May 30 in A.A. History

In 1941, in Hartford, Connecticut [right, in early 1945] the two founding members of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) had their last drinks without having met or known of each other until shortly afterward.
    Hal S., from the Shaker Heights Group in Ohio, was in Hartford on business when he asked a doctor if he knew any drunks. The doctor did not, but his nurse provided Hal with the name of Harold “Red” W. Hal called Red that evening, but Red was “indisposed.” They eventually met a few days later, and Red had his last drink on May 30.

    Meanwhile, Harold H., a salesman and periodic drunk, had read Jack Alexander’s article in The Saturday Evening Post [left: cover] but was put off by the “God business” and resigned himself to remaining a drunk. Shortly after, he found himself in a hospital after being beaten up and arrested. Upon his release, he attended a party on May 30, where he encountered an old drinking buddy, Brad P., who had sobered up in the Scarsdale Group in New York. He asked Harold if he wanted to die as an alcoholic. Having witnessed a man suffer from delirium tremens (the DTs), Harold said no and never drank again.
    Not long after, Harold and Red met and began recruiting other drunks.

In 1944, in Georgia, The Atlanta Constitution published an article [right] titled “‘Bill’ [W.] Defines Alcoholic as ‘Bankrupt Idealist.’” This demonstrates that Bill used the term “bankrupt idealist” eight years before it appeared in his Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (Tradition 6, page 156).

1964, Ebby T. arrived at McPike’s Farm [left], an innovative alcoholism treatment facility located in Galway, New York, near Saratoga Springs. Founded by Margaret and Mickey M. in the winter of 1958, the farm offered Ebby a chance to find some peace and alleviate the inner turmoil that had plagued him for much of his life. Sadly, less than two years later, he would die in a nearby hospital.