July 4 in A.A. History

In 1939, the first A.A. meeting in Flatbush, Brooklyn [right, with Ebbets Field above and to the left of center], was held at the home of Harold and Emily S. Harold had sobered up in June 1938, and his story, “Smile at Me, With Me,” later appeared in the first edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

    This meeting complemented the only other A.A. gathering in New York City at the time, which had been started in a Manhattan apartment at 72nd Street and Riverside Drive, possibly the Chatsworth. That location had been lent to A.A. by Leonard and Helga Harrison after Bill and Lois W. lost their home at 182 Clinton Street in April. Leonard [left] would go on to become a Class A (non-alcoholic) Trustee of the Alcoholic Foundation in 1941.

In 1970, at the 5th International Convention in Miami, Florida, in an effort to emulate the Toronto experience of adopting the Responsibility Statement five years earlier, participants in the big Sunday evening meeting in the Convention Hall [right] closed with the Declaration of Unity, saying in unison:

This we owe to A.A.’s future: to place our common welfare first; to keep our fellowship united. For on A.A. unity depend our lives, and the lives of those to come.

    It was an emotional and moving moment, but without Bill W. there to lead the ceremony, this pledge had neither the impact nor the lasting quality of the “I Am Responsible” Statement. Like that Statement, this Declaration was written by Al S. [left].

Today in A.A. History—July 4–6

In 1975, the 6th International Convention celebrating A.A.’s 40th anniversary took place in Denver, Colorado [right].