May 8 in A.A. History

In 1935, five hundred sober alcoholics gathered in Akron, Ohio, to celebrate the 8th anniversary^* of A.A.’s first group, which Bill W. referred to as “Akron Number One” and is now known as “King School Group #1.” After splitting from the Oxford Group in Dec 1939, the A.A. group initially met a few times at Dr. Bob S.’s home before relocating to the King School [right] in Jan 1940, where it remained for many years, possibly until the building closed in 2018.

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^* The official founding date was 4 Jul 1935, the day Bill D., A.A. #3, was discharged from Akron City Hospital. 

 

In 1971, after a church memorial service [left: white-haired Lois, front right], Bill W. was buried [right: gravesite] in a private ceremony at East Dorset Cemetery in East Dorset, Vermont. Bill had always wanted to be buried there with his family, so his body was kept in cold storage in Miami, Florida, inside a Vermont oak casket until the New England ground thawed enough for the burial.