August in A.A. History—day unknown

In 1919, Bill and Lois W. set off on a month-long walking tour, covering several hundred miles from Portland, Maine, through New Hampshire, to Rutland, Vermont. Lois encouraged this journey to give them time to think and to help Bill get off the booze.
    After leaving the Army, Bill struggled to adjust to civilian life, where drinking was typically reserved for evenings and weekends and moderation was expected. He faced the challenge of finding a job that required him to do the same thing during the same hours at the same time in the same place every day. He decoded cablegrams [below left: coded cablegram, 1917] for an exporter, clerked [below center: office workers, 1920] in the insurance department of the New York Central Railroad for Lois’s sister Barbara’s fiancé, and later worked for the railroad again, driving spikes [below right: pier construction] into planks on a pier. None of these jobs lasted long; he either quit or was fired from each job. 
    To calm his nerves and to escape into dreams of glory, Bill increasingly turned to alcohol, as he had done in the Army. However, now feeling sorry for himself, he also drank to nurse his resentments, often pushing himself to drink until closing time, which sometimes led to vomiting and blackouts.

 

In 1937, Bill and Lois W. [right] and other members of their small band of recovering alcoholics stopped attending meetings of the Oxford Group (OG) in New York City. 

    OG members had criticized Bill for working only with alcoholics, describing both Bill and Lois as “not maximum”—the ultimate OG put-down—and leaders had forbidden alcoholics staying at Calvary Rescue Mission from attending “drunk squad” meetings at 182 Clinton Street in Brooklyn. This happened while Sam Shoemaker [left] was on vacation.

    Similarly, in Akron, Ohio, OG members who were not part of the “alcoholic squadron” criticized OG meetings led by T. Henry and Clarace Williams [right] for focusing too much on helping alcoholics. This marked the beginning of A.A.’s separation from outside affiliation and laid the groundwork for Tradition Six. Nevertheless, the Akron “alcoholic squadron” would remain affiliated with the OG for more than two years. 

 

 

In 1939, Herbert “Bert” T. [left], a member of A.A. in New York City, pledged his fashionable 5th Ave. tailor shop—already heavily mortgaged due to his drinking—as collateral for a $1,000 [~$23,000 in 2025] loan to Works Publishing.
    Bill W. was desperate to keep the business afloat until the article “Alcoholics and God,” edited by Fulton Oursler, was published in Liberty magazine. To secure the funds, Bert reached out to a wealthy client, a Mr. Cochran, in Baltimore, Maryland, who was sympathetic to A.A. Bert explained the situation and requested a loan. Cochran hesitated. When Bert suggested that he buy stock in Works Publishing, Cochran expressed even more doubt and, after reviewing the balance sheet, declined the offer. Finally, Bert proposed co-signing a loan, which Cochran enthusiastically accepted. 

    Bill later wrote, “This probably saved the book company.” The magazine article would be published on September 30 [right: magazine cover]; it would generate 800 inquiries and result in sufficient book sales to sustain Works Publishing through 1939. Unfortunately, Bert’s tailor shop would go broke within a year or two.[Some sources date this loan to December 6, but that date makes no sense.]