April 19 in A.A. History

1939:  John Fitzhugh “Fitz” M. [right] received a copyright affidavit for the book Alcoholics Anonymous. Despite being informed of the urgency and that he should have received the necessary instructions, book copies, and funds needed for filing by 12 April, he didnot complete the filing until a week later. Furthermore, the instructions specified that the book should be registered to Works Publishing Co. Instead, Fitz listed the owner as “Wm. G. W――, trading as Works Publishing Co.” and the author as “Wm. G. W――.”

1941:  Dave W., Bob E., and Cal S. held the first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Seattle, Washington, at the New Washington Hotel [left, c. 1908] .

1943:  Florence R. K., 47, died of pneumococcal meningitis^* [right: her gravestone].
      Florence R., she got sober in New York City around March 1938 and remained so until at least April 1939, when the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, was published. She contributed “A Feminine Victory” to the book’s first edition, praying as she wrote for inspiration to present her story in a way that would encourage other women to seek the help she had received. Later that year, Florence moved to Washington, D.C., to assist Fitz M. (“Our Southern Friend”) in starting an A.A. group.
    In 1939, Fitz wrote to Bill Wilson, “She is in love with a hellion 15 years younger than she who feeds her beer—so says her landlady.”^† Florence eventually married him, but then disappeared. Later, Fitz was called to a morgue to identify her body. Florence had likely relapsed before dying.

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^*Her death certificate cites this as the cause of death. Nonetheless, rumors of suicide persist.

^†This letter is in the Washington [D.C.] Area Intergroup Association (WAIA) archives.

Today in A.A. History—April 19–23

1961:  The 11th General Service Conference was held at the Hotel Roosevelt [left, 2008] in New York City. Advisory Actions included:

• Jerry M., Delegate from Puerto Rico, offered to provide Spanish translators for A.A. material. The Board of Trustees was urged to avail itself of this offer.
• Recommended stories of a more personal nature be included when “A. A. for the Woman” is next revised.
• That Area Highlights be reported half by first year and half by second year Delegates.
• Following a memo titled “Memorandum on New Delegates” from Bill Wilson, approved a request from the two Ontario delegates for a third delegate to serve the North and Northwest portions of that province.
• Confirmed an action of the  G.S.B. in not approving a request for permanent representation on the Board of two Trustees from West of the Rocky Mountains and asked the Board to further study this request. (A resolution presented to the 1960 Conference by the Delegate from the Southern California—Los Angeles Area).
• Approved a recommendation made during the International presentation that $5,000 [~$55,200 in 2026] be earmarked to assist overseas groups in preparing/translating Conference-approved literature for one year only.
• Disapproved a request from South Florida that “There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership” be deleted from the Preamble.

Today in A.A. History—April 19–24

1965: At the 15th General Service Conference held at the Hotel Roosevelt [above left] in New York City, the A.A. Grapevine gave a special presentation announcing that they would be publishing a collection of five essays by Bill W. in a 3½"×5¼" booklet titled “The Best of Bill.” This collection would be available for sale for the first time at the 30th Anniversary International Convention in Toronto, Ontario. The essays would cover the topics of Humility, Love, Fear, Honesty, and Faith.
    Advisory Actions included:

• That Delegates be advised in advance of their Committee assignments and given the opportunity to refuse them.
• That all G.S.R.’s [sic] receive Group mailings from G.S.O.
• That no pamphlet for the “slippee” be considered.
• No glossary of “A.A. terminology” be prepared; it would be difficult to have uniformity and perhaps not advisable.
• That beginning in 1965, a pension or retirement plan for regular employees of A.A.W.S., Inc. and A.A. Grapevine, Inc. be established.
• That communications between Conference committee members and members of the G.S.B. committee members be improved and facilitated through the Conference Committee Secretary and Conference Committee Chairman throughout the year.
• That Area Highlights be retained with a recommendation that diversified topics be given to incoming panel Delegates in order to avoid repetitious presentations.
• That the Policy Committee and the Board of Trustees inform Agenda Committee members of actions taken on proposed agenda subjects, including a brief reason for any rejections.
• That the request for an additional Delegate for Indiana be granted.

1971:  Advsiory Actions from the 21st General Service Conference, held at the Hotel New Yorker [right] in New York City, included:

• The 2-year Moratorium on applications for additional delegate areas be terminated.
• Where a delegate does not have his own [Area] assembly, he look forward to establishing one.
• The delegates obtain the thinking of their areas on how to use the Bill W. Memorial Fund^* and report findings to the trustees.
• It is not necessary to write to new delegates asking them if they are willing to serve on the committee to which they have been chosen, but they should be informed of their committee assignment.
• Agendas for all Conference Committees be mailed to all delegates before the Conference.
• Rejected the proposed change in election procedures of Regional Trustees, suggesting that the members of the Conference Committee on Trustees be omitted, as not in the best interest of A.A. at this time.

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^*This fund was established by 4 April 1971, as evidenced by a motion on that date “to send a token amount to the Bill W. Memorial Fund” in Mid-Southern California Area 09 during Panel 20. Presumably it was established by the General Service Board when contributions in memory of Bill began to arrive spontaneously from members, groups, central offices/intergroups, and other parts of the service structure. By the end of 1971, $35,774 [~$291,700 in 2026] had been contributed.

1976:  The 26th General Service Conference was held at the Hotel Roosevelt [above left] in New York City. Advisory actions included:

• Trustees Literature Committee reported “Completed literature projects include… ‘The Last Talks of A.A.'s Co-Founders.’”
• the Trustees Policy Committee reported that

    The question of release of confidential A.A. information has come up because G.S.O. has received requests from outside and inside the Fellowship for certain information—such as the breakdown of the 1974 survey or a copy of a Conference Report. It was the sense of the meeting that there are no secrets in A.A., and that each request should be handled individually [italics added].

Today in A.A. History—April 19–25

1998: The 48th General Service Conference was held at the Crowne Plaza [left] Manhattan in New York City. Advisory Actions included:

• A Conference Archives Committee start meeting as a secondary committee with the trustees’ Archives Committee.

2015: The 65th General Service Conference was held at the Crowne Plaza [above left] Times Square in New York City. Actions included:

• Phase I of the G.S.O. plan to translate pre-Conference and Conference material into Spanish and French be implemented beginning with the 66th General Service Conference.
• “A.A. and the Gay/Lesbian Alcoholic” and its title be updated to include a wider range experience from members who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and gender nonconforming, especially as to being a newcomer and sponsorship.
• That literature for the alcoholic with mental health issues be developed.
• “A.A. for the Woman” be revised by gathering current sharing from women in A.A., including women in the military, single mothers, and of diverse backgrounds.
• In order to improve the relevance and usefulness of the aa.org website A.A.W.S. be authorized to produce and post audio/video service material there.
• In Chapter 10 (The Board’s Operating Corporations) under “Choosing Nontrustee Directors” of The A.A. Service Manual, the second paragraph that currently begins:
  “The nominating committee of the corporate board reviews all of the resumes received.”
  be revised to read:
  “Working in concert with the trustees’ Nominating Committee, the nominating committee of the corporate board reviews all of the resumes received.”
• Add a new subsection concerning “Reactivating district” to the section “Stimulating Interest in General Service” to Chapter 1 (Introduction to General Service) in The A.A Service Manual.
• The Twelve Concepts for World Service and the Twelve Concepts section of The A.A. Service Manual/Twelve Concepts for World Service include the following pages in the same order as published in the 1990-1991 Edition:

  a. Title page;	e. The Twelve Concepts (Long Form);
  b. Copyright page;	f. Contents with short descriptions of each Concept and page number;
  c. Preface;	g. Introduction.
  d. The Twelve Concepts (Short Form);

• A limited run of the Regional Directories (Canadian, Eastern U.S. and Western U.S.) be printed annually for purchase.
• Elections to the G.S.B. left the number of Class B (alcoholic) regional trustees one short.