March 31 in A.A. History

In 1939, Bill W. drove from Cornwall, New York, to New York City, presumably in Hank P.’s car, to secure enough money to pay the hotel bill for the two nights he, Hank, Ruth Hock, and Dorothy Wright S. had stayed. The four of them had been correcting printers’ proofs of the book Alcoholics Anonymous [left: 1st edition, 2nd printing] based on the hand-edited multilith manuscript, a task that was neither quick nor easy. Together, they had only half the cash needed to cover their stay.
    In New York City, Bill approached Charlie (Charles B.) Towns [right], the owner of Towns Hospital, where he and Hank had gotten sober, and explained the situation. Charlie lent Bill the money required to pay the bill, plus an additional $100 [~$2,300 in 2025].
    Bill later wrote, “Mr. Towns was not too favorably impressed when he heard where we stood, but he came through with the hotel bill and about a hundred dollars to spare.… We all returned to New York in high spirits.”

In 1933, the Chicago Daily Tribune reported, “State to Open 1st Hospital to Treat Alcoholic Pa­tients” [right: article].

In 1947, England’s first known A.A. meeting took place at 8 p.m. in Room 202 of London’s upscale Dorchester Hotel [left, 1931], following an invitation from New York City A.A. member Grace O. [below right]. The Alcoholic Foundation had asked her to reach out to several individuals in Britain seeking information about A.A. The previous Saturday, the 29th, she had met an alcoholic known as “Canadian Bob” at a restaurant on Dean Street in London. The Dorchester meeting was attended by Grace, Robert “Canadian Bob” B., Chris L. B.—who was likely the first person in England to use the A.A. program to achieve sobriety—Sgt. Vernon W. (an American soldier), and Norman Rees-Watkins (from South Croydon and still drinking). Some sources also mention additional attendees: Pat F. (from London), Ward Williams (an American), Tony F. (an Irish airman), “Flash” W. (an American), and Pat G. (a female member from California whom Grace had met on the voyage from New York to London).

    As Bob later recalled the Dorchester meeting:

    It was Grace O. who really triggered off the inception of AA in England. She had written to me before she and her husband, Fulton, embarked at New York on one of the Queens. During lunch in London, her husband and I mapped out on a Saturday plans for a meeting the following Monday. Eight of us met in her hotel room, the last night of March 1947 and the five Londoners chose me as Secretary.

    Subsequent meetings were held at Canadian Bob’s home [left, c. 1946] on Mortlake Road in Kew and in various cafés.

In 1954, Bill W. wrote in a letter to Jack Alexander, “The whole A.A. Tradition is, in a sense, the result of my gradual adjustment to reality.”