August 15 in A.A. History

In 1890, Elvin Morton “Bunky” Jellinek [right, 1920s] was born in New York City to a Hungarian father, Markus Erwin Marcel Jellinek, a merchant and descendant of the notable Jellinek family of Budapest, and an American mother, Rose Jacobson, best known as the opera singer Marcella Lindh.
    When he was five, his family relocated to Hungary, where he attended elementary and high school in Budapest, graduating with honors in 1908. He attended—it is unclear whether he enrolled—universities in various cities, including Leipzig, Berlin, and Grenoble, focusing on philosophy, ethnography, psychoanalysis, and cultural anthropology. However, it appears he never received a degree or doctorate, only honorary appointments.

    His time in Hungary ended under dramatic circumstances, marked by an arrest warrant issued in four languages. Although the details are unclear, reports suggested he embezzled half a billion koronas (crowns) [left: 1,000 kr note, 1920], which today would be about $1.3 million US. He was forced to leave the country in 1920, and sensational newspaper articles were published about him, with the arrest warrant remaining active for ten years.

    The next decade of his life is practically undocumented. He may have worked for a shipping company in Sierra Leone under the alias Nikita Hartmann, and records from his daughter imply that he engaged in barter and cooking during his time in Africa. After 1926, Jellinek moved to Honduras, where he worked as an agricultural engineer for United Fruit Company and later became its director of research there. By 1929, he had arrived in the U.S., working in the banana company’s Boston office, where he completed a book on banana diseases published under a name like “A. N. Hartman” or “Nikita Hartmann” [right: cover of Banana Growth and Fruiting: A Popular Summary, by A. N. Hartman, which researchers say “is a somewhat abridged and less technical version of earlier publications”].

    Jellinek spent the first nine years of his American life at Worcester Hospital [left, 2007], primarily working with schizophrenic patients. He contributed to a vast collection of over 500 million data points, which formed the basis for a five-point schizophrenia rating scale.

    In 1939, he shifted his focus to alcoholism at New York University’s medical schools, where he was tasked with collecting and organizing previously published works on alcohol. This scientific review laid the groundwork for the professional literature collection now at Rutgers University (moved there from the Yale Institute of Alcohol Studies in 1962). Jellinek emerged as a prominent figure in alcoholology, culminating in an award named in his honor—one of the most prestigious recognitions in the field. He also became a practicing biostatistician, physiologist, and alcoholism researcher, fluent in nine languages and proficient in four others.

He wrote The Disease Concept of Alcoholism [left: cover, 1st ed., 1st pr.] and created a table [right, Aug 1952], illustrating the progression of alcoholism from “occasional relief drinking” to “obsessive drinking continues in vicious circles.” It would be converted to a curve named after Jellinek, even though he disavowed it. Dr. Max Glatt [left, 1990] modified it [right] in 1958 to include a recovery element, it remains popularly known as the “Jellinek Curve.” Over the years, it has been adapted for various forms of addiction and continues to be widely referenced today.

In 1938 [16th?], Archibald “Archie” T. [right], who would have his last drink on September 3rd, later spoke about his activities in the days leading up to that day:

No money. No place to live. No help. No morale left. No will to live left. That was my condition in the Summer of 1938. It caused me to park myself on an unsuspecting friend whose family were out of town and who didn’t know much about my career for the past, or previous, several years and he unwittingly invited me to stay in his home because I was homeless. He had me on his hands for 19 days. Every one of those days I was drunk, continuously. I would come home and sleep off the effects of several hours of drinking, crawl out of bed and go back to the saloon and get drunk again. I managed in that cagey way that alcoholics have, of avoiding him pretty well. Or at least I thought I did. In fact, I was quite sure in my alcoholic way that he didn’t even know I drank. 

In 1940, Clinton “Duke” P. of Toledo, Ohio, was admitted to Akron City Hospital with a diagnosis of “acute gastritis.” Akron’s A.A. members visited him there and he sobered up, never to drink again. 

In 1941, the Cuyahoga Central Committee of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) held its second meeting, with the notice written by Chairman Clarence S. [left]:

    Being mindful of the need and usefulness of a central committee, our two meetings have been marked by an outstanding atmosphere of fine fellowship and co-operation between the groups. We have had excellent attendance and much interest is being shown by all committee members in the furtherance of our fellowship.

    At the first meeting held five months earlier, attendees had voted to establish a Central Committee. During this meeting, Clarence was ousted as chairperson due to lingering mistrust stemming from a series on A.A. published by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Clarence referred to this upheaval as a “revolution,” and, as a result, little else was accomplished.

    During the second meeting, three committees were formed: Entertainment, chaired by Albert “Abby” G. [right]; Finance, chaired by Wm. “Bill” H.; and Hospital, chaired by H. L. M. Each committee comprised six members from various groups in the Cleveland area. Committee members were to serve a term of three months, or until the chairman’s term expires, or until the chairman replaced them.
    One of Clarence’s ideas, borrowed from Abby, was the “rotation” of officers, intended to ensure an equal and representative voice within the fellowship. Additionally, the meeting introduced the “new A.A. Pamphlets.” Mitchell K., Clarence’s biographer, believed these pamphlets were likely similar in content to earlier articles from the Houston Press, written by Larry J., whom Clarence sponsored before he moved to Texas and helped start A.A. there.