February 21–23 in A.A. History

In 2014, the Sedona Mago Center for Well-Being and Retreat [left] in Sedona, Arizona, hosted the Sedona Mago AA History Symposium, organized by A.A. historians Jay S. and Bill S.

 

February 22 in A.A. History

In 1842, on the 110th anniversary of George Washington’s birth, Abraham Lincoln addressed the Springfield, Illinois, Washingtonian Society. At 33 years old, he endorsed “kind, unassuming persuasion” over earlier, heavy-handed temperance efforts, saying,

    When [we] all… first opened our eyes upon the stage of existence, we found intoxicating liquor, recognized by every­body, used by every body, and repudiated by nobody.
    If we take habitual drunkards as a class, their heads and their hearts will bear an advantageous comparison with those of any other class. There seems ever to have been proneness in the brilliant and warm-blooded to fall into this vice. The demon of intemperance ever seems to have delighted in sucking the blood of genius and of generosity.… He ever seems to have gone forth, like the Egyptian angel of death, commissioned to slay if not the first, the fairest born of every fam­ily.…
    Happy day, when, all appetites controlled, all poisons subdued, all matter subjected, mind, all conquering mind, shall live and move the monarch of the world. Glorious consummation! Hail fall of Fury! Reign of Reason, all hail!

In 1884, William “Willie” Seabrook [near right, 1931] was born. His memoir, Asylum: An Alcoholic Takes the Cure [far right], would later be referenced by Marty M. in her story, “Women Suffer Too,” included in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

In 1949, The Anniston (Alabama) Star covered the Anniston Group’s 3-year anniversary celebration, held that evening in its downtown clubhouse [no address given]. The event was open to all.