April 25 in A.A. History

In 1913, Burr and Burton Seminary presented A Midsummer-Night’s [sic] Dream at the Union Opera House, located on the second floor of what is now Factory Point Place on Main Street in Manchester Center, Vermont [right: playbill]. The names of some of the cast members will be familiar to students of A.A. history:

Theseus, the Duke of Athens	William W—– [still deeply depressed over Bertha Bamford’s death]
Demetrius (In love with Hermia)	John Jackson [Constable who, in 1934, brought Ebby before Judge Graves when he drunkenly shot at pigeons]
Bottom, a Weaver	Edwin T—– [Ebby]
Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons	Esther Graves [Judge Graves’ daughter, Cebra’s sister]
Helena, (In love with Demetrius)	Dorothy W—– [Bill’s sister, would marry Dr. Leonard Strong]

In 1939, Morgan R. [left], a former advertising executive, asylum patient, and friend of the host, shared his story and pitched the book Alcoholics Anonymous during a 3-minute appearance on Gabriel Heatter’s nationwide radio show, “We the People.” Heatter remarked that if just one person was helped by hearing this story, it would be a real service.

    In the days leading up to the broadcast, Morgan had been confined to a room to prevent him from arriving drunk. Bill W. and Hank P. had raised $500 [~$11,500 in 2025] to send 20,000 postcards to doctors east of the Mississippi River about the upcoming broadcast. The effort yielded 12 responses, only 2 of which were book orders [near right: postcard; far right: enclosed order form].

In 2010, Hallmark Hall of Fame premiered When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois W—– Story on CBS, starring Winona Ryder as Lois and Barry Pepper as Bill. The film is based on William G. Borchert’s book of the same name.

April 25–29

In 1962, at the 12th General Service Conference, held at the Roosevelt Hotel [left: marquee and entranceway] in New York City, the following were among the advisory actions, all unanimous:

• Recommends that the report on Long Range translation needs be adopted as follows: [9 specific points of criteria].
• Accepts the recommended budget as presented by the Finance and Budgetary Committee of the General Service Board.
• An Internationalist be selected by their group to attend the Annual meeting of the General Service Conference as an Observer without vote, starting in 1963.