April 13 in A.A. History

In 1940, in Pennsylvania, with the cooperation of Dr. William Turnbull, superintendent of Philadelphia General Hospital (PGH) [right, 1940s], the Philadelphia Group of A.A. began regular visits to the psychopathic ward of PGH, where they recruited Art McM. and Bud M. as members. The group persuaded Dr. John F. Stouffer, the chief psychiatrist, of A.A.’s effectiveness. He, along with Drs. C. Dudley Saul [below, near left] and A. Wiese Hammer [below, far left], kept statistics on the Philadelphia Group, which met every Saturday^* until the hospital closed in the late 1970s.

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^* My source states that the first meeting was on 10 April 1940, but that seems incorrect since it was a Wednesday. I assume the decision was made at the regular Thursday night meeting of the Philadelphia Group on April 11, with the hospital meetings beginning the following Saturday, April 13.