non-Conference-approved literature, i.e., “banning books;” laying more and more rules on groups and members. And in this trend toward rigidity, we are drifting farther and farther away from our co-founders. Bill, in particular, must be spinning in his grave, for he was perhaps the most permissive person I ever met.

    One of his favorite sayings was, “Every group has the right to be wrong.” He was maddeningly tolerant of his critics, and he had absolute faith that faults in A.A. were self-correcting.
   Bob’s writing career as a writer began in the midst of amid scandal when Scribner's Magazine revealed that he had ghostwritten hundreds of term papers for fellow students at seven universities. “Both the Associated Press and the United Press carried it,” Bob said in a 2004 interview. “It almost cost me my diploma.”
   After the scandal, Shell Oil Co. hired Bob to work in its public relations department until he joined the U.S. Navy during World War ll. During the war, his destroyer escort was part of the historic capture of a German U-boat that contained the hardware and codes for the Enigma radio codes used by the Nazis. The capture took place north of the Azores just days before D-Day. While in the Navy, Bob also wrote speeches for Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and other top Navy officials.