March 21 in A.A. History

1881: Anne Ripley [right, 1915] was born in Oak Park, Illinois. The oldest of four children, she was the only daughter in a family that included her brothers Paul, Charles, and Joseph. 
    In 1915, he and Dr. Bob S. would marry. With her in mind, he would say, “For some reason, we alcoholics seem to have the gift of picking out the world’s finest women.” Bill W. would say of her, “She was a woman who possessed a deep faith in God and unwavering love for those who suffer.” After her death, Bill would write in the A.A. Grapevine, “She was, quite literally, the mother of our first Group, Akron No. One.… In the full sense of the word, she was one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous.”

1913: In memory of Bertha Bamford, Bill W.’s high school sweetheart who had passed away in November 1912, the YMCA and YWCA associations of Burr and Burton Seminary—of which Bill was president of the former and Bertha the latter—held a memorial service in the school chapel. According to a brief article [left] on page 2 of The Bennington Evening Banner, “Many glowing tributes were paid to Miss Bamford's memory by students of the upper classes and teachers.”

1915: Frederick Harold “Hal” M. was born in McDowell, North Carolina, to Fred and Louise Clarke Marley, their first child. After getting sober in 1964, he became known as “Dr. Gratitude” for designing and giving “Attitude of Gratitude” pins [right: similar pin, but not Hal’s] to A.A. members.

1966: Edwin “Ebby” T. [left: Ebby's last photo], the man Bill W. called his sponsor, died sober. For the last two years of his life, he lived at McPike’s Farm [right, date unknown] on Peaceable Street in Galway, New York, a pioneering treatment facility for alcoholics only 25 miles [~40 km] north of his hometown, Albany. After the death of his brother, Ken, in January 1966, Ebby’s caretakers believed he had lost his will to live. When he fell ill, he had initially resisted hospitalization, but eventually conceded that his end was near, saying, “Well, we all have to go sometime.” Soon after, he had a stroke (cerebral thrombosis) and was rushed to a hospital in nearby Ballston Spa. By Sunday night, he was in a coma. He died at 1:00 am on Monday and was later buried in Albany Rural Cemetery.

March 20 in A.A. History

1960: The Catholic Hour, a weekly half-hour radio program, broadcast Part I of “Alcoholism: The Problem and the Hope” [left: first page of transcript] with Marty M. [right, 1964] and an unnamed staff member from the General Service Office.

1961: After writing to Dr. Carl G. Jung [far left, 1958–60] on 23 January and receiving his reply dated 20 January, Bill W. [near left, 1958] followed up with a second letter [right: 1st page] to Jung:

    Your observation that drinking motivations often include that of a quest for spiritual values caught our special interest.… Years ago, some of us read with great benefit your book entitled Modern Man in Search of a Soul. You observed, in effect, that most persons having arrived at age 40 and having acquired no conclusions or faith as to who they were, or where they were or where they were going next in the cosmos, would be bound to encounter increasing neurotic difficulties; and that this would be likely to occur whether their youthful aspirations for sex union, security, and a satisfactory place in society had been satisfied or not. Neither could any amount of resolution, philosophical speculation, or superficial religious conditioning save them from the dilemma in which they found themselves.

    Bill also noted that Jung's words “really carried authority, because you seemed to be neither wholly a theologian nor a pure scientist.” He observed that Jung “spoke a language of the heart that we could understand.”
    Bill further wrote about his experiences with LSD, noting that many A.A. members “have returned to the churches, almost always with fine results. But some of us have taken less orthodox paths. Along with a number of friends, I find myself among the latter.”
    Bill referenced Canadian research by Humphry Osmond [right, 1956] who had introduced Aldous Huxley to mescaline in 1953. Osmond reported that 150 severely alcoholic patients were “preconditioned by LSD and then placed in the surrounding AA groups.” Over three years, they integrated into existing Alcoholics Anonymous groups, achieved “startling results” over three years, compared to similar individuals who only participated in A.A. without psychedelic treatment. Bill told Jung, “My friends believe that LSD temporarily triggers a change in blood chemistry that inhibits or reduces ego thereby enabling more reality to be felt and seen.”
    He added, “Some of my AA friends and I have taken the material (LSD) frequently and with much benefit,” observing that the powerful psychedelic drug ignited “a great broadening and deepening and heightening of consciousness.”
    Bill informed Jung that his first LSD trip in 1956 reminded him of a mystical revelation he had experienced in the 1930s, after hitting rock bottom and ending up in a New York City hospital ward for hardcore alcoholics: “[M]y original spontaneous spiritual experience of twenty-five years before was re-enacted with wonderful splendor and conviction,” he wrote.
    Aniela Jaffé [left, late 1950s], a Jungian analyst and colleague of Jung, responded to Wilson to let him now Jung had read his letter, and “had in his mind to answer you, but then he fell ill and the doctor ordered complete rest. Feeling better he left for longer vacation, and therefore the mail is not done.” Jung had had a stroke and would die on 6 June.

March 19 in A.A. History

1919: Bill W. [left, 1918] received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army at Army Camp Devens in Massachusetts.

Other significant events in March
                 (no specific date known)                 

1962: Accounts of Alcoholics Anonymous’s origins in Barbados are vague and inconsistent. Sources identify the “founder” as either a Californian or Canadian.
    However, the most credible accounts indicate that in the early 1960s, Ed A., an American from San Diego, California, was living and working in Bridgetown, Barbados. Ed had previously been exposed to A.A. in the U.S. A former professional tennis player, he frequently umpired at local tournaments and belonged to the Barbados Yacht Club, an exclusive, whites-only club. Ed was struggling with sobriety, and his job was in jeopary.
    In March, Ed visited Ian Gale, editor of The Advocate [left: front page, December 1966], Barbados’s leading newspaper, in Bridgetown, the capital, to request a notice or a column addressing alcohol abuse on the island, including statistics on the effects and consequences of alcoholism. Ed asserted that Barbados definitely needed an A.A. program.
    Gale responded by saying, “I've got the right man for you,” and directed Ed to Tony V., a journalist known for his heavy drinking whom the [presumably non-alcoholic] Gale had previously advised to reduce his rum consumption and drink only beer.

    During their initial conversation about the proposed article, Ed shared with Tony his interest in starting an A.A. meeting in Barbados. Subsequently, Mr. Smith, the Headmaster of St. Matthias Boys School in Christ Church, was contacted and agreed to provide a meeting space in the annex of St. Matthias Church [right: late 1800s, c. 1965]. A weekly donation of $3 was given to the sexton for opening and closing the church. Early members included Ed A., Tony V., Robert, Cyrus, and Bert E.
    Despite claiming to have brought A.A. to Barbados, Ed A. struggled to maintain sobriety. After umpiring a tennis match at Bachelors’ Hallin St. James, he went to the podium and drunkenly announced he was the President of A.A. in Barbados. Bert, a salesman, succeeded in getting sober but relapsed when his homing pigeons won a competition. He later sobered up again and became a dedicated A.A. member. 
    Over the new few years, according to Tony, discussions at meetings in the early days centered around “who could drink the most” and hardly anybody was staying sober. Tony himself attended meetings, drinking all the while. As Tony said, he would go to a meeting, go out after the meeting to listen to jazz, and his “head would go off.” Their main accomplishment was that the doors were kept open, and visitors from the U.S. and Canada brought some structure. A Canadian visitor to the island, Kenzie, apparently reported to G.S.O. in New York that A.A.s in Barbados were a “wild group.” Another visitor introduced the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.

March 18 in A.A. History

1905: Clinton “Duke” P. was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to George W. and Frances Thompson P. In 1918, the family would move to Kansas City, Missouri, where Duke would graduate from the University of Missouri in 1926 and from the Kansas City School of Law in 1932. That same year, he married Catherine “Katie” Northern.
    In 1940, Duke would be admitted to Akron City Hospital in Akron, Ohio, with “acute gastritis,” and it was there that he sobered up. Dr. Bob S. became his sponsor, and later that year, he led the first A.A. meeting in Toledo, Ohio.

1947: Despite only two A.A. groups existing in the area, the Dallas Central Office opened and held its first Board meeting. Located in the Davis Building [left, c. 1945] at 1309 Main Street (near Akard Street), the office was a musty, slightly cluttered space.
    Dick P. served as the director. Although he suffered physical ailments from Jamaica Ginger^* [right] poisoning during Prohibition, he tirelessly answered phones, coordinated 12th-Step calls, shared with friends and strangers over coffee, and even sold literature.
    Over the next several years, the office would relocate a few times, but always remained in the Downtown Dallas area.

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^*During the Prohibition Era, Jamaica Ginger was typically made at home or produced illicitly, using whatever ingredients were available, which led to inconsistent quality and potency. Homemade recipes often consisted of fresh ginger, sugar, water, and high-proof alcohol such as moonshine. The quality and safety of this bootlegged Jamaica Ginger were dubious, and consumers risked contamination or exposure to harmful ingredients. Nevertheless, ginger liqueurs remained popular during Prohibition, frequently used in cocktails to disguise the unpleasant taste of inferior alcohol.

1951: Cliff W. [left] of Los Angeles, California, sober since 1941, was elected as the first Southern California Delegate to the General Service Conference.
    A year before getting sober, in March 1940, Cliff had invited a stranger, Mort J. [right], into his home. Mort had just left the residence of Kaye Miller, a non-alcoholic who was trying to start A.A. meetings in Los Angeles, but was giving up and moving to Hawai'i. Desperate to talk to someone about his alcoholism to help him stay sober, Mort had retrieved leads from Kaye’s wastebasket, including Cliff’s name and address, which had been submitted to the Alcoholic Foundation by Cliff's wife. Although Cliff had no interest in quitting drinking at the time, he felt sympathy for Mort and agreed to listen.

March 17 in A.A. History

1938: John D. Rockefeller Jr. [near right] replied to a 23 February memorandum from Willard S. “Bill” Richardson [far right] that detailed the work and achievements of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) in its first few years. Richardson’s memo also requested $10,000 [~$230,700 in 2026] in funding over two years. In his reply [left], Rockefeller stated,

    … What has been accomplished according to these records in regener­ating human life is almost miraculous. I do not wonder at your interest in the work.
    On the other hand, much as I would like to do what you gentlemen want me to do and agree to contribute $5,000 a year for two years to the support of the work, as you know it is contrary to our office policy to undertake the entire responsibility for any enterprise, or even a fifty per cent responsibility, unless we expect to carry it indefinitely or to its conclusion. This policy I am sure you agree has been proved, by our long experience, to be a wise one. I feel that it would be a mistake to deviate from it.
    However, because of the interest of yourself and these other friends in the matter, I will provide a total of $5,000 for this enterprise. Because the service 
for which this sum is to be used is closely related to the Riverside Church, the friends who present the request to me being officers of the Church, I am making the contribution of $5,000 to Riverside Church as a non-quota item of of the Benevolent Department, understanding that it will be dispensed for the object mentioned in response to your requisition.
    From my standpoint it is understood that the money can be spend during one, two, or three years, as may seem to you wise, but that in any event you will not look to me for a further contribution for this object.…

March 16 in A.A. History

1940: The Alcoholic Foundation relocated^* from 17 Williams St. in Newark, New Jersey, to a two-room office at 30 Vesey St.^†  [left] in Lower Manhattan, New York City. With the move, Ruth Hock  [right] became the first National Secretary of the Alcoholic Foundation. Before the move, most of the draft lined yellow pages and draft manuscripts of the Big Book had been discarded, including the first draft of the Twelve Steps, a tremendous loss for the Alcoholics Anonymous Archives.
    Rent for the new office was $650 a year [~$15,100 in 2026]. Lorraine Greim  [right], Ruth’s recently hired non-alcoholic assistant, received a raise from $12 [~$278 in 2026] a week to $15 [~$350 in 2026], because she had expected to work in Newark when she was hired. Bill W. affectionately nicknamed her “Sweetie Pie.”

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^* Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age incorrectly dates this move to February 1940.

^† On 11 September 2001, 30 Vesey Street was nearly destroyed when the World Trade Center buildings collapsed.

1975: The first 12-step meeting conducted in Japanese took place at the Kamata Catholic Church  [left] near Haneda Airport in the Ōta district of Tokyo. This event marked the beginning of Alcoholics Anonymous in Japan. After this, A.A. events started being held throughout Japan.

2000: Nancy M.-O. [right] founded AA History Buffs on egroups.com. After at least 444 posts to the group, she somehow lost or forgot the password, and subsequently restarted the group on Yahoo Groups.

March 15 in A.A. History

1941: The first Alcoholics Anonymous group in Connecticut was formed in New Haven, which spurred the creation of groups in neighboring towns.
    Alex P., a Westport resident who attended meetings in New Haven [left, c. 1944], handled inquiries from others in his area. Soon after, a group was established in Westport [right, c. 1940s–50s].

Other significant events in March
                 (no specific date known)                 

1946: The A.A. Grapevine published the following notice [right]:

    The March of Time is in the process of making a documentary film on alcoholism, in which Alcoholics Anonymous is to play a large part. The film, said a March of Time official, will probably not be ready for release for several months to come. Prior to the release they will notify the Central Office, which in turn will inform all A.A. groups in time to catch the picture immediately it is out.

    The film, titled “Problem Drinkers,” was released on 14 June 1946.

1947: Nellie “Nell” Wing [right] was traveling through New York City on her way to Mexico to study art. Low on funds, she took a temporary position at the Alcoholic Foundation office, which would later become the General Service Office.
    A non-alcoholic, Nell would retire in December 1982, after more than 35 years of service to Alcoholics Anonymous. Until he died, she would be Bill W.’s secretary. Early in 1972, she became A.A.’s first official Archivist, though she had begun collecting archival material in 1955. Over her career, she also held many other positions, including receptionist, clerk, stenographer, switchboard operator, librarian, editor, and designer of publications such as Box 4-5-9, which she worked on for many years. In 1951, at the first General Service Conference, she even acted as a “bouncer,” ensuring only those involved in Conference business were admitted. 

March 14 in A.A. History

1906: Sylvia Brainerd [left^*] was born in Washington, D.C. She married Philip C. K―― and, though they later divorced, she continued to use his last name. As Sylvia K., she became the first woman in Alcoholics Anonymous to achieve so-called “permanent” (i.e., for the remainder of her life) long-term sobriety, beginning on September 13, 1939, in Chicago, Illinois. Her story, titled “Keys to the Kingdom,” appears in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

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^*A portrait of Miss Brainerd, exhibited by English sculptor Cecil Thomas at the Free Art Gallery, in Washington, who said of her appearance, “one of the types of beauty most inspiring America” (El Mundo del Auto, mayo 1925).

1935: At Calvary Episcopal Church in Manhattan, Dr. Frederick B. [near right] was baptized by Rev. Samuel Shoemaker [center right], with Bill W. [far right] serving as his godfather.

1942: The New Jersey Group of Alcoholics Anonymous commemorated its anniversary with a dinner [right: invitation] at the Hotel Suburban [below left], located at 141 S. Harrison St. in South Orange, New Jersey. Bill W. was the featured speaker, with tickets costing $2.50 [~$50 in 2026].

1949: Knowing he was dying, Dr. Bob S. [near right] wrote to Bill W. [far right] regarding the idea of a General Service Conference:

    Have been feeling quite painfully ill… Do not have the feeling that this [conference] is a particularly guided thing to do now. Maybe I am wrong, but that is the way I feel. Why don’t you see if can get the boys to put across this committee and let it go at that.

March 13 in A.A. History

1887: James “Jim” R. was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the first son and third of eight children of Mary Fisher and Joseph R. He would get sober on 7 June 1933, more than 18 months before Bill W. In June 1940, he would co-found Alcoholics Anonymous in Baltimore.

1895: Henry “Hank” P. [right: as a young man] was born in Marion, Iowa, the second of three children and first son of Mary Giffen and Daniel P., whose family had lived in the area for several generations.

    Hank would become the first person in New York City to achieve sobriety with the help of Bill W. Considered by many to be the “forgotten” co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, he played a significant role in writing and publishing the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. His story in the first edition of that book is titled “The Unbeliever.”

Other significant events in March
                 (no specific date known)                 

1942: Irwin “Irv” M. [left] wrote the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City to report that he, along with three other alcoholics—Bill S., George S., and Louis J.—were forming an Alcoholics Anonymous group in Charleston, West Virginia. The group, the first in the state, was initially attended by three members: "W. T." S. [presumably the same person as Bill S.], secretary; George S.; and Louis J.
    Within six months, the group would double in size and move its meetings to W. T.’s office. Over the next three months, membership increased to 12, then 16, and eventually 29 members. These new members included individuals who had been active in A.A. in Cleveland, Ohio; New York City; Cincinnati, Ohio; Zanesville, Ohio; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before relocating to Charleston.
    A year later, on March 22, Bill S. would write to National Secretary Bobbie B. at the Foundation, recognizing Irv as the “sponsor” of the group. Bill W. would visit in March 1943, and clubrooms would be established in 1944. By June of that year, membership would reach 71.

March 12 in A.A. History

1992: Dr. C. Nelson Davis [near right: from his obituary], 88, died at his home in Malvern, Pennsylvania.
    Recognizing the benefits of a 12-step program for recovering alcoholics, Dr. Davis and Dr. C. Dudley Saul [far right] became early advocates of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) and lectured together on its behalf. In 1946, Dr. Saul had helped establish one of the first A.A. clubhouses, the 4021 Clubhouse [left] at 4021 Walnut Street in Philadelphia. That same year, the two doctors had opened the C. Dudley Saul Clinic in Philadelphia, the first private treatment center for alcoholism in the United States, with Dr. Davis serving as Physician-in-Charge. The clinic is known today as the Malvern Institute.

Other significant events in March
                 (no specific date known)                 

1940:The third and fourth meetings of the Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Group of A.A. were held at the homes of Dr. A. Wiese Hammer [near right] at 323 S. 17th St. [far left, Nov 2018] and R. H. Bayard B., Jr at 1710 Walnut St. [near left, Jul 2011], respectively. At the latter meeting, Dr. C. Dudley Saul [far right] became the first medical advisor to A.A. Both doctors’ names were mentioned in Jack Alexander’s March 1941 article about Alcoholics Anonymous in The Saturday Evening Post, making them the first medical doctors publicly associated with A.A.

1941: The second printing of Alcoholics Anonymous, included two notable revisions. First, an Appendix II, titled “Spiritual Experience,” was added. Second, Step 12 was reworded to replace “spiritual experience” with “spiritual awakening.” These two changes addressed the common misapprehension that members needed a dramatic, sudden spiritual experience akin to that of Bill W, as described in his account in Chapter 1, “Bill's Story,” at Charles B. Towns Hospital. In addition to these content changes, a misprint on page 234, where the second and third lines from the bottom were duplicated, was corrected.

1941: The original Alcoholics Anonymous group in Baltimore, Maryland, was forced to leave its meeting place in the basement of the Altamont Hotel, 1215 Eutaw Street [left, 1930s], to accommodate World War II draftee processing. The group then found a run-down, second-floor mail-order house at 857 Eutaw Street [right: interior views]. With only $6 in their treasury, four members signed a two-year lease for $45 per month. Several members, some still newly sober, worked to remove shelving, paint, and lay a new floor. An employer, pleased that one of his employees had gotten sober, donated 50 chairs.
     In early 1941, the group moved into what became known as “857” and remained there until 1987, when they relocated to 123 N. Clinton St. in Highlandtown [left, Nov 2007]. After 53 years, the 857 Club—also called the Rebos Club—continues to reach alcoholics at 100 S. Haven Street [right, Jul 2024] after 53 years, hosting 13 meetings a week, including 2 hybrid meetings.

1941: In Jacksonville, Florida, the Alcoholics Anonymous group reported a membership of five. The previous fall, Cmdr. Junius C., Jr [left], a naval officer stationed at the nearby Air Force base, had introduced Tom S. [right] to A.A. Soon after, the two men began working together to carry the A.A. message to other alcoholics.