June 17 in A.A. History

1926: Katharine “Kitty” Burnham (Lois W.’s sister) [near right, 1924] and Gardner Swentzel [far right, 1916] were married at the Church of the New Jerusalem in Brooklyn. The Burnhams then held a “very small” reception at their nearby home, 182 Clinton Street [left: “Miss Katharine Burnham Sets June 17 as Wedding Day,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 2 May 1926].
    Bill and Lois had interrupted their motorcycle tour in Alabama to attend the wedding. On their way, they had an accident outside Dayton, Tennessee, where Bill broke his collarbone and Lois twisted her leg, resulting in “water on the knee.” They spent a week recovering and then, after a few more days, shipped their motorcycle and belongings home while they took the train. As Lois described it:

    Although we were in plenty of time for the wedding, I made a sorry looking matron of honor, when, with red gashes on my face, I limped up the aisle.

1935: Modern historical research indicates that Dr. Bob S.’s last drink occurred on this date, not June 10, the widely believed date and official founding date of Alcoholics Anonymous.
    Dr. Bob S. [right] had decided to attend the annual American Medical Association convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, from June 10 to 14. He had started drinking on the train from Akron, bought several bottles of booze in Atlantic City, and checked into his hotel. On the first day of the convention, he had remained sober until after dinner, then binged for three or four days. A drunken Dr. Bob ultimately ended up at Union Station in Akron. He must have called his office nurse, Lily, who had picked him up and took him to her home in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Dr. Bob’s wife, Anne [far left], and Bill W. [near left] had come to pick him up. With Bill’s help, Bob spent three days sobering up.
    Facing surgery at Akron City Hospital, he made a pivotal decision:

    I am going through with this—I have placed both the operation and myself in God’s hands. I’m going to do what it takes to get sober and stay that way.

    Before the surgery, Bill gave Bob his last drink—a beer—and a “goofball” (a barbiturate) to help steady him. The surgery was apparently successful. However, Bob didn’t come home right away, which worried Anne and Bill. When Bob finally did return, they learned he had spent the rest of the day going around town making amends.

1942: Local A.A. groups hosted the inaugural New York City area meeting, which attracted 424 attendees. The event featured speakers Rev. Vincent Donovan [near right], Dr. William D. Silkworth [middle right], and Willard S. Richardson [far right], Treasurer of the Alcoholic Foundation and an associate of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

1967: T. Henry Williams [left] died and was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery and Mausoleum in Twinsburg, Ohio.
    From the early 1930s until 1939, he and his wife, Clarace, had hosted weekly Oxford Group meetings at their home [right]. Early members like Henrietta Seiberling, Dr. Bob, and Anne Smith attended these gatherings. Following Bill Wilson's arrival in 1935, new members of the emerging Alcoholics Anonymous group in Akron, Ohio, also joined as part of the Oxford Group's “alcoholic squadron.”