May 31 in A.A. History

In 1949, Bill W. responded [right] to a May 15th note from Ed W. [far left]. Ed had written to inform Bill that Barry C. [near left], a founder of A.A. in Minnesota, was doing much better.

     He also asked Bill to confirm that he had received the copies of The Little Red Book [right] that Ed had sent. As the primary author, Ed wanted the Alcoholic Foundation to take over its publication. Dr. Bob S. had contributed to the book, and Bill had praised it, but A.A.W.S. would not publish it because the Trustees preferred an A.A.-owned book.
    Bill wrote:

    I did receive those books.… Lois and I continue to reminisce about our pleasant visit with your group. God forbid that Alcoholics Anonymous ever become frozen or rigid in its ways of doing or thinking. Within the framework of our principles the ways are apparently legion. There is little doubt that the contributions you folks have made to our progress will always be a part of the folk lore [sic] of our well-loved fellowship.

In 1963, the Kodiak (Alaska) Mirror featured an article on page 5 titled “Local Alcoholics Anonymous Group Hears Report” [left] . It told of a representative—likely from Kodiak’s only A.A. group, the Isle of Hope Group—who attended the Alaska State A.A. Assembly in Anchorage. This representative delivered a report to local members, which included the following details:

    Methods of furthering AA’s efforts to help the alcoholic who still suffers from this disabling disease were discussed and a report was heard from Alaska’s delegate to the headquarters of Alcoholics Anonymous in New York City where the annual conference of delegates from the entire United States and the Provinces of Canada was held on April 15.