June 4 in A.A. History

1878: Franklin “Frank” Buchman, Jr. was born in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, to Sarah Ann Greenawald and Franklin Buchman, Sr. [below left: from left: Sarah, Frank Sr., Frank Jr., and brother Dan, in front of their home in 1894]. A Lutheran by faith, Buchman founded the First Century Christian Fellowship in 1921, which came to be known as the Oxford Group by 1928. In 1938, it was renamed Moral Re-Armament, and in 2001, it became Initiatives of Change. The Oxford Group played a crucial role in the establishment of Alcoholics Anonymous, influencing it more than any other organization.
    Buchman was also honored by the French and German governments for his efforts in promoting Franco-German reconciliation after World War II. He received La Croix de Chevalier de l’Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur (The Knight’s Cross of the National Order of the Legion of Honor) [far left] from France, and Das Großkreuz des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (The Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany) [near left] from Germany.

2002: Caroline Knapp [below right], 42, died from lung cancer after getting sober in 1995. She was the author of Drinking: A Love Story [left: cover]. In her obituary, The New York Times noted that

    Ms. Knapp wrote about the disturbing incongruities of her life as what she called a “high-functioning alcoholic”: she was an award-winning journalist, an Ivy League graduate from a well-to-do New England family and by all appearances a happy, healthy and successful young woman. But drinking had slowly taken hold of her life, and she was desperate to conceal its effects.
    She was, she wrote, “smooth and ordered on the outside; roiling and chaotic and desperately secretive underneath, but not noticeably so, never noticeably so.” 
    The book, published by Dial Press in 1996, was praised by critics for its painful honestly in describing the grip of addiction and the difficulty of overcoming it. In a review in The New York Times, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt called it “a remarkable exercise in self-discovery.” The book remained on The New York Times best-seller list for several weeks in both hardcover and paperback editions.

June in A.A. History—day unknown

1935: At Anne’s request, Bill W. moved into the home of Dr. Bob and Anne S. at 855 Ardmore Ave., Akron, Ohio [left]. To demonstrate that he and Bob could coexist with alcohol, Bill insisted on keeping two bottles of liquor in the kitchen [below left] (Anne removed them after Bill’s return to Brooklyn). Both men began working with alcoholics right away, attending Oxford Group meetings on Wednesday evenings at the home of T. Henry and Clarace Williams [near right: T. Henry and Clarace; far right: their living room]. The favorite scripture readings at these meetings included the Sermon on the Mount, I Corinthians 13, and the book of James.

1936: The Oxford Group was at its peak popularity, with between 5,000 and 10,000 people gathering in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, for a meeting in the Berkshires [far left: Berkshire Eagle, 6 Jun 1936]. Meanwhile, a house party in Birmingham, England, which combined elements of a convention and a retreat, attracted 15,000 attendees [right: three attendees].