February 16 in A.A. History

In 1941, The Baltimore Sunday Sun published Harrison Johnston’s article on Alcoholics Anonymous, titled “John Barleycorn’s Victims Seek Strength in Unity.” Accompanied by a rearview photo of an A.A. group [right], the article stated, in part:

    The story of “Alcoholics Anonymous,” which now includes a Baltimore group, is the story, in the words of one of its members, of a “bunch of drunks trying to help one another stop drinking.”…
    “Alcoholics Anonymous” meet regularly as a group twice a week—once in a semi-formal “business” meeting, once in a completely informal and spontaneous social gathering—without benefit of alcohol. They base their hopes of success on a mystical belief in aid from without themselves (all else having failed), from God, “as we understand Him,” and on constant association with other alcoholics who can understand and help them and whom they in turn can understand and try to help. They may thereby draw upon the companionship of other alcoholics, men and women like themselves with whom they alone are psychologically able to discuss their difficulties, and try to lose themselves in the rehabilitation of others even less controlled than they, a proven form of uplift characteristic of all group organizations, the church itself not least among them.
    From out this mixture, without any recourse whatsoever to medicine, “Alcoholics Anonymous” claims complete success—with no relapses—with about fifty per cent of its members (always supposing them to be sincere in their efforts to stop), and eventual success—after occasional relapses—with an additional twenty-five per cent.…
    The Baltimore group was founded only eight months ago, in June, 1940, and now numbers about forty members, of whom five are women.

In 1945, Charles Welch, a non-alcoholic, was named Honorary Lifetime Vice President of the first A.A. group in Vancouver, British Columbia. Following his wife’s death due to alcoholism, he opened his home to host the group’s meetings for the first six months.
    Welch also started the practice of advertising for A.A in Vancouver. The first ads [left] ran in The Vancouver Daily Province (November 16, 1944 – February 1, 1952), helping membership grow from just 4 to 41. Later, nearly identical ads appeared in The Vancouver Sun (January 2, 1945 – June 27, 1951) and The Vancouver News-Herald (September 20, 1949 – July 6, 1951), further expanding A.A.’s reach in Vancouver.

In 1978, the Computerized Bulletin Board System (CBBS), the first known public dial-up BBS, officially went online. Developed by Ward Christensen and Randy Suess—members of the Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists' Exchange (CACHE)—CBBS revolutionized early digital communication.
    The system kept a running count of callers and recorded a total of 253,301 connections before it was retired around 1990. While no documentation exists, it’s highly likely that some A.A. members who knew each other used CBBS to share strength and hope in the early days of online interaction.