January 25 in A.A. History

In 1915, Dr. Bob S. and Anne Ripley married after 17 years of courtship [left: Anne in her wedding dress].
    The reason for the delay is unknown. There were years of schooling, an internship and work for Dr. Bob. Anne may have been afraid to marry a drunk and waited until Dr. Bob showed signs of sobriety. They met and corresponded regularly during those 17 years while Anne taught school in Oak Park, Illinois.
    Bob and Anne were married in Chicago, Illinois, at the home of Anne’s mother. They took up residence at 855 Ardmore Ave. in Akron, Ohio. The first three years of their marriage were free of the turmoil that was to come.

In 1971, the U.S./Canada General Service Office (GSO) in New York City announced the death of Bill W., the remaining co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, in Miami, Florida, the previous day.
    Bob H., General Manager of GSO, sent telegrams to central offices [right: p. 1 of telegram to Vancouver (British Columbia) Central Office] and Dr. Jack Norris, Chairman of the General Service Board, wrote a letter addressed to “Dear friends” [“Queraos amigos”].

 

 January 24 in A.A. History

In 1918, Bill W. and Lois Burnham [right, in wedding attire] were married.
    Bill was stationed at Ft. Adams near Newport, Rhode Island. Spurred by rumors that Bill’s unit might soon be going overseas, they moved the date up from the scheduled February 1, and were married at the Swedenborgian Church of the New Jerusalem in Brooklyn, New York. Rev. Julian Smyth officiated.
    Rogers Burnham, Lois’ brother and Bill's childhood friend, was best man; Lois's sister Katherine “Kitty” and four friends from Packer Institute were bridesmaids; her childhood friend Elise Valentine Shaw was matron of honor; and her sister Barbara was maid of honor. Bill’s mother, Emily Griffith W. was unable to come from Boston because she had the flu, and Bill’s sister Dorothy stayed behind to care for their mother. Also absent, perhaps because of the sudden change in date, were Fayette and Ella Griffith, Emily’s parents, who had raised Bill and Dorothy from the time he was about 10 years old.
    Said one of Bill’s biographers,

    But nothing, not even a lack of family on the groom’s side, could dim the quiet glow of the occasion, a young lanky soldier beside his bride—and no one who was at the church or at the reception on Clinton Street was apt to forget them.

 In 1945, the first black A.A. group in the United States was formed in St. Louis, Missouri. The group met with 5 members present, and elected Torrence S. as secretary. Proud of their accomplishment, they called themselves the “AA-1 Group.” Father Ed Dowling, Bill’s spiritual advisor and an important figure in St. Louis A.A. who had long been a friend to the black community, may have played a role in gaining this group's acceptance into the larger community.

In 1954, On Bill and Lois W.’s 38th wedding anniversary, she suffered a heart attack that severely limited her activities for a year.

In 1968, Bill and Lois W. celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary [left: Bill & Lois, 1960s].

In 1971, Bill W., 75, co-founder of A.A. and 36 years sober, died at the Miami Heart Institute in Miami Beach, Florida on his and Lois’ 53rd wedding anniversary. Bill was the architect and author of the Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous: Recovery, Unity and Service. He also wrote the documents that explained them. It was an amazing accomplishment, especially since he had no training as a writer, organizer, or administrator.

 

January 23 in A.A. History

In 1961, Bill W. [left] sent Dr. Carl Jung [right] a letter of appreciation for
his contribution to A.A., which Bill felt was long overdue. After introducing himself, Bill wrote:

… I doubt if you are aware that a certain conversation you once had with one of your patients, a Mr. Roland [sic] Hazard, back in the early 1930’s, did play a critical role in the founding of our Fellowship.
… Our remembrance of Roland Hazard’s statements about his experience with you is as follows:

Bill then told what he knew of Rowland Hazard [lower left] visiting Jung, getting sober in the Oxford Group, his message reaching Bill at the lowest point of his alcoholism through Ebby T. [lower right], followed by Bill’s spiritual experience at Towns Hospital, his founding of A.A., and the spiritual experiences of many thousands of A.A. members since.

This concept proved to be the foundation of such success as Alcoholics Anonymous has since achieved. This has made conversion experience… available on an almost wholesale basis.

    Bill ended his letter most graciously,

    As you will now clearly see, this astonishing chain of events actually started long ago in your consulting room, and it was directly founded upon your own humility and deep perception.
    Very many thoughtful A.A.’s are students of your writings. Because of your conviction that man is something more than intellect, emotion, and two dollars’ worth of chemicals, you have especially endeared yourself to us.…
    Please be certain that your place in the affection, and in the history, of our Fellowship is like no other’s.

January 22 in A.A. History

In 1942, Bill and Lois W. returned home from a cross-continental trip that included stops in all the major cities where Alcoholics Anonymous was active. The tour had been a success for Bill and for the A.A. Fellowship. So it was a surprise when, shortly thereafter, Bill fell into a suicidal depression that would last until 1955.

January 21 in A.A. History

In 1942, Island Press published Drunks are Square Pegs [left] by Charles C., Jr.. He was from Bedford Hills, New York, and had been an Oxford Grouper. He had worked with Rev. Sam Shoemaker, but couldn’t stay sober. In Oct 1935, Charles sought and received help from A.A. founder Bill W.; he got sober and stayed sober. His book The Big Bender (published in 1938) tells the story. He also wrote Drinking’s Not the Problem (published in 1949), which was reviewed in the Dec 1949 issue of the A.A. Grapevine.

 

January 20 in A.A. History

In 1841, Gardner Griffith, Bill W.’s maternal grandfather, was born in Dorset, Vermont. He and his wife, Ella Brock Griffith, would raise Bill from the age of about 10.

20 Jan 1933 front page

In 1933, members of the Oxford Group were greeted at the Mayflower Hotel by leading citizens of Akron, Ohio. The following evening, The Akron Beacon Journal reported [right]:

    A formal dinner for 130 preceded the regular meeting and the photographer snapped F. A. Seiberling, president of Seiberling Tire & Rubber Co., and Miss Olivia Jones, member of the group and former president of the National Education association [sic], as they walked from the private dining hall.
    The Oxford movement has been called “religion in every day clothes” and the camera caught three of the group in full evening dress, as they prepared to enter the meeting hall. Mrs. Ruth Buchanan, the fox-hunting member from Virginia is talking to Sir Walter Windham, English business man, while Frau von Cramon, German schoolmistress is adding her comments in a pleasant German accent.

In 1937, articles of Incorporation were granted by the State of Delaware to Henry G. P▒▒▒▒▒, Inc. 

January 19 in A.A. History

In 1939, the first published reference to Alcoholics Anonymous anywhere was in The Hackettstown (New Jersey) Courier-Post in an article titled “There Is Hope.” It was written by Silas B. a noted journalist, book editor, and author who had been the third member of A.A. in New York City, but who would also suffer a “spectacular slip” within a year. In the article,  he tells Hank P.’s story without naming anyone and without providing information on how to contact A.A.

In 1940, Dorothy S. of Cleveland, Ohio wrote to Ruth Hock describing Larry J. as a brilliant newspaperman who, at 40, was down and out “owing to John Barleycorn.” She asked the Alcoholic Foundation office in New York City to help Larry start a group in Houston, Texas, which they did.
    Larry’s story began in Cleveland in late 1939. Weighing 100 lbs [45 kg], he had been found in freezing weather with no coat, a collapsed lung from tuberculosis, and near death, in terrible physical condition. In a Cleveland hospital he had been slowly recovering from the DT’s, malnutrition, and exposure. Local A.A. members, including Clarence S., Dorothy’s husband, had visited and cared for him regularly. Because of his ailments, Larry had been advised to move to a warm climate. Without ever having attended an A.A. meeting, he boarded a train for Houston, with only a Big Book. As he read it on the train, he had a spiritual awakening and went on to found A.A. in Texas.

In 1944, Bill W. returned from his first major A.A. tour, which he had begun on 24 October 1943.

In 1999, Francis “Frank” M., G.S.O. Archivist since 1982, died in Vero Beach, Florida, 8 days shy of his 65th birthday. Frank, sober since 10 June 1970, was widely known as a dedicated A.A. member and A.A. historian. He was a 21-year employee of the General Service Office—first as an administrative assistant and, until his retirement in 1998, as G.S.O.’s Archivist. Frank often referred to himself as “the Happy Archivist.” In his many talks about the G.S.O. Archives, he emphasized that the primary reason for having archives is so “we don't forget where we’ve come from.”

In 2015, Dr. Ernest “Ernie” Kurtz, 79, author of Not-God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous, died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

January 18 in A.A. History

In 1939, The Alcoholic Foundation Board of Trustees met. They unanimously agreed to add two trustees to the board, one Class A (non-alcoholic) and one Class B (alcoholic), and then unanimously elected Dr. Leonard V. Strong (Bill W.’s brother-in-law) and Harry B. (whose story is “A Different Slant” in the 1st edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous) to fill the positions. Dr. Strong would serve on the board until October 1954 (as secretary), then become a trustee emeritus until July 1960. Harry was also elected as the second chairman of the board (following William “Bill” R.). He would soon return to drinking and be replaced in December 1939, serving less than a year. From that time until 2024, the Chairman of the Board was always a Class A Trustee. The trustees appointed their own successors and were, as Bill W. said, “chartered to do everything under the sun.”
    Bill gave a lengthy report on the book, tentatively titled 100 Men. The minutes note that “the Alcoholic Foundation does not have any legal connection whatsoever with the organization or operation of this to-be-formed publishing company,” although they agree to accept “a contribution of $0.35 per volume sold if and when the book is published and put on sale” [emphasis added]. However, “the sentiment [of the board] to render all such possible assistance [as individuals] was unanimous, …” and at least three of the Class A trustees would purchase stock in Work Publishing, Inc. within days.

In 1948, a United Press “Wire Brief” on page 2 of The Sunday Morning Star of Wilmington, Delaware, reported on what they called A.A.’s “first international conference”:

DETROIT—The first international conference of members of Alcoholics Anonymous opened here last night in perhaps the driest convention on record. Some 3,000 delegates from throughout the midwest and two Canadian provinces toasted their first meeting with a soft drink punch in an unannounced part of the city.

 In 1950, The Fort Payne (Alabama) Journal published a short, unsigned article about two glimpses “inside” Alcoholics Anonymous by two of its members in two different places. The first talk was described as “very fine and impressive;” the second as “a soul stirring [sic] address along the lines of what Alcoholics Anonymous has meant to him and what it can mean to others.” Of A.A. itself, the author said, “We have nothing but praise” and called it “a great organization doing a great work. And we believe it to be an inspired one.”

Hank P.

In 1954, Henry “Hank” P. [left], 58, died at Mercer Hospital in Trenton, New Jersey, after a long illness at Glenwood Sanitarium. Lois W. said it was from alcoholism. Ruth Hock wrote, “If it weren’t for Bill W. the Big Book would never have been written. If it weren’t for Hank P. the Big Book would never have been published.” Hank is credited in a number of sources with writing Chapter 10, “To Employers,” in Alcoholics Anonymous. He also hand-wrote a key portion of Bill’s story as an edit to the multilith manuscript master copy.

January 16 in A.A. History

Headline:
"U.S. IS VOTED DRY"

In 1919, with Nebraska’s adoption of the 18th Amendment, the 36th state (of 48) to do so, the 18th Amendment became part of the United States Constitution [right: front page of the Anti-Saloon League’s The American Issue^*, 25 Jan 1919]. This amendment prohibited “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof.” Note that this language did not prohibit the use, possession, or even manufacture of alcohol for private, personal use.
    As Dr. Bob pointed out in his story “Doctor Bob’s Nightmare” in all four editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, he did not realize at first that the government would accommodate his alcoholism by allowing doctors almost unlimited supplies of grain alcohol for “medicinal purposes.” During Prohibition, Dr. Bob would go to the phone book, pick out a name at random, and fill out a prescription to get himself a pint of 100-proof medicinal alcohol.

---

^* The total circulation of The American Issue in 1919 was 837,200,172 copies!

In 1920, At midnight, Prohibition went into effect throughout the United States, one year after the ratification of the 18th Amendment. It had provided that the “Congress and the several States” would have the power to enforce Prohibition, but the enabling legislation—the Volstead Act, named for Minnesota’s Rep. Andrew Volstead but written by The Anti-Saloon League’s Wayne Wheeler—left no room for local options or other flexibility. Ironically, the law called for a vast increase in federal intervention in society just as “limited government” advocates were coming into office (Prohibition was in effect during the presidencies of Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover). A parsimonious Congress was reluctant to appropriate enough money for effective enforcement.
    The result would be a decade of lawlessness, with citizens flouting the law in speakeasies and bootleggers corrupting public officials. On Capitol Hill, the bootlegger George Cassiday [right, 1930], known as “The Man in the Green Hat,” would operate freely out of the House office building. The Senate successfully prevented his client list from ever being made public!
    Alcohol consumption and deaths from cirrhosis of the liver would both decline during Prohibition, while Bill W., Dr. Bob S. and other A.A. pioneers would do their heaviest drinking during this period. Terms like “rumrunner,” “bootlegger,” “speakeasy” and “bathtub gin” would soon enter the national vocabulary.

In 1945, A meeting was held at the Hotel Cleveland in Cleveland, Ohio to elect the first administrative body to open and guide the functions of a Downtown A. A. District [Central] Office. Jack D., Paul J., Charles D., Dr. F. F. and Cliff B. were elected to the first Operating Committee. Dick S., Elmer L. and Abby G. were elected to the Nominating Committee. The Finance Committee reported that in response to a December letter soliciting funds, about 200 members had contributed $3,600, and many pledges had been made to contribute as soon as the office was open.

January 15 in A.A. History

"Fitz" M.

In 1937, John Henry Fitzhugh “Fitz” M. [left] began trying to start an A.A. meeting in Washington, DC. He would do so for much of the next 2½ years. His sister lived in Washington, and he stayed with her for at least part of that time. He had minimal success at first, but by the fall of 1939 he had established the nucleus of a small group.

In 1941, Bill W. asked Ruth Hock to get him a copy of what he called a “spook book”: The Unobstructed Universe, by Stewart Edward White.

In 1942, Jeanne C. held the first A.A. meeting in Springfield, Missouri.
    While living temporarily in Kansas City, Missouri, during World War II, she had seen an advertisement for Alcoholics Anonymous in the classified section of The Kansas City Star. She had written to the P.O. Box, then joined the Kansas City Number One group and got sober. After returning to Springfield, she stayed sober for two years by making frequent trips to Kansas City, despite gas rationing, and by corresponding with Bobbie B. at the Alcoholic Foundation office in New York City.
    Eventually she wrote an article about A.A. for the local Springfield paper and got a post office box. When she had a dozen names, she set the place and date for the first meeting in Springfield: at her house on 15 January.
    Later, Jeanne would help A.A. get started in Joplin, Missouri, after receiving a call from Jim S. asking how to start a group. Jeanne would respond by gathering several carloads of members from Springfield and Kansas City and descending on Joplin.

In 1945, Newsweek magazine published  “It’s Fun to be Sober” in its MEDICINE section, about Joe, a seaman, who formed his own “club”—the A.A. Seamen’s Group in the clubhouse on W. 24th St. in New York City, the site of the original A.A. clubhouse.

In 1946, the Times-Herald of Washington, DC reported,

    Eight new patients and six who were formerly treated at the Force School presented themselves as willing subjects for an alcoholic cure when the Polk Health Center Alcoholic Clinic for Negroes went into operation January 15. Co-operating with the new clinic is the Washington Negro Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, which meets Fridays and Sundays at 8:30 p.m. in the Y.M.C.A. at 1816 Twelfth St. NW. The group supplies volunteer clerical help for the clinic, and alcoholics who require group therapy are referred to the organization by the doctors.

In 1958, Ernest Jacoby died in Boston, Massachusetts. He had been the founder of the Jacoby Club, which helped alcoholic men and indigent older men in Boston, Massachusetts. His wife, Alice G. Hovey Jacoby, died about a day later.

In 2005, Esther C., 95, died in Kissimmee, Florida, with her family by her side. She got sober on 23 Jul 1943, when she was 12th-stepped by Clarence S. and four other A.A. members in Cleveland, Ohio. She used to ride from Cleveland to meetings in Akron on a “Little Indian Scout” motorcycle.

January 14 in A.A. History

Ruth Hock

In 1941, Ruth Hock [right] sent out A.A. Bulletin #2 noting that A.A. was starting in five more cities—St. Louis, Missouri already had ten members—and that there was some activity in Vancouver, British Columbia. The bulletin included a “Flash!!!” lead item that The Saturday Evening Post would be publishing an article on Alcoholics Anonymous by Jack Alexander and that there would likely be many inquiries in response to the article. Members and groups were warned to “stand by for active duty.”

Also in 1941, the Waterbury (CT) Democrat published an item about Alcoholics Anonymous in the eponymous syndicated column “Walter Winchell On Broadway”:

    There is a group called “Alcoholics Anonymous” in New York, the moving spirit being a well known transatlantic flyer [sic] … The group’s aim is to “straighten out any fellow who will even admit he drinks too much … They meet at an illustrator’s place and have big “rallies”. These “rallies” are attended sometimes by hundreds of lushes many of whom have been in institutions for alcoholics etc. … They’ve succeeded where doctors and psychiatrists have failed, working on the theory that only a drunk know [sic] hohw [sic] to talk to a drunk.

January 13 in A.A. History

In 1941, just three months after the founding of A.A. in Toledo, Ohio, the nine original members who had gone to Akron to “learn” A.A. (and become what were then called “Trainers”), rented space on the 3rd floor of the J. George Kapp Building at 413 Summit St., and decided on a name: The Downtown Group. There were thirteen members at the time.
    A few months later, Jack Alexander’s article about A.A. appeared in The Saturday Evening Post. Soon, membership and recognition of A.A. increased substantially throughout the country, including Toledo. In just over a year, the Downtown Group grew to over 100 members. Weekly meetings averaged more than 40 attendees. It soon became apparent that the group had outgrown its meeting space, and it was decided to break up into smaller groups. Thus, A.A. in Toledo was born and began to grow.

In 1943, the first A.A. meeting in Toronto, Ontario was held without fanfare at the Little Denmark Restaurant at 720 Bay St. between Gerrard and College Streets. The non-alcoholic Revs. George Little and Percy Price met with six alcoholics. There was enough interest that a second meeting was scheduled for a week later. This was the birth of Alcoholics Anonymous in Ontario. Harry Emerson Fosdick's very positive review of the newly published Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, in January 1940…

    … stirred an interest in Dr. George A. Little, D.D., then a fifty-six year old Minister of the United Church of Toronto. Dr. Little had been a caring man who had unsuccessfully attempted to help alcoholics gain sobriety. Fosdick's review led him first to make copies of the book, then to order a personal copy of the Big Book for himself. Having read the book, he began in earnest mimeographing portions of it which he distributed to anyone he felt could further the cause or more importantly, to those he felt might be helped themselves. With his good intentions and tireless effort, people started to want more, and as a result, he ordered five copies of the Big Book in June, 1941. As an enthusiastic supporter of A.A., Dr. Little continued to be the alcoholics’ friend—so much so that he enrolled at the Yale University School of Alcoholic Studies from which he graduated in 1941.

In 1988, Dr. John L. “Jack” Norris, 85, died of complications from pneumonia at New London Hospital in New London, New Hampshire.
    Dr. Jack was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and graduated from Dartmouth College and McGill University Medical School. From 1943 to 1969, he was medical director of the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, N.Y. During this time, he developed expertise in the treatment of alcoholism, which he considered one of the nation’s most pressing medical problems. After retiring from Eastman Kodak in 1969, he founded Lake Sunapee Home Health Care Inc. of New London, a visiting nurse service, and the Hospice of the Kearsarge Valley, for terminally ill patients. He was chairman of Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller's Advisory Council on Alcoholism from 1961 to 1971, a Class A (non-alcoholic) Trustee of the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous from 1951 to 1961, its chairman from 1961 to 1978, and a Trustee Emeritus until his death.

Dr. Earle M.

In 2003, Dr. Earle M. [left], 91, died in Walnut Creek, California. He sobered up on 15 June 1953; Bill W. was his sponsor and close friend. Earle’s story, “Physician Heal Thyself,” appeared in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. He was buried at sea.

January 12 in A.A. History

Bill's 3rd pledge
written in the family Bible

In 1929, Bill W. wrote a third pledge [right] in the family Bible: “To tell you once more that I am finished with it. I love you.”

In 1966, Horace C., 75, died in Readington, New Jersey. He joined A.A. (#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., who were homeless from April 1939 to April 1941, lived in his bungalow in Green Pond, New Jersey, in the spring of 1939.
    In 1940, Horace and Bert T. found the site and guaranteed the rent for the first A.A. clubhouse on 24th Street in Manhattan.
    That same year he became a Class B (alcoholic) Trustee of the Alcoholic Foundation. He was Vice-President of Works Publishing, Inc. when its financial report was published in June 1940.
    His picture appeared 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 suggested that they print it on wallet cards and then paid for the printing.       In the early 1940s, the Alcoholic Foundation sent him to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. to sound out groups and gain support for the Alcoholic Foundation’s headquarters in New York City.

January 11 in A.A. History

In 2008, a memorial service honoring Robert “Bob” P. was held in Sun Valley, Idaho following his death on January 1. Bob made significant contributions to Alcoholics Anonymous, serving on the General Service Board from 1968 to 1974 and as General Service Office (G.S.O.) General Manager from 1974 to 1984. His personal story, “A.A. Taught Him to Handle Sobriety,” is in the 3rd and 4th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous [see January 1 for more about Bob P.].

 

January 10 in A.A. History

In 1944, a letter, presumably sent to the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City, announced the first meeting of a group in Burlington, Iowa, with five members and a contingent from Des Moines, Iowa, to start them off. Also present was a Catholic priest, Father T. J. Lew, who was so taken with what he saw that he preached his Sunday sermon on A.A. By the end of the month, Des Moines membership would be up to 50, and a group would have started in Marshalltown, Iowa.

January 9 in A.A. History

In 1925, in Manchester Center, Vermont, an intoxicated Edwin “Ebby” T., driving home, drove his “straight eight” Packard across a large lot, onto the porch, through the door, and into the kitchen of Mrs. Kate Gilmore and her daughter Elizabeth, striking a stove in the middle of the room, moving it about a foot, and scattering soot. A water pipe was also broken, requiring an immediate call for a plumber to shut off the water. The only damage to the car was a broken fender.
    Neither Ebby, his two passengers, nor the Gilmores were injured. One passenger, realizing they were in a kitchen, “demanded a cup of hot coffee.” Ebby backed the car onto the highway, went to Justice of the Peace Frank Regan in Manchester, and reported the accident. He hadn’t gotten his new driver’s license yet, and the car had a 1924 New York license plate. The next day, Saturday, he was fined $50 [~$901 in 2025] + costs [left: page one article in The Bennington Herald, 12 Jan 1925].

In 1952, the first “Family Groups” office, called the “Clearing-house Committee” began operating out of the 24th Street Clubhouse in New York City. 

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.