February 7 in A.A. History

In 1920, F. T. Bedford incorporated Penick & Ford, Ltd., which had previously been a partnership.
    The partnership had been formed by William Snydor Penick and his brother-in-law, James Polk Ford, in Shreveport, Louisiana, to sell barrel syrups and canned molasses. The monopolistic Corn Products Refining Company bought a 25 percent stake, but was forced to sell it after a Supreme Court ruling resulting from President Theodore Roosevelt's trust-busting campaign.
    Meanwhile, F. T. Bedford (son of E. T. Bedford, who ran Corn Products Refining) had purchased a Douglas Starch Works facility in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which had “massively” exploded in May 1919, destroying the entire plant and killing 48 people. What remained had been sold by one of the founding Douglas brothers to Penick & Ford in December 1919. The plant would be rebuilt to produce corn syrup. By 1922, the company would have fully recovered, and by 1923, Penick & Ford would begin paying preferred dividends to shareholders.
    

Bill W. outside Penick & Ford's
Cedar Rapids facility (c. 1926)

Over the next two decades, the company would thrive by producing numerous private label brands—Brer Rabbit Molasses, Brer Rabbit Syrup, Penick Syrup, Penick Salad Oil, Douglas Starch, Penford Corn Syrup, Penford Corn Sugar, and Douglas Feed. Under Bedford’s direction, the company would further diversify by acquiring other food lines, such as Vermont Maid Syrup in 1928 and My-T-Fine Desserts in 1934.
    How does this relate to A.A.? On p. 4 of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill W. “was staring at an inch of the [ticker] tape which bore the inscription XYZ-32 It had been 52 that morning.” In the May-June 1938 version of his story, “XYZ” had been “PFK,” the stock symbol for Penick & Ford, a company he was known to have researched while he and Lois were on their 1925–27 stock analysis^* tour of companies [left: Bill W. outside the Cedar Rapids facility, c. 1926]—having switched from a Harley to a used de Soto or Dodge—and in which he presumably held a substantial stake at the time of the Great Wall Street Crash of October 1929.

---

^* The term “stock analysis” was apparently not in use at the time; in fact, Bill has been credited with being an early contributor to the concept. Indexes to Moody’s Investment Survey of the late 1920s contained many examples of entries like “Penick & Ford Stock, Analysis,” which is the earliest I could definitively locate anything like the term “stock analysis”.

In 1945, the Alcoholics Anonymous District Office opened in Cleveland, Ohio. It was located in the Williamson Building on the southeast corner of Public Square. Its first secretary was [non-alcoholic] Laverne Hawkins. The telephone number was Cherry 1-7387. The purpose of the office—more commonly called an Intergroup or Central Office in other locales—was to provide services to individual and prospective members, to serve as a source of information, and to distribute literature to groups and individuals. In its first month, the office received 31 calls; some were requests for help and others were inquiries about meeting locations.

February 6 in A.A. History

In 1887, James “Jim” S. [left] was born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. His family soon moved to Scotland and in 1907 Jim came to the U.S. He worked for newspapers in cities like Pittsburgh and Akron. His alcoholism caused significant problems in both his professional and personal life, leading him to travel the U.S. from job to job for much of the ’20s and ’30s.
    He returned to Akron—where he had previously been a reporter/editor for Goodyear Tire's Wingfoot Clan—and in July 1937 became the first Australian to get sober in A.A. Fellow members remembered him as “tall and skinny, and a real lone wolf.” In 1939, at Dr. Bob’s request, he became solicitor, editor, and often writer of the Akron stories in the 1st edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. Jim's 1st edition story is “Traveler, Editor, Scholar,” retitled “The News Hawk” in the 2nd and 3rd editions. In the early ’40s he managed the Middlebury Book Shop in Akron and served on the Summit County War Finance Committee during World War II. Jim was head librarian of the Akron Beacon Journal from 1947 until his death in 1950.

In 1939, Janet Blair of Peeksill, New York, one of the two non-alcoholic editors, wrote to Hank P. about the enclosed changes she had made to the first two chapters of the Big Book manuscript [right]:

    … may I say a word about the continuity? It bothers me a little. Chapter 1, is Bill’s story. Right? Bill’s story includes a description of the terrible dilemma in which he was when his friend came to him; it includes what the doctors thought; it includes a brief account of the fellowship. It tells of the solution.
    When I started Chapter 2, I thought from the first line I was beginning the story of another man, as the first page is just that. On page 2, you leave him, and go on to tell of the fellowship and alcoholics in general. On page 8, you return to the man, and for about a page tell us more about him; the rest of the chapter is general. In Chapter 2, you never mention Bill or his friend, although the ‘solution,’ as you call Chapter 2, is given in Chapter 1.
    I’m not suggesting a change. Maybe I am the one who is befogged; but I am supposed to represent a reader, and I felt I should tell you this. At this moment, it seems to me it would have been smoother, to start Chapter 2 on page 2, “We, of Alcoholics Anonymous, know one hundred men who were once just as hopeless as Bill,” and so on.

Blair’s work earned her a letter of thanks from Bill Wilson himself, as well as a signed copy of a 1st edition, 1st printing of Alcoholics Anonymous from Hank P., which he inscribed on the front flyleaf. The inscription reads:

To Janet Blair / Whose work / and editing on this / book was so / eminently helpful [sic] / Henry G. P[—–]

In 1954, R. Brinkley S. sobered up for good at Towns Hospital after his 50th detox [reportedly].

In 1961, Bill W. wrote to Harold E. about the book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions:

    As time passes, our book literature has a tendency to get more and more frozen—a tendency for conversion into something like dogma. This is a trait of human nature which I’m afraid we can do little about. We may as well face the fact that A.A. will always have its fundamentalists, its absolutists, and its relativists.

February 5 in A.A. History

In 2015, the Des Moines (Iowa) Register published an opinion piece titled “AA won’t list nonreligious group meetings” by Rekha Basu [right]. It said in part:

    [C]onspicuously absent from the Saturday meeting list posted by the AA central office in Des Moines is a group called The Broad Highway. That’s for alcoholics who want to find sobriety without necessarily having religion be part of it. The AA organization won’t list its meetings.
    No board member responded to my request for an interview. But a man answering the phone at the Des Moines central office (in accordance with AA policy, he asked that his name not be used) said it’s the position of the general service organization not to list meetings as AA meetings if they don’t take things directly out of the Big Book.…
    But as members of The Broad Highway point out, other passages from founder [Bill] W[——] say any two people can make up an AA group, with no requirement to embrace religion. The book's preamble says the only requirement is a desire to stop drinking. And a passage from W[——] published in a 1946 issue of the AA’s [sic] Grapevine says, “So long as there is the slightest interest in sobriety, the most unmoral, the most anti-social, the most critical alcoholic may gather about him a few kindred spirits and announce to us that a new Alcoholics Anonymous Group has been formed. Anti-God, anti-medicine, anti-our Recovery Program, even anti-each other — these rampant individuals are still an A.A. Group if they think so!”
    Despite the obvious intent to be inclusive, Dave W[–—] of Des Moines, a 28-year AA member, says most AA meetings emphasize not just dependence on a personal God but “a heavy emphasis on Christianity.” Many meetings open and close with the Lord’s Prayer and include Christian readings, he said. W[–—] and several other members of the chapter considers it a form of religious discrimination that drives away prospective members.

February 3 in A.A. History

In 1942, Jimmy D., Class B [alcoholic] Regional Trustee and new Interim Chair of the General Service Board, announced in a letter that

… during its quarterly board weekend [27–30 January 2023]… at the board’s request, Linda Chezem has resigned as a Class A Trustee and Chair of the Board.… As First Vice Chair of the General Service Board (per the slate of officers elected at the 2022 General Service Conference), and with the approval of the Board in a special session held last Monday, I have now assumed the role of Interim Chairperson until the close of the GSC in April 2023. My service as Southwest Regional Trustee will also end at that time.

February 2 in A.A. History

In 1942, Bill W. paid tribute to Ruth Hock, A.A.’s first paid secretary and first National Secretary. Ruth, a non-alcoholic, had submitted her resignation the day before. Since 1939, when A.A. had begun to receive wide publicity, she had written some 15,000 responses to those who had contacted the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City for help.

In 1943, in Connecticut, Bill W. spoke at the first open, public meeting of the Hartford Group, celebrating its one-year anniversary [right: invitation].
    As group after group sprang up during this period, Bill traveled the country, often accompanied by Lois. His arrival in cities, towns, and villages was cause for great excitement as A.A. members flocked to hear him speak and to talk with him one-on-one. This anniversary meeting in Hartford was the first stop on a three-day trip, with stops in Springfield and Boston, both in Massachusetts, to follow. 

In 1954, Bill W. declined an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Yale University. In a letter to Yale’s secretary, Reuben A. Holden, Bill wrote [ellipses added]:

    It is only after most careful consultation with friends, and with my conscience, that I now feel obligated to decline such a mark of distinction. Were I to accept, the near term benefit to Alcoholics Anonymous and to legions who still suffer our malady would, no doubt, be worldwide and considerable.… None but the most compelling of reasons could prompt my decision to deny Alcoholics Anonymous an opportunity of this dimension.…
    The Tradition of Alcoholics Anonymous—our only means of self-government—entreats each member to avoid all that particular kind of personal publicity or distinction which might link his name with our Society in the general public mind.… Because we have already had much practical experience with this vital principle, it is today the view of every thoughtful AA member that if, over the years ahead, we practice this anonymity absolutely, it will guarantee our effectiveness and unity by heavily restraining those to whom public honrs and distinctions are but the natural stepping-stones to dominance and personal power. The Tradition of personal anonymity and no honors at the public level is our protective shield. We dare not meet the power temptation naked.

February 1 in A.A. History

In 1918, this was the original date for the wedding of Bill W. and Lois Burnham. It had been moved up to January 24 because of the war (WWI), more specifically, there were rumors that Bill’s unit would be shipped out before February 1.

In 1942, Ruth Hock, A.A.’s first paid secretary (from 1936) and first National Secretary (from 1940), resigned her position, effective February 28th, in order to get married.

Marty M. giving a public address

In 1947, Marty M., presumably representing the National Committee for Education on Alcoholism (NCEA), of which she had been a founder, addressed the Economic Club of Detroit (and a radio audience) on the topic of “Alcoholics Anonymous.” It was “a significant milestone in public understanding of alcoholism as a treatable disease.” Her powerful, eloquent talk challenged prevailing misconceptions about alcoholism and presented A.A. as a viable path to recovery. She emphasized alcoholism’s economic costs, aligning with the Economic Club’s interests, and highlighted the potential for rehabilitation and reintegration into society. The talk was widely reported, helping to spark national conversation on alcoholism and A.A.’s potential.

In 1974, Tom P. [right]—an early California A.A. member, sober since 1946, and Assistant Secretary of Defense and Special Assistant to President Eisenhower—wrote to President Richard M. Nixon advising him to use the 12 Steps, not for his drinking, but as a way to deal with the Watergate crisis. The following is a major excerpt from this letter:

    I suggest that you substitute the word, "Watergate" for "alcohol" in the first step (which would then read "admitted we were powerless over Watergate, and that our lives had become unmanageable"). Then you should conscientiously apply the rest of the 12 steps to your own situation. I am confident such a course of personal action rigorously followed, would ultimately resolve this difficult dilemma for you and the country.
    My prime suggestion: In whatever way you can, after carefully studying Steps 4, 5, 6, and 7, put Step 10 into action: -- "when we were wrong, promptly admitted it".
    I know it's late, and there are many complexities legal and otherwise, but if you could somehow publicly admit more fully the mismanagement of Watergate, I am confident that you personally and the country will experience relief, surcease, and new hope beyond your fondest expectations.
    (See the attached Harris Poll clip from today's Los Angeles Times on Public Compassion.)
    And why? Simply because the country's President and its citizens are both human and divine and have always behaved and reacted like the creatures of God which indeed they are. I believe most people know almost instinctively that to be forgiven, they must forgive, and who among us has not erred -- does not need forgiveness?
    By using these principles, Len F▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ and Jonathan W▒▒▒▒▒▒, Jim K▒▒▒▒▒, and I have discovered the way out of the baffling personal dilemma which nearly destroyed us.
    You can too, Mr. President! If you would like to explore this personally and in greater depth, please call on me. Nothing would please me more.

    Tom had helped arrange for presentation of the 1,000,000th copy of our Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, to Nixon by Dr. Jack Norris, Chairman of the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous in June 1973. 

January 31 in A.A. History

In 1940, Frederic J. Haskins, in his column “Haskin’s Answers to Readers’ Questions,” in Washington, DC’s The Evening Star, answered a reader’s question about A.A.:

    Q. Please give some information about an organization called Alcoholics Anonymous.—H. T. S.
    A. This is a group of former alcoholics who meet in Steinway Hall, New York City, to strengthen one another’s resolutions and help other alcoholics to reform. They have recently published a book entitled “Alcoholics Anonymous.”

In 1946, Charles Fletcher Welch—a nonalcoholic and Honorary Lifetime Vice President of the first A.A. group in Vancouver, British Columbia [right: first meeting place, Welch's home]—signed a certificate of “tribute” to Charles B., the group's first alcoholic member.

In 2003, the second meeting of the month-long Online Service Conference (OSC) concluded. From a history of the OSC:

    New committees were organized, including one to search for more online A.A. groups who might be invited to OSC, a Literature Committee, a Translation Committee and a Web Committee. Nominations were taken for candidates for the Steering Committee, to be voted on at the third OSC in July 2003. No Online Advisory Actions were voted during the second conference. 

 In 2004, the fourth meeting of the month-long Online Service Conference (OSC) concluded. From a history of the OSC:

    The most significant action at the assembly was introduction of a proposed Charter for OSC presented by James C. from the UK, as chairman of the Voting Methods Committee. The Web Committee also presented its work on the OSC website for comment by the assembly. No voting actions were offered with the agenda or acted upon during the conference assembly.

By the end of the year, the OSC website at aa-onlineserviceconference.org, would go dark.

January 30 in A.A. History

In 1945, Walter Winchell’s syndicated gossip column, “Coast-to-Coast” told of a visit by Carrie A. Nation to New York City that “accomplished no more than having a nude statue draped and sending a lot of barmen’s blood pressure up.” Alcoholics Anonymous was mentioned in passing:

“The Lost Weekend” caused a lot more pity than the real sight does; “Harvey” makes it a good deal funnier than it always it [sic]; Alcoholics Anonymous have been there before.

In 1961, Dr. Carl Jung [left], in Kusnact-Zurich, Switzerland, responded to Bill W.’s letter of January 23rd, acknowledging Jung’s unwitting contribution to A.A. through his work with Rowland Hazard in the 1930s. He said that Bill’s letter was “very welcome indeed.” He had never heard from Rowland and “often wondered what has been his fate.” He noted that Rowland had “adequately reported” their conversations, although he couldn’t tell Rowland “everything,” having learned that he himself had been misunderstood “in every possible way.”
    What he really thought…

… was the result of many experiences with men of his kind. His craving for alcohol was the equivalent on a low level of the spiritual thirst of our being for wholeness, expressed in medieval language: the union with God^*. How could one formulate such an insight in a language that is not misunderstood in our days

---

^* “As the heart panteth after the water brook, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.” Psalm 42, 1

    Jung said that such a person must “walk on a path which leads [one] to higher understanding.” This can be done “by an act of grace,” “through a personal and honest contact with friends,” or “through a higher education of the mind beyond the confines of mere rationalism.” He noted that Rowland had clearly chosen the second way.

    I am strongly convinced that the evil principle prevailing in this world leads the unrecognized spiritual need into perdition, if it is not counteracted either by a real religious insight or by the protective wall of human community. An ordinary man, not protected by an action from above and isolated in society, cannot resist the power of evil, which is called very aptly the Devil. But the use of such words arouse[s] so many mistakes that one can only keep aloof from them as much as possible.…
    Alcohol in Latin is spiritus, and you use the same word for the highest religious experience as well as for the most depraving poison. The helpful formula therefore is: spiritus contra spiritum.

In 1969, The Post of Big Stone Gap, Virginia published “Invitational Meet For AA Is Set” [right], which stated:

    An invitational meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous will be held on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 9 at 2:30 at the Old Dominion Power Co. Building in Norton.
    Any person interested in learning something about this world-wide organization and its approach to the growing problem of alcoholism is welcome.
    The meeting will be conducted by out-of-state members of AA and will last exactly one hour per organizational policy. These visiting members will
be available after the meeting to answer individual questions.

In 1971, The Evening Star of Washington, DC, published “Bill W.”, an editorial, 6 days after Bill’s death, which stated in part,

    Alcoholics Anonymous is by far the most effective organization dealing with one of man’s oldest medical and social problems.… AA is an organization in which people give much of themselves to assist other sufferers. Many are in Mr. W[—–]’s debt for his showing how it could be done.

January 29 in A.A. History

In 1947, at the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City, a transatlantic operator put through a call from Nordholz, Germany, just before 3 o’clock in the afternoon, after arranging the call the day before.  The call came from the base surgeon at a  U.S. Army hospital in Germany. He was concerned about his friend and patient, Captain B., who was also an A.A. member. The captain, it turned out, was in serious trouble. In fact, he had been tried by a military court in Germany and sentenced to be discharged for drunkenness on duty. Would A.A. help?
    The surgeon gave a brief history of his patient. Then he revealed that Captain B. was aboard an Army transport ship scheduled to arrive in New York City at 8:30 a.m. in three days, on February 1. The A.A. staff sprang into action.
    They found an ex-Army officer who agreed to drop everything to help. This found a Catholic bishop, a friend of A.A., who contacted the port of embarkation and found out that the priest there had been chaplain on the same ship, which would allow him to board the ship as soon as it docked. He also found a lawyer who was friendly to A.A. and willing to try to help the captain.
    The A.A. Grapevine reported this story in its March 1947 issue. Captain B. had arrived, the priest had reported that his interview with Captain B. had gone well and he felt that the man was indeed worth helping. Captain B. was awaiting disposition of his case at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. He was under arrest, but the A.A. secretaries had arranged for visitors to see him. The attorney was waiting for Washington, DC to accept or deny the request. The priest at the port had been in contact with his colleagues at Camp Kilmer. They, too, promised to do what they could for the captain.
    This call from Germany was the first transatlantic call ever received by The Alcoholic Foundation.

 In 2023, in an unprecedented incident, two trustees of the General Service Board (GSB) of Alcoholics Anonymous arrived at a meeting with unsigned letters of resignation. The meeting was a scheduled GSB “planning” meeting with non-board members, and they were not in executive session. The two surprised the non-alcoholic GSB chair, Judge Linda Chezem—as well as a number of other trustees—by asking her to resign; if she refused, they said they would sign and submit their own resignations. After saying that she would resign if the GSB wanted her to, she was asked to leave the room. The GSB—presumably after thorough and fully informed discussion—voted unanimously to accept her verbal offer to resign. They then drafted a letter of resignation for her to sign. When she was called back into the room and asked to sign this letter, she handwrote the phrase “As requested by the board” before signing the letter and leaving.

January 28 in A.A. History

In 1947, at 10 o’clock in the morning, the switchboard operator at the Alcoholic Foundation office in New York City received a signal from the local transatlantic telephone operator.
    “Will someone there be available for a call from Nordholz, Germany, at 2:30 p. m. tomorrow?” she asked.
    “Yes, of course. Can you tell us the nature of the call?”
    “No, but I can say that the call is urgent,” the operator replied.
    [Stay tuned.…]

January 27 in A.A. History

In 1952, about 200 people attended the 2nd anniversary meeting of the Alco Anon club in the Knights of Columbus clubrooms at 152 Lincoln Way W., Massillon, Ohio. Many members of the clergy, medical professionals, civic leaders, and industry representatives were in attendance. Out-of-town visitors came from Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Minerva, North Canton (all in Ohio), and Florida, as well as many others from nearby areas.
    Warren C. from the Cleveland Group of Alcoholics Anonymous was the main speaker. He spoke about the A.A. program and how it works, pointing out that one must be sincere in one’s desire to quit drinking and admit that life is unmanageable when one joins A.A., saying,

    Belief in a Power greater than ourselves is one of the basic principles of the A.A. program.… The help we receive is contingent on the help we are willing to give others. In order to keep our sobriety we must work the A.A. principles in all our affairs.

In 1971, The Washington (DC) Post published an obituary for Bill W. written by the owner’s son, Donald E. Gra­ham.

January 26 in A.A. History

In 1941, The Detroit (MI) Evening Times published a syndicated column [right] by Walter Winchell^* that included a strange mix of truth and misinformation about A.A. [ellipses in original]: 

THERE IS A GROUP called “Alcoholics Anonymous” in New York, the moving spirit being a well-known transatlantic flier… The group’s aim is to “straighten out any fellow who will even admit he drinks too much”… They meet at an illustrators 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 knows how to talk to a drunk.

---

^* Winchell (born Winchel, 1897–1972) was a U.S. “journalist” [gossip columnist] and broadcaster whose newspaper columns and radio broadcasts containing news and gossip gave him a massive audience and much influence in the United States in the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s. His reports, always very opinionated, brought him both admirers and detractors.

In 1971, The New York Times—on page 1—and The Evening Star (Washington, DC) both carried obituaries for Bill W., who had died two days earlier.

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 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. 

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.)

Supporting A.A. in Ukraine

[Note that this post was written in March 2022, shortly after the full-scale invasion of the Ukraine by the Russian Federation.]

An A.A. friend sent me a very well-done flyer for an online A.A. meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine. It's shown to the left, but I've removed the Meeting ID and Passcode; I don't want to make it that  easy to attend. When I first saw it, I thought, "I only wish that we could do something similar for all the Russian alcoholics, who must also be terribly distressed at this time" (especially those in the Russian military).

This flyer was immediately followed by a less well-done message, shown below, purporting to be from "Ukrainian AA Service Center and the Ukrainian AA Service Board" to "the AA World Community." I was skeptical. This looked so much like a myth that I expected to find it debunked at Snopes ("the internet’s definitive fact-checking resource"). I did not. But I did find an article titled, "UKRAINE: New Crisis, Grimly Familiar Disinformation Trends", which said, in part, 

It is a grim measure of the frequency of crisis events in recent years, and the ubiquity of online disinformation, that when a major story breaks — a terrorist attack, a mass shooting, or an act of war — the writers and editors at Snopes can typically predict what comes next. Recycled videos and photographs, stripped from their proper context, and the same old tropes, all designed to inflame or confuse, or even amuse, the reader.

This is followed by a "grim overview of the familiar disinformation trends and recurring memes… in the opening days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine."

But, as I said, I only later looked on Snopes. First I searched the Internet. To my surprise, I immediately got a hit that looked very promising. It was on the aa.lviv.ua website and looked like this:

Since I don't know what I presumed was Ukrainian, and not having much patience, I immediately had the page automatically translated into English. It is indeed Ukrainian, and here's the English translation I got:

It was only later that I noticed that an English translation of the message follows the Ukrainian on the original, one click further down. I felt stupid and impatient for not looking.

Ultimately, I decided I'd check into the Kyiv online meeting and see if there was some way I could be helpful. I tried to log in a few minutes before it was to start. Due to the meeting having reached capacity, it was impossible to get in. It then occurred to me, If I'm having this much trouble getting in, there are probably Ukrainians who are also unable to get in. It horrified me to think that I could have had a part in disrupting their meeting. If, by some miracle, I had been able to get in, I sure hope I would have realized that the meeting was at capacity and left. But even if I had, my spot would have been filled by a non-Ukrainian.

I tried joining after the meeting was over. It was bedlam. It appeared that most people were unmuted and there were multiple conversations going on at the same time. I saw one man, who appeared to be that single Ukrainian member. He appeared to be quite stressed out. I also saw some A.A.friends of mine, which was disappointing. I only stayed a minute. The last thing they needed at that point was yet one more non-Ukrainian A.A. to join the fray.

Tonight, I learned from a reliable source that only one of the seven or eight regular Ukrainian group members was able to get into the meeting (presumably, the Zoom host). No doubt, many of the attendees had good intentions, although I'm also pretty sure some did not. Clearly, many also didn't think through the consequences of their actions.

And then, very late last night, My friend said that another friend of hers had found a Facebook post about the A.A. meeting in Kyiv earlier, shown at the left. It was so disheartening to read. Yes, many non-Ukrainians—maybe hundreds of them—got to feel good for a minute. Meanwhile, seven or eight locals never got to their meeting.

God As We Understand Him?

 I recently read Bill W.'s essay, “God As We Understand Him: The Dilemma of No Faith”, in The Language of the Heart (originally published as “The Dilemma of No Faith” in the April 1961 issue of the A.A. Grapevine). He begins this essay by saying, “The phrase ‛God As We Understand Him’ is perhaps the most important expression to be found in our whole AA vocabulary.”

For a long time, I've been vaguely uncomfortable with this wording, even though I knew what it meant the first time I heard it. In the last few years, but not in my early sobriety, I've sometimes heard newcomers asking about this expression, “How can anyone understand God?”  in a way that led me to think that perhaps this was an impediment for them. I realized my discomfort is just that. Perhaps understanding is not the best word. I think “God As We Conceive of God” is closer to the intended meaning. It will be interesting to see how the proposed plain language Big Book^* (i.e., Alcoholics Anonymous) will deal with this phrase. If at all.

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^* If you don't know what this is or what it means, check out Advisory Action #28 (on p 7) in this document: Conference Advisory Actions of the 71st General Service Conference, a list of all such actions adopted at the 71st General Service Conference last April.

19,560 days

Yes, I am still sober, still above ground. My posts slowed down drastically and then stopped altogether because I feared it would become too easy to identify who I was from my posts, due to circumstances of my life. Already, my brother had figured out this was me. For those who don't realize it, I was doing my best to respect Tradition 12. My brother already knew I was a deeply involved member of A.A.

Future posts will probably be less personal, on the whole. I hope this is, at least in part, because I have less interest in myself and more interest in others [v. Alcoholics Anonymous, p 84].

A.A. in these times of pandemic has been a great experience for me personally. Since mid-March 2020, I've attended online meetings on every continent that has them (Antarctica does not, due to insufficient bandwidth). I've been regularly attending meetings all over the US and Canada, as well as in Australia and South Africa. It has also become much easier to find workshops, conventions, conferences, and meetings that focus on topics like Traditions, Concepts, The A.A. Service Manual, and A.A. history. These are topics that I love learning about. I've been sober almost 29 years, been involved in General Service for 25½ of those years, but I sometimes think I've learned more about General Service in the last 16 months than in all the time before. Maybe not. Maybe it just feels that way.

Eighteen years

Still here, still sober, even if I'm not posting. Yesterday I celebrated 18 years of continuous sobriety.

Seventeen years

Yesterday was the 17th anniversary of my first A.A. meeting, which marked the beginning of my current spell of continuous sobriety. I can't say I celebrated, because I was too busy doing things that are little more than the blessings of a sober life:

• Took my car in to have the oil changed and the engine light checked—I not only have a driver's license, I also have a car
• Worked—I am employable today
• Chaired a meeting of the local chapter of a professional organization—not only employed, but on the Board of Directors and also Program Chair
• Attended a funeral

The funeral, ironically enough, was for Bumblebee, someone I sponsored for a while. I suspect I was his last sponsor. I hadn't seem him in at least a year, and sometimes wondered if he named me when asked if he had a sponsor. Then I would wonder if he was even making meetings.

Apparently not. He was definitely out there. He committed suicide by stabbing himself to death in the parking lot of the apartment complex where he lived. In the femoral artery. Thank you, Bumblebee, for keeping it green for me on my anniversary.

Tonight I will celebrate with dinner and a meeting! Praise HP, from whom all blessings flow!