January 8 in A.A. History

In 1933, Russell “Bud” Firestone spoke at an Oxford Group meeting at Briarcliff Manor, New York. The next day, the Cleveland Plain Dealer would report:

    From polo player and pleasure-loving young man-about-town to a serious-minded follower of Dr. Frank N. D. Buchman, Princeton University’s famous pastor and leader of undergraduate spiritual thought, was the experience related last night by Russell (Bud) Firestone, son of Harvery S. Firestone, Akron (O.) tire manufacturer.…
    Firestone told of his college days at Princeton University and that his chief aim in life was to have a good time.
    He stated that now he was leading an entirely new life and that he had gained peace and happiness from following the lines of conduct incorporated in the new movement.…

Jim B.

In 1938, James “Jim” B. [right] came out of a two-week binge, “D-Day,” as he later called it. His mother only allowed him to come home (at age 39) if he…

stayed locked in a small storeroom and gave her my clothes and shoes.… That is way Jackie found me, lying on a cot in my skivvies, with hot and cold sweats, pounding heart, and that awful itchy scratchiness all over.

Jackie had been sent by Fitz Mayo, Jim’s old school friend. Jim commented

    Had he come two or three days later, I think I would have thrown him out, but he hit me when I was open for anything.
    Jackie arrived about seven in the evening and talked until three a.m. I don’t remember much of what he said, but I did realize that here was another guy exactly like me… Jackie told me about a group fellows in New York, of whom my old friend Fitz was one, who had the same problem I had, and who, by working together to help each other, were now not drinking and were happy like himself.

Jim would drink again in June, but then get and stay sober from June 16th on. His story in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, was “The Vicious Cycle.”

In 1939, Bill W. and Hank P. bought a pad of blank stock certificates at a stationery store. Back at the Newark, New Jersey office, Hank had Ruth Hock type “One Hundred Men Corporation, par value $25.00” at the top of each certificate. He then signed his name at the bottom: “Henry G. P▒▒▒▒▒, President.” Bill later called these “irregularities,” and said he protested at the time, but Hank replied that there was “no time to waste,” and besides, why bother with such “small details?”

January 7 in A.A. History

In 1939, after working out the details of selling stock in a publishing company to raise money and thereby retain ownership of what would become the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill W. and Hank P. “burn up the telephone to [Willard Richardson in] New York and even to Ohio where Frank Amos” was presumably enjoying a three-week vacation. They presented an outline of the new company and the stock plan, and asked a simple question, “Would you therefore be in favor that [we] make an effort to secure stock subscriptions for a corporation to take over the book on the terms [we] have just described?” Bill, at least, expected a bad reaction, and that is what they got. Neither Richardson nor Amos agreed, and both advised caution before taking any further steps

Bill's letter

In 1953, Bill W. sent out a manuscript of new essays on the Twelve Steps for “criticisms and suggestions.” His letter [left] reminded recipients that “last spring…” he had “circulated… a similar piece of writing on A.A.’s Twelve Traditions” and said that “since then, following considerable discussion, a plan had evolved to perhaps combine the two manuscripts into a single book [Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions]…” He noted that Harper & Bros. had made “a very favorable offer” to distribute the book to “the outside public,” and that he’d like to have the book approved by the General Service Conference in April.

In 1984, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (AAWS) published Pass It On: The Story of Bill W—and how the A.A. message reached the world. Mel B. was the primary author, with assistance from a number of others.

January 6 in A.A. History

In 1941, Bill W. responded to a letter from Jack Alexander, who had enclosed a manuscript of his article on A.A., written for The Saturday Evening Post. Bill’s eagerness was evident:

    I wish I could adequately convey to you the sense of gratitude that every one of us feels towards you and the Saturday Post for what is about to take place. You can not possibly conceive the direct alleviation of so much misery as will be brought to an end through your pen and your good publishers. For many a day you will be the toast of A.A.—in Coca-Cola, of course!

In 1955, Bill W.’s stepmother, Christine Bock W., 77, died in Los Angeles, California. She would be buried with Bill’s father in the East Dorset (Vermont) Cemetery.

A Concordance to
Alcoholics Anonymous

In 2000, Stephen P., 63, died at Washoe Medical Center, in Reno, Nevada, after a 6½-year battle with chronic myelogenous leukemia. Stephen—with his wife Frances—compiled A Concordance to Alcoholics Anonymous [right], first published in August 1990.
    Under the pseudonym Stephen Whitfield, with minimal contributions from Gene Roddenberry, he also wrote the classic book The Making of Star Trek, the first—and for many years the only—specialized reference book on behind-the-scenes aspects of Star Trek production, published in 1968.

January 5 in A.A. History

Tom Uzzell

In 1939, Hank P. wrote to Bill W. after receiving a letter in which Tom Uzzell [left], editor of the book manuscript, wrote 

I spent last evening with the manuscript... on reading additional chapters... I found myself deeply moved, at times full of amazement, almost incredulity, and during most of the reading I was extremely sympathetic. My feeling at the moment is that you should certainly hold on to the production and distribution of this volume... I don't know what else you could want for a good book. I believe in it most em­phatically... The whole book needs the final shaping of a professional hand... I understand better now the enthusiasm your with me about this work. I thought you were exaggerating somewhat but now I have joined the choir invisible.

Shortly thereafter, Uzzell began editing the material that Hank and Bill had sent him, resulting in a pre-publication manuscript that in a few months would become the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

In 1940, Clarence S. wrote to Bill W.,

Have attended two of Doc S.’s meetings since he has been holding them in his home, and they have been very well attended and very inspirational.
    Doc led our meeting, and never have I heard him in such fine fettle. Noticed a vast improvement since he pulled his gang out of the Williamses’. Now speaks with authority and no pussyfooting, and I believe he looks ten years younger.

    In 1977, John R. recalled,

I’m not sure, but I think we had two meetings there. You should have seen Doc’s house! His little living room wasn’t much bigger that this little house we live in. We were crowded up pretty good there

In 1941, Bill and Lois W. were spending the weekend at the home of A.A. members Ruth and Wilbur S. in Chattaqua, New York. The day before the S▒▒▒s had shown the W▒▒▒s an empty house in Bedford Hills owned by the widow Mrs. Helen Griffith (no relation to Bill). She wanted to meet the couple, so they returned to the house to see her. Helen made them an offer: to sell the house to them for $6,500 [~$140,000 in 2025], significantly less than her original asking price, with no down-payment and a $40 [~$860 in 2025] a month mortgage payment with no interest for at least one year. After Bill made some quick mental calculations, he and Lois accepted Helen’s offer. [Lois Remembers says this happened in early March.]

January 4 in A.A. History

In 1939, Bill W. wrote Frank Amos that the One Hundred Men book (which would be published shortly as Alcoholics Anonymous) was nearly finished but that more editing might be needed, that a copy had been given to Tom Uzzell for this work and that “one more consultation with the boys in Akron will be necessary.”

In 1939, Dr. Bob S. wrote to Ruth Hock that A.A. needed “to get away from the Oxford Group atmosphere.” But it would be December before the Akron’s “alcoholic squad” left and began holding their own A.A. meetings. [This may have actually occurred on the 5th or the 10th.]

In 1940, Sarah Klein, 53, daughter of a proud, privileged New York family, non-alcoholic wife of an alcoholic, and alcoholic Archie T. first met in his dingy third-floor walk-up room on Kirby St. between Cass Ave. and 2nd St. to form the first A.A. group in Detroit, Michigan. They would meet weekly and seek prospects together.
    In April 1939, Sarah had received and read an early copy of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. Impressed, Sarah wrote to the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City asking how they intended to put into practice what was written in the book. The Foundation replied that an unnamed member (Archie) who was sobering up in Akron would be returning home to Detroit in mid-summer. The Foundation also sent a letter to Archie, who was recovering at the home of Clarence S. in Cleveland, Ohio, informing him of the request from Detroit. He assumed that “S. Klein” was not only an alcoholic, but also a man.

In 1941, Bill and Lois W. had been invited to spend the weekend with A.A. friends Ruth and Wilbur S. in Chappaqua, New York. Their hosts picked them up at the local train station. Bill noticed that they’d passed through Chappaqua and were approaching Bedford Hills. Ruth said she had a surprise for them. She and Wilbur wanted to show them a house they thought would be perfect for the still-homeless couple. It was owned by a widow friend of Ruth’s, who admired A.A. greatly after seeing it help one of her friends. They found a charming, unoccupied country house on two acres atop a hill. Bill found an unlocked window, climbed in and pulled Lois in behind him. They stood in front of a fieldstone fireplace in a large wood-paneled living room. There were six more rooms: three bedrooms and a kitchen downstairs, a long library with bookshelves and a bedroom upstairs. Despite their initial misgivings, they fell in love with the place and bought it that spring.

In 1941, Jack Alexander wrote to Bill W., enclosing a manuscript of the article he had written on A.A. for The Saturday Evening Post.

In 1946, the first A.A. group in Suffolk County, New York, held its first meeting in Huntington.

In 1950, The Johnson City (Tennessee) Press briefly reported on a recently aired documentary “presented by” A.A.

In 2023, the newly translated Mongolian service manual was approved by the General Service Office of Alcoholic Anonymous World Services, Inc.

January 3 in A.A. History

Bill W. in France in 1919

In 1919, Bill W. [right: in France, 1919] wrote to Lois that the men of his artillery battery had “paid him special honor,” saying,

    Quite a touching thing happened just before we came here. The men presented Captain S. [Sackville] & I [sic] each with a watch chain and a ring. They lined up the whole battery and I tell you it was equal to promotion and decoration by [General] J. J. Pershing himself! Coming as it did from a clear ploy it was quite overwhelming. Wouldn’t have changed insignia with a Brig. [Brigadier] Gen. [General] It means so much more than promotion. In so far as I know we are the only people in the reg. [regiment] who have been so honored. I know you’ll be as happy and proud as I am. The watch is an elaborate gold and silver affair, the chain a very light gold one which several of the boys _^^rather shyly “opined” would look well against a “[illegible]” vest. The ring is a plain & gold one with a facet for a monogram [sic] Am terribly inflated & stuck up.

In 1946, Ian MacE. wrote to the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City asking for help and became the first A.A. member in New Zealand.
    Previously, he had tried every known treatment for his drinking problem without success. In late 1945 Ian had checked himself into the Nelson Psychiatric Hospital. While in the reading room, he picked up a copy of the No­vem­ber 1944 issue of Reader’s Digest and read an article condensed from Argosy, which had published the full article in October 1944. It was titled “‘Maybe I Can Do It Too!’” by Edward McG., an alcoholic who had recovered with the help of a fellowship called Alcoholics Anonymous. Ian had never heard of A.A. but he identified with the article in a way he had never identified with anyone before. A note at the end of the article said, “A postcard sent to P.O. Box 459, Grand Central Annex, New York 17, N.Y., will bring further information about this organization.” Ian wrote to that address and took the first step in his own recovery, and A.A. in New Zealand was born.

January 2 in A.A. History

In 1889, Bridget Della Mary Gavin was born in Shanvilly, County Mayo, Ireland. After immigrating to the United States, she entered the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine in Cleveland, Ohio and was given the religious name Sister Mary Ignatia. An accomplished musician, she was assigned to teach music. She did this for about ten years, but found it “too hectic” and suffered a nervous breakdown.
    After her recovery, her superior assigned her to work in the admissions office at St. Thomas Hospital in Ak­ron, Ohio. Despite the hospital’s policy of not treating drunks, she began secretly doing so in 1934. She would go on to help Dr. Bob S. and thousands of alcoholics, becoming known as “The Drunks’ Little Angel of Hope” [right: Sr. Ignatia interviewing an alcoholic for possible admission].

In 1896, Harry Tiebout was born in Brooklyn, New York. According to the unsigned introduction to Harry Tiebout: The Collected Writings (1999), “He would become the first psychiatrist to publicly recognize and uphold the work of Alcoholics Anonymous” and was “uniquely distinguished for having facilitated communication between the worlds of alcoholism and psychiatry.”

In 1896, Dr. Bob S. wrote to Bill W.,

    Have definitely shaken off the shackles of the Oxford Group and are meeting at my house for the time being. Had 74 Wednesday in my little house, but shall get a hall soon [top right: living room; below right: aerial view of 855 Ardmore Ave, Akron, Ohio].

In 1896, The Mid-Southern California (Area 09) Archives moved to its second location on Brockton Ave. in Riverside.

January 1 in A.A. History

Olney Hymns, p 53

In 1773, “Amazing Grace,” as it is now known, was first performed in public at a prayer meeting in Olney, Buckinghamshire, England. It was written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton to illustrate the day’s sermon, originally titled “I Chronicles 17:16-17” [left: from Olney Hymns (1779), p. 53]. It is not known whether the verses were accompanied by music; they may have been chanted by the congregation.
    Newton had grown up without any particular religious beliefs. He had been pressed into service in the Royal Navy. After leaving the service, he became involved in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1748, a violent storm had battered his ship off the coast of County Donegal, Ireland, so badly that he cried out to God for mercy. This moment had marked his spiritual conversion, but he continued to trade slaves until 1754 or 1755, when he ended his seafaring career. Newton then began to study Christian theology, was ordained in the Church of England in 1764, and later became an abolitionist.

In 1943, The Columbus Dispatch reported on the first anniversary of the Central Group of A.A. in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1946, The A.A. Grapevine raised the cost of an annual subscription from $1.50 to $2.50 [~$26 to $43 in 2025] and of each issue from 15¢ to 25¢ [~$2.60 to $4.30 in 2024].

In 1948, Harry G., an A.A. member from Indiana was in Tokyo, Japan writing a book about the war crimes trials of 1945–48. He started an English-speaking A.A. group, the first in Japan. After an article about A.A. appeared in Pacific Stars and Stripes, the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City was flooded with letters from members of the U.S. Armed Forces in Japan. The Foundation forwarded their names to Harry, who had written the Foundation in December 1947, suggesting that Japan was fertile ground for A.A. This would eventually lead to the establishment of Japanese-language groups throughout the country.

In 1975, Bill W.: My First 40 Years, Bill’s autobiography as told to Robert Thomsen, was published.

In 1988, West Virginia A.A. established the first statewide toll-free telephone hotline.

In 2002, The second meeting of the month-long Online Service Conference (OSC) was opened. There were 59 participants: 33 group representatives, plus alternates and the Steering Committee. This OSC continued the discussion of many of the issues considered at the first Conference. The agenda included:

1. definition of an “online A.A. group,”
2. online literature publication and AAWS copyrights,
3. using online A.A. to reach those who cannot be served by “face to face” A.A.,

4. anonymity guidelines for the Internet,

5. issues affecting world unity of the A.A. Fellowship, and

6. future OSC participation with other A.A. organizations.

In 2004, The fourth meeting of the month-long Online Service Conference (OSC) opened. Forty-eight groups were represented, with alternates and Steering Committee members bringing the total to 73.

In 2008,Robert “Bob” P., 90, died peacefully of “old age” at his home in Bellevue, Idaho, with his wife, children, and grandchildren by his side. He had been a writer, veteran, community leader, and longtime trusted servant in A.A. from 1961 until his death. He served on A.A.’s General Service Board from 1968–74 and as G.S.O. General Manager from 1974–84. His story, “A.A. Taught Him to Handle Sobriety,” appeared in the 3rd and 4th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. He also wrote a well-known unpublished manuscript of A.A. history in 1985.
    He is best remembered for his powerful and inspiring closing talk at the 1986 General Service Conference, where he addressed what he considered to be AA's greatest danger: rigidity.

    If you were to ask me what is the greatest danger facing A.A. today, I would have to answer: the growing rigidity—the increasing demand for absolute answers to nit-picking questions; pressure for GSO to “enforce” our Traditions; screening alcoholics at closed meetings; prohibiting non-Conference-approved literature, i.e., “banning books;” laying more and more rules on groups and members. And in this trend toward rigidity, we are drifting farther and farther away from our co-founders. Bill, in particular, must be spinning in his grave, for he was perhaps the most permissive person I ever met.

    One of his favorite sayings was, “Every group has the right to be wrong.” He was maddeningly tolerant of his critics, and he had absolute faith that faults in A.A. were self-correcting.
   Bob’s writing career as a writer began in the midst of amid scandal when Scribner's Magazine revealed that he had ghostwritten hundreds of term papers for fellow students at seven universities. “Both the Associated Press and the United Press carried it,” Bob said in a 2004 interview. “It almost cost me my diploma.”
   After the scandal, Shell Oil Co. hired Bob to work in its public relations department until he joined the U.S. Navy during World War ll. During the war, his destroyer escort was part of the historic capture of a German U-boat that contained the hardware and codes for the Enigma radio codes used by the Nazis. The capture took place north of the Azores just days before D-Day. While in the Navy, Bob also wrote speeches for Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and other top Navy officials.

 

 

 

 

 

December 31 in A.A. History

1940 Detroit AA
New Year's Eve party

In 1937, Bill and Lois W. hosted a gala New Year’s Eve party at 182 Clinton St. to which they invited nearly 30 people, including most, if not all, of the members of the New York City A.A. group and a number of other friends and relatives.

In 1940, The very first major A.A. event in Detroit, Michigan, was a New Year’s Eve celebration at Mike E.’s house with about 20 members and their spouses or guests, for a total of about forty people [right: photo taken that night].

December 30 in A.A. History

In 1921, Ella Brock Griffith, 72, Bill W.’s maternal grandmother, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in her bed in Dorset, Vermont. She and her husband, Gardner Fayette Griffith, had raised Bill from the age of 10. She would be buried in East Dorset Cemetery.

In 2001, Arthur S. [left], 81, of Arlington, Texas died after a long illness. Born and raised in Yonkers, New York, Arthur attended one of the first computer schools in the world. He spent his entire professional life working with computers.
    When he retired to Texas, he pursued his avocation as a historian, traveling the country with friends giving history presentations. He authored “A Narrative Timeline of AA History,” perhaps the most detailed and accurate compendium of facts about A.A. history

December 29 in A.A. History

Dr. Bob's letter to Ed W.

In 1946, Dr. Bob S. wrote a two-page note [right] to Ed W., apparently after receiving some kind of gems or jewels:

My Dear Ed, –

    The [illegible] reached me safely & thanks a lot for them. My jeweller [sic] is taking them to NY some time next month to see what can be done with them most advantageously. I imagine that the red one will wind up as a pendant. It was swell of you to send them. I have enjoyed your little book very much & know that it will prove to be of a lot of help to many. I had a number of letters & cards from folks at camp, [illegible], McCombs, Dr. Bennett, [illegible] Schneiders, Muenknoellers, et al. Wish we could go up next year but have serious misgivings about it. It does not look now as tho we could. Am following your advice and leave in ten days for Florida for a month.

    Love to Hazel
        Most sincerely

            Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob’s reference to “your little book,” was to a book with the full title The Little Red Book: A Suggested Outline for Ref­erence and Study of the Working Mechanics of the Twelve Steps. Ed was the primary author of this book, and Dr. Bob was one of several who assisted in its writing and editing.

December 28 in A.A. History

In 1890, Frank Horace C. [right], known as “Horace,” was born in Manhattan, New

Horace C.

York, to Frances Moore and Joseph C., the 2nd of 4 children, all boys.
    He would become an A.A. member (#81?) in December 1938, shortly after Bill W. had written the Twelve Steps for what would become the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.
    Bill and Lois W., homeless from April 1939 to April 1941, would stay at his bungalow in Green Pond, New Jersey, in the spring of 1939.
    In 1940, with Bert T., he would find the site and guarantee the rent for what would become the first A.A. clubhouse on 24th Street in Manhattan.
    That same year, he would become a Class B (alcoholic) Trustee of the Alcoholic Foundation. He would be Vice-President of Works Publishing, Inc. at the time its financial report was published in June 1940.
    His picture would appear in Jack Alexander’s March 1941 article in The Saturday Evening Post, “Alcoholics Anonymous: Freed Slaves of Drink, Now They Free Others.”
    After Jack C. gave Ruth Hock a newspaper clipping of the Serenity Prayer, Horace would suggest that it be printed on wallet cards and then pay for the printing.
    In the early 1940s, the Alcoholic Foundation would send him to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. to sound out groups about and obtain support for the Alcoholic Foundation’s headquarters in New York City.

 In 1988, John “Captain Jack” S. died in Portland, Maine, where he had retired.        He became an oil tanker captain in the mid-1930s and got sober in Alcoholics Anonymous in 1946. He was instrumental in founding what became the Loners Internationalists Meeting and its confidential bulletin, a meeting in print for “Loners,” “Homers,” “Internationalists,” “Port Contacts” (who served as contacts for Internationalists coming to their port city), and “Loner Sponsors.” He and hundreds of Internationalists like him sailed the seven seas, carrying the A.A. message wherever they dropped anchor and playing a key role in A.A.’s phenomenal worldwide growth.

December 27 in A.A. History

Shoemaker

In 1893, Samuel Moor Shoemaker [right] was born in a second-floor front room of a rented house on Read Street in Baltimore, Maryland, to Ellen Ward “Nellie” Whitridge (later president of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Episcopal Diocese of Mary­land) and Samuel Moor Shoemaker, Jr. (later chairman of the Board of Regents of the University of Mary­land), who had met at Emmanuel Church in Baltimore, where Sam’s uncle was rector.
   When Sam was two years old the family would move to their country home, Burnside, about ten miles [~16 km] north of Baltimore. To Sam, throughout his life, this was home. Between 1860–1863, his grandfather had bought the 13 tracts of land, adding up to 467 acres [nearly 2 km²], that was Burnside, a beautiful piece of land nestled between two lines of gently rolling hills in the Green Spring Valley.

   The Rev. Dr. Samuel Shoemaker would become head of the Oxford Group in the United States, as well as rector of Calvary Church in New York City. Shoemaker provided a safe haven for alcoholics. He also ran Calvary Mission, which both "Ebby" T. and Bill W. visited in 1934, and Calvary House, where early A.A. members came for Oxford Group meetings. He formed a close, long-lasting friendship with Bill W., offering guidance and support during A.A.'s formative years. Bill would credit Shoemaker with providing "most of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, steps that express the heart of AA's way of life" and name him as a co-founder (one of many).

December 26 in A.A. History

In 1902, Clarence S. was born at 1280 E. 89th St., Cleveland, Ohio, to Charles and Jenny Patterson S. He was the youngest of three boys. It was a cold, gray winter morning with snow and a brisk wind in the forecast.
    He would sober up in Akron, Ohio on 11 February 1938 and would have a falling out with his sponsor, Dr. Bob S., over trying to do something to make it possible for Catholics to attend A.A. meetings (Catholic priests forbade parishoners from anything to do with the Oxford Group, which Akron A.A. was certainly involved with). When Dr. Bob refused to do anything, on 11 May 1939, Clarence started a new group in Cleveland, naming it the Alcoholics Anonymous Group, after the newly published book. He sought publicity for A.A., which led to very rapid growth; invented the basic idea of sponsorship as we know it; eschewed the Oxford Group; focused on spirituality and avoided religion; emphasized use of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous; and helped create the Cleveland Central Committee, which introduced the concept of rotation.

December 25 in A.A. History

In 1962, Paul H., Esq. [right, 1956], 59, the last surviving member of a prominent Butte, Montana family, died of a heart attack in Memphis, Tennessee. He would be buried three days later in the family mausoleum in Butte.
    His father, Daniel H., founded a department store bearing the family name in Butte. Paul was born in Butte, attended the University of Virginia, was a Rhodes Scholar, studied at Oxford, and became a lawyer. He had survived a botched frontal lobotomy in 1936, sobered up in Washington, D.C., in 1940, and in January 1948 dictated the first known account from memory by Bill W. of how he wrote the Twelve Steps for the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

 

December 23 in A.A. History

In 1901, Bernard B. Smith was born in the Bronx, New York, the third of four children of Isaac and Fannie Stuzen Smith, both Yiddish-speaking Russian immigrants. He would become a member of the Alcoholic Foundation Board in 1944, Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Alcoholic Foundation (later the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous) from 1951–1956, and 1st Vice President of the General Service Board from 1956 until his death in late July 1970.

December 22 in A.A. History

In 1959, Frank Shaw, 73, died. He had been an early supporter of Bill W.’s stock market theories, and married Elsie Valentine, Lois’ close childhood friend.

In 2015, The Saturday Evening Post republished “Alcoholics Anonymous: Freed Slaves of Drink, Now They Free Others,” written by Jack Alexander. It looked exactly like the original article, except that it noted that “Jack Alexander introduced Alcoholics Anonymous to a national stage when this article was published on March 1, 1941”, and that it included an Editor’s Note:

A.A. had its beginnings in 1935 when a doctor and a layman, both alcoholics, helped each other recover and then developed, with a third recovering alcoholic, the organization’s guiding principles. By 1941, the group had demonstrated greater success in helping alcoholics than any previous methods and had grown to about 2,000 members. But for most of North America, A.A. was still unknown. Following the March 1, 1941, publication of an article in The Saturday Evening Post describing A.A.’s extraordinary success, inquiries began to flood in, leaving the small staff of what was then a makeshift headquarters over­whelmed. Alcoholics Anonymous tripled in size in the next year and continued to grow exponentially. Today, 75 years later, A.A. claims 2 million members worldwide, 1.2 million of them in the U.S.…

 

December 21 in A.A. History

In 1981, United Press International, in an article titled “First year crucial for reformed alcoholics” by Charles S. Taylor, reported on a study of 439 alcoholics who were members of Alcoholics Anonymous and had been sober for at least one year. The study was conducted by Dr. Leclair Bissell, who headed the American Society on Alcoholism and worked with alcoholics at Edgehill Newport, a treatment center in Newport, Rhode Island. The article called it “the first long-term study of a large group of alcoholics” and reported that it “reached an encouraging conclusion—most chronic drinkers who can stay off booze for one year have a good chance at continued sobriety.” Dr. Bissell said that alcoholics who receive counseling for their problem and abstain for a year usually don't touch alcohol again for up to seven years. She also said that abstinence seems to help alcoholics stop smoking, reduce suicidal behavior, reduce encounters with the police and drastically reduce hospitalizations for any reason.
    Dr. Bissell strongly criticized psychologists who try to return recovered alcoholics to “social drinking,” saying, “I think they’re killing a lot of people by encouraging them to return to drinking.”

December 20 in A.A. History

In 1849, Ella A. Brock, Bill W.’s maternal grandmother, was born to John and Nancy Bowen Brock, in East Dorset, Vermont. Ella and her husband, Gardner F. Griffith, would raise Bill from the age of about 10.

In 1945, Rowland Hazard III, 64, died of a coronary occlusion (heart blockage), while at work in his office at Bristol Manufacturing.
    Rowland had carried the spiritual message of the Oxford Group to Ebby T., who then carried it to Bill W.
    The fact that he was a top executive of a major corporation at the time of his death suggests that Rowland had stopped drinking again, despite several known relapses. Nonetheless, some historians question whether he died sober. He had stayed active in the Oxford Group and remained so after it changed its name to Moral Re-Armament (MRA) in 1938. Some early A.A. members said they knew Rowland from his occasional visits to the old 24th Street Clubhouse, which A.A. members had established during June 1940 in a former stable at 334½ West 24th Street in Manhattan. There is no evidence that Rowland ever joined A.A. or considered himself a member.

December 19 in A.A. History

In 1922, Lt. Junius C. and Marjorie Dickerson were married in Pike County, Mississippi. He would become a founder of Alcoholics Anonymous in Jacksonville, Florida.

In 1939, Kaye M., a nonalcoholic, held the first A.A. meeting in Los Angeles, California, at her home on Benecia Street in Westwood.
    Kaye became involved with A.A. earlier in the year while trying to help her ex-husband, Ty, get sober. She visited Akron and New York City, attending meetings and talking with members, including Bill W. in New York. After divorcing Ty and returning to Los Angeles by freighter via the Panama Canal, she began spreading the word about A.A. to newspapers and public officials. She fell in with two other nonalcoholics who were trying to help parolees get and stay sober: Genevieve Dodge, a social worker, and Johnny Howe, a psychologist. They had persuaded the Superior Court to allow them to treat alcoholics at Los Angeles County General Hospital [below, c. 1931] Kaye taught them A.A. from her experience and from the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, which she had brought with her. Early successes included Barney H. (or B.) and Hal S.
    Then in December, Chuck and Lee T., members of New York City A.A., visited Los Angeles. Bill W. had given them Kaye's number and they looked her up. Kaye decided it was time to have an A.A. meeting in Los Angeles, which was held on this date. Besides Kaye, Johnny Howe and three other social workers, there were Chuck and Lee T., Barney and Ethel H., Hal S., Chauncey and Edna C., Joy S., Dwight S. and Walter K. Kaye telegraphed news of the meeting—“Los Angeles held its first meeting tonight. Fifteen present.”—to Bill W. in New York.

 

December 18 in A.A. History

In 1917, the U.S. Senate voted 47–8 in favor of a joint resolution to override President Wilson's veto of the Volstead Act; the House had passed the same resolution the day before. The Volstead Act, officially known as the National Prohibition Enforcement Act, would amend the Constitution to prohibit “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes.”^* It then went to the 48 states for ratification. On 9 January 1919, Nebraska would become the 36th state to ratify it, and one year later, on 9 January 1920, it would become the 18th Amendment.
^* Note that it did not prohibit consumption, possession, or production for personal use.

In 1934, Bill W. was discharged from Charles B. Towns Hospital for the last time. The charge for his one-week stay was $125 [~$2,945 in 2024], paid in advance by his brother-in-law, Dr. Leonard V. Strong.

In 1952, ector C. wrote to the General Service Office (G.S.O.) in New York City from Buenos Aires, Argentina, asking for help. Hector had been in treatment for alcoholism there since September. His letter immediately sparked a lively and ongoing correspondence, primarily with staff member Ann M., whom Hector came to consider his sponsor. (At one point, Ann M.’s first letter was framed and displayed in Buenos Aires to commemorate the birth of A.A. in Argentina.)

December 17 in A.A. History

In 1895, Florence Rankin, author of “A Feminine Victory” in the 1^st edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, was born.

 In 1937, Bill W. wrote to Rev. Willard “Dick” S. Richardson, who handled John D. Rockefeller’s Jr. private charities and was Rockefeller’s spiritual advisor and close friend:

The problem is how best to get our message to the great number… if they only knew. How… to preserve sound spiritual construction, simplicity and spontaneity, at the same time making our experience as widely and quickly available as possible, is the conundrum.

In 1949, The Herald Saturday Magazine (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) published John Holden’s article, “Drunkards have found the sober road” [right]. It filled almost half of page 15, and included both a photograph of Lillian R., the Hollywood actress who, with her husband “Jack” McG., helped start Melbourne’s first permanent A.A. group on 13 October 1947. At the bottom of the article there was a cartoon from “‘The Grapevine’ journal of Alcoholics Anonymous.”

 

December 16 in A.A. History

In 1934, [15th? 17th?] “Ebby” T. returned to Towns Hospital to see Bill W., who had had his “white light” spiritual experience two nights earlier. Ebby took Bill through some of what would eventually become Steps—the 3rd through the 8th—and gave Bill a copy of William James’ Varieties of Religious Experience.
    Bill later said that he read it “cover to cover,” admitting that it was very difficult reading, but that he understood the content. He would incorporate some of James' ideas into the A.A. program.

December 15 in A.A. History

In 1945, Dr. James “Jim” S., founder of the Washington Colored Group of Alcoholics Anonymous in Washington, D.C., wrote to Bobbie B., National Secretary of the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City,

I wish to state at this time that several of the White group members have visited our group meetings and have taken an active part, many times addressing the group or acting as group leaders. We have found them very inspiring and enthusiastic.

In 1949, a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, presumably from the local Poughkeepsie Group founded in 1946, addressed members of the Duchess County Social Planning Council at a luncheon meeting. The following day’s article “Social Planners Discuss Alcoholism” in the Poughkeepsie Journal (p. 3) read in part:

    Alcoholism is both a physical and spiritual disease and should be treated as a disease…
    The organization of between 80,000 and 100,000 has no opinions and no programs, dealing only with the alcoholic who signifies the desire to stop being one. The individual with whom Alcoholics Anonymous works must be willing to admit that he is an alcoholic needing help.…
    The speaker spoke of two kinds of skeptics, those who cannot understand the spiritual side of the program because of their own materialistic attitudes, and those evangelical persons who believe faith alone can produce a cure.…
    The speaker does not consider an alcoholic ever cured, he is arrested. Judges, he continued, can be of great help in explaining Alcoholics Anonymous, as can policemen. The latter are impressed, he said, when habitual drunks abandon their former habits and voluntarily stay sober. There are five types of drinkers, he said, the occasional social drinker, the heavy social drinker, the habitual drinker, the compulsive drinker who drinks to deaden the pain, or because he wishes to forget, and the alcoholic.
    There is an open meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous at Christ Church every Friday night at 8:30 o’clock.

December 14 in A.A. History

In 1934, [perhaps the 13th] Ebby T. [right] visited Bill W. at the Charles B. Towns Hospital, where Bill had been admitted three days earlier. Ebby again explained the practices of the Oxford Group and may have tried to get Bill to surrender to the care of Jesus Christ.
    After Ebby left, Bill fell into a very deep, dark depression and finally cried out, “I’ll do anything! Anything at all! If there be a God, let him show himself!” He then experienced a blinding light and felt an ecstatic sense of freedom and peace. This was Bill’s spiritual experience (or “hot flash” or “white light” experience, as he later called it).
    When Bill later told Dr. William D. Silkworth, Towns’ medical director, about the event, the doctor replied, “Something has happened to you I don’t understand. But you had better hang on to it.”

December 13 in A.A. History

In 1913, the president of the Kentucky Distiller’s and Distributing Co. in Kansas City, Missouri, W. Franklin, wrote a letter to the Keeley Institute in Dwight, Illinois, a commercial medical operation that offered alcoholics a treatment known as the Keeley Cure or the Gold Cure from 1879 to 1965. It read:

Gentlemen: Our customers are your prospective patients. We can put on your desk a mailing list of over 50,000 individual consumers of liquor. The list is the result of thousands of dollars [$1,000 in 1913 ~$32,000 in 2024] of advertising.
    Each individual on the list is a regular user of liquor.
    The list of names is new, live and active. We furnish this list in quantities at the prices listed below. Remittances to accompany each order.

40,000 to 50,000	$400 [~$12,700 in 2024]
20,000	$300 [~$9,540 in 2024]
10,000	$200 [~$7,050 in 2024]

    We will not furnish this list in lots of less than 10,000. Discontinuance of business January 1 is the occasion for selling our mailing list.

    The Anti-Saloon League responded by publishing the letter in its official journal, The American Issue, with commentary [right].

In 1937, Bill W. and nine other men—Dr. Silkworth of Towns Hospital; Dr. Leonard Strong, Bill’s brother-in-law; and seven other alcoholics—Dr. Bob S., Paul S., Hank P., Ned P., Bill R., Joe T., and Fitz M.—attended a 6 p.m. dinner given by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in the executive dining room at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Although Mr. Rockefeller did not attend, the Rev. Willard “Dick” Richardson did. He brought select Rockefeller associates: Albert Scott, A. LeRoy Chipman, and Frank Amos. After dinner they adjourned to the boardroom next to John D.’s office. Bill was told that he was sitting in the seat just vacated by Mr. Rockefeller himself. The dinner and meeting lasted five hours, until 11 p.m.
    On his way out, Amos caught up with Bill and asked him to take on an alcoholic known to both Amos and Richardson: Jack D. This must have felt like a test to Bill. Nevertheless, Bill agreed to "start work with him, providing [Jack D.] was willing.”

In 1939, [or Dec 20, possibly Nov 29] The Akron “alcoholic squad” withdrew from association with the Oxford Group. Meetings were moved from the home of T. Henry & Clarace Williams to the homes of Dr. Bob and other members. 

In 1941, the first A.A. meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was held in Room 152 of the Henry Hotel. It had been arranged by two non-alcoholics, Tim O’Leary and attorney David Janavitz, both of whom had alcoholic employees. Attendees were Si H., Howell J., Jake H., Arch K. and Jim K. In early 1941, the group would move to the downtown YMCA on Wood St. They would soon have to vacate the “Y” as space was needed for servicemen preparing for war. The group would move half a dozen more times in its first few years.

In 1949, in a letter to Jack Alexander, Bill W. first wrote down a description of how he had written the Twelve Steps 11 years earlier. Almost two years earlier, he had described this verbally to Paul H., who almost immediately dictated his recollection.

December 12 in A.A. History

In 1865, Ella A. Brock and Gardner F. Griffith were married in Dorset, Vermont, by Rev. W. W. Whitney. They would have three children: Clarence H. (’67), Emily E. (’70?), and Amelia B. (’76). Emily would give birth to Bill W.

In 1890, William “Bill” D. was born in Bardwell, Kentucky. He would sober up in June 1935 at Akron Ohio’s City Hospital with the help of Bill W., Dr. Bob S., and possibly Edgar R. His story, “Alcoholic Anonymous Number Three” appears in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

In 1937, Bill W. held a “set up meeting” the night before a group of alcoholics—chosen by Bill—were to attend a Monday dinner given by John D. Rockefeller, Jr.. The attendees were Lois W.^*, Dr. Bob S., Paul S., Hank & Kathleen^* P., Ned P.^†, Bill R., Joe T.^‡, and Fitz M. There is no known record of what transpired.
^* Nonalcoholic
^† Ned had recently joined the New York Group. Hank had given him a job at Honor Dealers, but he wouldn’t stay sober long, and would turn out to be a con man, relieving the Parkhursts of “a car, a new suit, and some of Hank’s papers” within a couple of months.
^‡ Joe had been associated with the New York Group since 1936, but had vacillated between drinking and sobriety; he was apparently deemed sober enough at this time to be invited to the dinner.

In 1940, an A.A. meeting was held in St. Louis, Missouri, the first in the city. After returning from his meeting with Bill W. at the 24th St. Clubhouse in New York City, Father Ed Dowling was contacted by F., who said his son-in-law had a drinking problem. Of course, it was F. himself who had the problem and needed help. With Father Ed’s help and encouragement, F. gathered four other prospective members and held the first A.A. meeting in St. Louis—and in the state of Missouri—at the Gibson Hotel, 5883 Enright Ave.

December 11 in A.A. History

Towns Hospital

In 1934, it was a typical winter day in New York City: temperature around 20℉ [-6.7℃], windy and cloudy. After a disastrous day of drinking following an angry fight with his wife, Lois, and all-night subway rides begging for money to buy booze, Bill W. came home to 182 Clinton St., Brooklyn, in the morning. Lois was at work.
    When he saw the damage he had caused by throwing Lois’s sewing machine against the wall during the argument, he became deeply remorseful. Remembering Ebby T.’s success in the Oxford Group, he left a note for Lois explaining that he was on his way to Charles B. Towns Hospital [right] for another round of alcoholism treatment, his fourth. He had 6¢ in his pocket; the trip would cost a nickel. On his way to the subway entrance, he saw a grocery store where his credit was still good and bought four bottles of beer. He arrived at Towns Hospital with a beer in one hand and two philosophy books in the other. He announced to Dr. William Silkworth that he had found the answer. Those beers would be Bill’s last, as he was admitted for the last time to undergo the Towns-Lambert treatment.^*
    For the rest of his life, Bill would give this date as that of his last drink.
^* The treatment that Bill received on each of his four visits to Towns Hospital is, in brief:

• Every hour, day and night, for two days, give a mixture of three herbal extracts: Belladonna (deadly nightshade, 7.4 ml), Hyoscyamus (prickly ash, a trace?) and Xanthoxylum (henbane, 3.7 ml).
• Note that omitting any of these ingredients will interfere with the “cessation of desire” effect (i.e., stopping cravings).
• The dosage depends on how the body reacts to the belladonna. If the face flushes, the throat dries up, and the pupils dilate, stop or reduce the dosage until these symptoms disappear.
  
• BUT it must be continued until these signs appear or the cravings will not disappear completely.
  
• Also, every twelve hours, give a strong laxative of C.C. (Compound Catharic) pills (80 gr. extracti colocynthidis compositi, 60 gr. hydrargyri chloridi mitis, 16 gr. cambogiae and 20 gr. resinae jalapae) and blue mass (typically 34% rose honey, 33% mercury, 25% althea (or hollyhock or marshmallow), 5% licorice and 3% glycerin).
• Once lots of green stools appear, give castor oil to clean out the gut completely.

In 1937, Dr. Bob S. and Paul S. drove from Akron, Ohio to Brooklyn, arriving late in the day. They would be among the alcoholics attending a dinner given by associates of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. the following Monday, two days later.

In 1941, The Dallas Morning News reported that A.A. had formed a chapter in Dallas, Texas.

December 10 in A.A. History

In 1934, having gone—drunk—with Ebby T. to Calvary Church Rescue Mission just three days earlier, and then spending two days at home detoxing, Bill W. came home roaring drunk. This provoked an argument with Lois, who angrily shouted, “You don’t even have the decency to die! You’re crazy! You’re! Crazy!” Bill then picked up her sewing machine and threw it against the wall, terrifying Lois. Bill left, and rode the subways all night, panhandling for money to buy booze. Lois was plagued for a long time with deep regret for her outburst.

In 1975, the first Birds of a Feather (BOAF) Nest (i.e., group) was formed in Seattle, Washington.

Birds of a Feather International is a worldwide network of meetings based on the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. It was established for pilots and cockpit crew members active or inactive in private, commercial or military aviation. BOAF provides AA meetings worldwide (including ZOOM [oops! not what you might think] meetings), a yearly convention, a newsletter and a website for pilots and cockpit crew members in recovery.

December 9 in A.A. History

In 1985, David “Dave” B., 76, died with 40 years of sobriety. In April 1944, he founded the Montreal Group, the first A.A. group in Quebec, and served as a Class B (alcoholic) Trustee from 1962–64. His story, “Gratitude In Action,” appeared in the 4th edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.
    In 1959, Quebec had formed its own literature committee—Les Editions Francaises A.A.—where Dave had played a major role in translating the Big Book and other A.A. materials into French, advising the General Service Office of the difficulties encountered. One result was a French version of the Big Book, le Gros Livre, Les Alcooliques anonymes, which became the basic text for all French-speaking groups around the world.

December 8 in A.A. History

An earlier, probably unmanned, flight

In 1903, test pilot Charles Manly made a second attempt at manned flight in Professor Langley’s heavier-than-air craft. His first attempt in October had resulted in a crash into the Potomac River after a wing apparently clipped the launcher. The plane was still catapulted; still had no landing gear; still had controls only for pitch and yaw; and still had none for roll. On this second attempt, the plane broke apart as it was launched toward the Potomac. Miraculously, Manly again survived.
    Newspapers made great sport of the failures, and some Congressmen harshly criticized the project.
    The Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, refers to these events in the chapter “We Agnostics” on page 51.

December 7 in A.A. History

In 1934, Ebby took a drunken Bill W. to the Oxford Group meeting at Calvary Church Rescue Mission after Bill had expressed interest the day before. Bill ended up “testifying” from the podium, perhaps even accepting Jesus Christ as his Savior. Amazingly, on the way home, Bill lost all desire to drink and spent the next two days in his bedroom, tapering himself off alcohol.

In 1949, Sister Ignatia accepted the College of Steubenville’s 1st annual Poverel-lo Medal of St. Francis of Assisi on behalf of “the entire fellowship” of Alcoholics Anonymous, in recognition of its “tremendous contribution… to Humanity.”

In 2022, The United Kingdom’s BBC Two premiered the documentary I’m An Alcoholic: Inside Recovery, in which Alcoholics Anonymous (UK) allowed cameras into meetings for the first time, protecting members’ anonymity with deep-fake image, a troubling visual manipulation technique that might actually have demonstrated a positive use here. (The altered faces were unrecognizable to close friends.) The one-off documentary also looked at the organisation’s roots in the pre-World War II United States and discussed its role in modern society. It also recognized A.A.’s 75th anniversary in the UK. The Guardian called it “a sensitive and impeccably balanced documentary.”

December 6 in A.A. History

In 1934, Ebby T. visited Bill W. for a second time, this time with Sheppard “Shep” Cornell, to talk to Bill about the Oxford Group. Bill was unimpressed by Shep, but his curiosity led him to ask Ebby to take him to Calvary Rescue Mission, the site of regular Oxford Group meetings, where Ebby was staying. Lois later wrote that Ebby visited several times.

In 1939, Herbert “Bert” T., who had a fashionable clothing store on 5th Ave. in New York City, loaned Works Publishing $1,000 [~$22,700 in 2024]. Bill W. had asked for this loan to tide the company over until Morris Markey’s article “Alcoholics and God” appeared in the September Liberty magazine. Bill expected the article to generate interest and sales of the book, Alcoholics Anonymous. Bert’s store was fully mortgaged and he didn’t have the money. So he asked a wealthy Baltimore customer, Mr. Cochran, to loan Works Publishing $1,000 in exchange for the right to buy “a couple thousand” of the books at a “considerable” discount to place in libraries. After hearing what Works Publishing’s balance sheet looked like, he declined. Bert then asked if he would lend the money on the credit of his tailor shop, to which Mr. Cochran readily agreed.

In 1940, Dr. Gilbert “Gib” K. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, wrote again to the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City requesting contact information for the nearest A.A. groups (Madison, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois) and a copy of the book Alcoholics Anonymous, for which he enclosed $3.50 [~$79 in 2024]. More than 6 weeks earlier, on October 23, he had written to the Foundation asking for help. The reply, dated December 3, informed him that the book cost $3.50 and offered to send him contact information for the two nearest A.A. groups if he requested them.

In 1979, Henrietta Buckler Seiberling, 91, a key figure in the founding and development of Alcoholics Anonymous, died at her home in New York City. In 1935 she had opened her home, Stan Hywet’s Gate Lodge in Akron, Ohio, to two alcoholics, Bill W. and Dr. Bob S. From that meeting grew the worldwide movement of A.A., in which she had remained involved until the end of her life.

December 4 in A.A. History

In 1950, Bill W. wrote to Scott B. that one of the compelling motives for wanting to write Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions was the realization that the original text of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, had become “frozen”—too “sacred” even for the taste of its principal author: Bill himself.

 December 3 in A.A. History

In 1940, the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City responded to an October 23 request for help from Dr. Gilbert “Gil” K. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin:

As you already know, our work extends far beyond the book itself and is carried on mainly through the efforts of one alcoholic who has recovered in behalf of others. This mutual effort in various localities gradually leads to weekly meetings which are held without dues, fees, or obligations of any sort whatever, merely a desire on the part of AA members, now numbering some 1,500, to aid others similarly troubled. Since you already acknowledge the fact that alcohol is a problem to you, you have already taken the most important step toward a solution. And too, since you are obviously seeking an answer to the problem you are naturally another step closer to reaching an answer. Therefore, if you are at all open minded to the principles and methods of AA you should have little difficulty in solving the problem as we have. We are sorry indeed to advise you that we have no A.A. Fellowship in Milwaukee or its immediate vicinity; the closest to you being located at Madison, Wisconsin or Chicago Illinois. If you are interested in contacting our members at either locality, and it is possible for you to do so, please let us hear from you again and complete information will be forwarded.

December 1 in A.A. History

In 1940, the Sunday Times and Daily Times of Chicago, Illinois, began a four-part series by Nall Hamilton on Alcoholics Anonymous that would generate hundreds of inquiries and bring in many new members.

In 1941, the Columbus Group of Columbus, Ohio moved from the basement of the Columbus Y.M.C.A. to the Southern Hotel. It had grown to 21 members, having been started by six alcoholics just 28 days earlier.