1917:
Congress drafted the National Guard into federal service, allowing the U.S.
Army to build the manpower needed to fight alongside the Allied Powers
against the Central Powers*
in the Great War (World War I). National Guard units played a significant
role in the forces that ultimately secured Allied victory.
At Norwich University, where Bill Wilson was a student, all students were required to belong to the Vermont National Guard—so when the call-up came, he was among those sent to serve.
1938: The Alcoholic Foundation was legally established as a charitable, tax-exempt organization, giving what would become Alcoholics Anonymous a formally incorporated, New York City-based center. Frank Amos
[far left] recruited John Wood [near
left], a non-alcoholic attorney, to handle the legal work.
The Foundation was formally created with the signing and delivery of a
13-page “Trust Indenture,” prepared by Wood. Its initial trustees were
Wood; Frank Amos (non-alcoholic); Willard "Uncle Bill" Richardson
[near right]
(non-alcoholic); Bill R. [far
right], who had accompanied Bill W. to Akron the previous October; and Dr. Bob
S.
An Advisory Board was also elected, comprising Bill W., Hank P., Albert
Scott
[left]
(non-alcoholic), and A. LeRoy "Chip" Chipman
[right]
(non-alcoholic). The deed of trust required that non-alcoholic trustees
hold a majority. One challenge Wood faced while drafting the document was
that there was no legal way to define the difference between an alcoholic
and a non-alcoholic. To solve this, he created the terms Class A and Class
B to distinguish non-alcoholic members from alcoholic ones, respectively.
Richardson served on the board until April 1949, when he became the first
Trustee Emeritus—a position he held until his death in 1952. Wood’s tenure
was brief: having focused his efforts on drafting the original Trust
Agreement, he resigned in December 1939. Bill R., whose story “A Business
Man’s Recovery” appears in the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous,
served as the Foundation’s first President (a role later renamed Chairman
of the Board). He submitted his resignation*
in December, citing the stress of work combined with a newborn at home;
his resignation wasn’t accepted until February. Harry B.†
[left]—whose story “A Different Slant” also appears in the first edition—was
then elected to succeed him, after which Bill R. joined the Advisory
Board.
August in A.A. History—day unknown
1939: Herbert “Bert” T. [right, late
1930s], a New York Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) member, pledged his fashionable
Fifth Avenue tailor shop—already heavily mortgaged because of his
drinking—as collateral for a $1,000 loan
[~$24,000 in 2026]
to Works Publishing.
Bill W. was desperate to keep Works Publishing afloat until “Alcoholics
and God,” edited by Fulton Oursler, appeared in Liberty magazine. To raise
the money, Bert approached a wealthy client in Baltimore, Mr. Cochran, who
was sympathetic to A.A. Bert laid out the situation and asked for a loan.
Cochran hesitated. When Bert suggested he instead buy stock in Works
Publishing, Cochran grew even more doubtful and, after reviewing the
balance sheet, turned that down too. Fially, Bert proposed that Cochran
co-sign a loan—and Cochran agreed enthusiastically. Bill later wrote,
“This probably saved the book company.”
The article ran on September 30
[left: magazine cover], drawing 800 inquiries and generating enough book sales to carry Works
Publishing through the rest of 1939. Bert’s tailor shop, however, went
broke within a year or two.
[Some sources date this loan to December 6, but that date doesn’t fit
the timeline.]
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