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.

November 29 in A.A. History

In 1945, Universal Pictures released The Lost Weekend. Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett had adapted Charles R. Jackson’s novel of the same name into a hard-hitting film about alcoholism.
    Wilder was drawn to the material after working on an earlier film with a recovering alcoholic who relapsed during their collaboration. The Lost Weekend starred Ray Milland and Jane Wyman, and became a sensation, winning four Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor). It was the first film to win both the Academy Award for Best Picture and the Palme d’Or [French for “Golden Palm”], the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.^* Its realistic portrayal of alcoholism generated favorable publicity for Alcoholics Anonymous, leading three Hollywood studios to offer A.A. as much as $100,000 [~$1.75 million in 2024] for the rights to its own story. The Alcoholic Foundation declined to sell those rights.
^*Only two others have done so since: Marty (1955) and Parasite (2019).

November 28 in A.A. History

In 1934—sometime around this date, which seems to be the most likely date—Ebby T. came to Bill & Lois W.’s home at 182 Clinton St. in Brooklyn and carried his Oxford Group message to a drunk Bill. Their accounts of what happened were very different. The better known account—from “Bill’s Story” in the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous—had them at Bill’s kitchen table.
    Both accounts had Bill drinking while Ebby was sober. Bill wrote his account in mid-1938, 3½ years after the event. The following is an edited version of Ebby’s account, from a 1958 recording (24 years later):

    I called him up one night. I didn’t get Bill but I got Lois… and told her what had happened to me. Lois said, “Why don’t you come over to dinner some night?”… and she mentioned a date. I said, “Fine.”
    I went over about half past five… The only person home was an old colored man named [Elias] Green, who I’d known for years; he’s been with the family, Lois’s family that is.… And he said, “They’re both out, both Mrs. and Mr. Wilson are out, but come in.” Pretty soon Bill appeared. He’d been drinking, but he wasn’t too bad.… He made the excuse that he to go get some ice cream and something else for supper. Of course, I knew what he was going after… I’d done it a million times myself.
    Then Lois came in. There was another girl invited because she lived upstairs in an apartment. So we all sat down for dinner. We had dinner then we all moved upstairs (in those houses back there in the East most living rooms are on the 2nd floor).
    After a little hemming and hawing, Lois said, “Well, let’s hear about yourself.” So I started in. I guess they got me wound up and I guess I talked to pretty near one o’clock in the morning.
    And I remember Bill said, “I’ll walk to the subway with you.”… On the way over he put his arm around my shoulder, just before I went on the subway, and said, “I don’t know whacha got, kid, but you got something, and I wanna get it.”

In 1943, At the invitation of Warden Clinton T. Duffy, Bill W. was guest speaker at the A.A. meeting at San Quentin State Prison.In 1988, The first A.A. group in Mongolia, called “Бид” [“We”], opened its doors with the participation of Drs. O. Byambasuren and Z. Tuya of the Centre for Psychiatry and Narcology.

November 27 in A.A. History

In 1939, Cleveland, Ohio’s Plain Dealer published an unsigned article, “Watches Religion Save Alcoholics,” reporting on and quoting extensively from the sermon given the previous day by Rev. Dilworth Lupton at the First Unitarian Church. The sermon was based on Lupton’s experience with Clarence S., whom he referred to in the sermon as “Mr X”, and who had started the first A.A. group in Cleveland. Among many other details, it reported that “Lupton noted that there was room in A.A. for all creeds, through the concept of God as ‘a Power greater than ourselves.’ Such an attitude ‘displays nothing short of genius,’ he said.”
    While Clarence was still drinking, his wife Dorothy had often pleaded with Lupton to intervene and talk to Clarence. Lupton did so on several occasions. But Clarence was unable and unwilling to stop drinking. Finally, Lupton gave up and told Dorothy to turn her husband’s problem over to God. She told Lupton that was exactly what she had done when she had come to him for help. But Lupton explained that there was nothing more to be done and that all that was left was prayer. Lots of prayer.
    After Clarence sobered up in Akron, Ohio, Dorothy went back to Rev. Lupton again, but this time to interest him in coming to see the miraculous “new cure” in action. Lupton replied that as far as he was concerned, as long as this “cure” was associated with the Oxford Group, it didn’t stand a chance and he couldn’t be a part of it. “Nothing good could come out of the Oxford Group,” he said.
    After the Cleveland A.A. Group split from the Oxford Group, Dorothy approached Rev. Lupton yet again. This time she brought A.A.’s Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, and the names of some Roman Catholic members.  In 1954, Dorothy recalled that visit:

    I felt that now we had fallen away from Akron, now there was no Oxford Group, Dr. Lupton should be interested. So I went back to him and said we were no longer an Oxford Group, and asked him to please come to a meeting.
    He read it [the Big Book], and he said that he would definitely come to one of our meetings. He did, and he was so impressed that he said, “Dorothy, you go back to the Plain Dealer and you tell them that I’m going to preach on A.A.”
    That was for publicity. He was one of the really big Protestant ministers in Cleveland, and what he said was good copy.

    As a result of the Plain Dealer article, the Cleveland Group was inundated with calls and inquiries. In 1954, Dorothy recalled that “within… about two weeks, our meetings grew from about 15 to 100.” In 1940, Dorothy wrote to Ruth Hock and Hank P. about the aftermath:

A few sourpusses pinned Clarence to the cross in no uncertain fashion last night, exploiting “paid publicity, profit for the book, liar,” and whatnot. It hurt, I know, as they were all people he had helped. But how it is making him grow!

    Clarence himself said:

When the [Plain Dealer] article appeared, it stirred up a hornet’s nest It wasn’t great literature, but it had a tremendous effect. Someone said, This guy is a reporter. He’s gonna put our names in the paper!
“No” I said, “he's one of us—a rummy.”
“Yeah, he's a rummy all right, but he's a newspaperman.”
It didn't make any difference. They were against it.

In 1977, Warren C. recalled:

There was hell to pay when those stories broke. I mean, they really lacerated him [Clarence]. Of course, it was the greatest move that was ever made for A.A. [In Cleveland] A.A. started in a riot. It grows in riots, We got upset by the Plain Dealer business, We thought Clarence was going to ‘get money,’ and voted him out of the group. He took others with him and started another group.

 November 26 in A.A. History

In 1895, William G. “Bill” W. was born at 3 a.m. on a wintry day in East Dorset, Vermont, behind the bar of the W—– House, a village hotel run by his father’s mother, to Gilman B. and Emily G. W.
    The night before, Emily’s pain had driven her from the kitchen to the north parlor. She lay on a couch, trying to breathe, writhing as contrac-tions tore through her. In and out of conscious-ness, she screamed and cried out as midnight passed. The midwife and Emily's mother tried to comfort her.
    Outside, Mark Whalon, whom Bill would call his only close local friend, and a crowd of young neighborhood boys gathered on the porch to listen to Emily’s screams, evidence of the strangeness of the adult world. Later, Emily would say that Bill’s birth had nearly killed her.

In 1939, at the First Unitarian Church at Euclid Ave. and E. 82nd St., in Cleve-land, Ohio, Rev. Dilworth Lupton preached a sermon titled “Mr. X and Alcoholics Anonymous” about an alcoholic he had seen recover from alcoholism—Clarence S. The sermon would be reprinted in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and would become one of A.A.’s first pamphlets.

In 1942, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced that gasoline rationing would begin four days later, on December 1, to conserve rubber (not gasoline). This would significantly reduce the number of 12th Step calls A.A. members could make. The following day, a headline on page 1 of The New York Times would read 
        Full ‘Gas’ Rationing Dec. 1 Ordered by the President.
According to the article, dated November 26, 1942,

President Roosevelt served notice tonight that… the government… would begin the nation-wide rationing of gasoline to conserve rubber on Dec. 1, as scheduled

In 1965, Nancy M.-O., founder and original moderator of A.A. History Lovers on Yahoo Groups, got sober and joined A.A.

November 25 in A.A. History

In 1940, Dave W., who would become one of the founding members of A.A. in Seattle, Washington, learned that the national secretary at the Alcoholic Foundation with whom he had been corresponding—R. Hock—was a woman! He decided to conceal this information from other men with whom he was working.

In 1947, Mrs. Marty M. spoke to the Economic Club of Detroit—and a radio audience—about the National Committee for Education on Alcoholism (NCEA) and about Alcoholics Anonymous. She began,

    I stand before you here today on behalf of two groups. One group is made of free people, free because they have knowledge. The other group is made up of prisoners, prisoners of their condition, held prisoners by ignorance and fear.
    The first group is that whom I officially represent, the National Committee for Education on Alcoholism, made up of men and women of science and medicine of the clergy and of the arts, of business and of public life who are aware of the nature of this problem and who are determined to do something about it.
    They have done me the honor of appointing me Executive Director of that group and have made me the spokesman for their program.
    The other group has not appointed me. The other group is not organized. It frequently does not know there is a group.
    These prisoners that I spoke of are the alcoholics of America, three million strong.
    Many of them are unaware of their own condition; are unaware of its nature; and are unaware that there is anything whatsoever to do about it.
    They did not need to appoint men; I belong to that group. I myself shared their condition of being a prisoner until the truth made me free.

November 24 in A.A. History

In 1895, John Paul S., usually called Paul, was born to Emma Savercool and Charles S. in Pennsylvania, probably somewhere near Scranton, where he was christened on 29 December. He met Dr. Bob S. in January 1936 and sobered up on 2 July 1936. His story, “Truth Freed Me!” appeared in the first edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

In 1939, Mrs. J. J. Stewart, of Seattle, Washington, whose husband was an alcoholic, wrote to the Alcoholic Foundation, “[W]e have the book Alcoholics Anonymous and have read it,” then asked if there was any A.A. unit in Seattle. The return letter, almost three months later, would suggest she contact “the growing Fellowships in San Francisco and Los Angeles.” Mrs. Stewart’s letter was Seattle's first contact with A.A. She would eventually be involved in starting Seattle’s first A.A. group, although her role is uncertain.

In 1942, Rev. Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick was the speaker at the 8th anniversary dinner of the Manhattan A.A. group. In 1939, he had written the first favorable review of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, for Religious Digest.

In 1976, Elise Valentine Shaw, 85, died. She was Lois W.’s oldest and closest friend (since childhood); the widow of Bill W.’s Wall Street patron, Frank Shaw; and the matron of honor at Bill and Lois W.’s wedding.

November 23 in A.A. History

In 1939, Ray W., who had just held the first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting on the west coast of North America, wrote to Ruth Hock, National Secretary for the Alcoholic Foundation, about that meeting.

Dear Miss Hock -
   You probably think I am an awful piker for not having acknowledged your letters sooner.
   As a matter of fact I have seen quite a number of individuals whose names you sent — some of them several times. I won’t go into detail here except to say that I had three (3) of the best “bets” -— Ted C, Dave L, and Don B for several hours with the result that they are going to start a group here and start in by taking care of all the others who wrote you. Dave had his secretary make carbons of the lists you sent and I started them in by having them make some “dates” with some of our prospects over the phone from my room. I talked to them first then turned the phone over to the boys here. Things look better than I would have hoped for.
   You know, I had the misguided idea that I had been busy at other times in my life, but until I made this trip I didn’t know what it was to be busy. They have been “on my neck” day and night. You will hear from some of them and I will give you all the dope when I get back.
⋮ [Here Ray wrote two paragraphs on other matters]
   Will be back Tuesday and give you a ring.
Best regards to everyone, Ray W

    Gabriel Heatter had said that if just one person was helped by hearing Morgan Ryan's A.A. story, which had aired on Heatter’s “We the People” radio show in April, it would be a real service. Well, very many people were helped by that broadcast and what followed. Today, 85 years after that first meeting, there are over 600 A.A. groups in San Francisco alone, and many thousands more in California and other parts of the West.

In 1941, although there were earlier A.A. meetings, the Seattle Group became the first Alcoholics Anonymous group in Seattle, Washington. It had three members: Dale A. [right], Bob E., and Lindsay M. The group would struggle for most of the next year. Dale and Lindsay were the only regulars. In December, Lindsay would join the Merchant Marine, leaving Dale pretty much alone. He was determined to keep A.A. going in Seattle and he succeeded. As a result, he is considered by many to be the founding father of A.A. in Seattle and the state of Washington.

November 22 in A.A. History

In 1912, in Manchester, Vermont, the Rev. Sidney Warlow of Arlington, Vermont, assisted by the Revs. William F. Weeks, bishop-coadjutor of Shelburne, Vermont, and Philip Schuyler of Bennington, Vermont, conducted the funeral of 18-year-old Miss Bertha Bamford at Zion Episcopal Church, where her father was rector. Five days earlier, Miss Bamford had died of a hemorrhage following surgery to remove a tumor at Flower Hospital in New York City. Newspaper accounts noted the “profusion of beautiful flowers” and “the floral tributes.” The Manchester Village and Manchester Cenchester Center schools were closed so that teachers and students could participate.
   Miss Bamford was the classmate and first love of Bill W. Nearly all the students from Burr & Burton—about 70 altogether, including Bill—attended as a body and marched as such to the vault at Manchester Center in which Miss Bamford’s remains were temporarily placed. Prof. James Brooks, Prof. Walter Shaw, Bill W., Clifford Wilson, Roger Perkins and John Jackson were pallbearers. Miss Bamford’s remains would later be taken to Jeffersonville, Indiana, where they would be buried.

In 1928, Bill W. wrote a second pledge in the family Bible: “Thanksgiving Day 1928. My strength is renewed a thousandfold in my love for you.” There would be four such pledges before Bill stopped making them.

November 21 in A.A. History

In 1939, four men held the first A.A. meeting on the North American West Coast in Ray W.’s room at the Clift Hotel on Geary St. in San Francisco, California. Here’s how it came about.
    In April, Morgan R.—A.A. member, former ad man, asylum patient, and friend of the host—was a guest on Gabriel Heatter’s nationally broadcast radio show “We the People.” Morgan very briefly told his story, and closed by mentioning the newly pub
lished book, Alcoholics Anonymous. One non-alcoholic listener, Mrs. Gordon Oram, ran a boarding house at 51 Potomac St. in San Francisco. She liked one boarder, Ted C., but was concerned about his drinking, which had gotten him into multiple state hospitals and jails. He considered himself one of the “worst alcoholics” in the state. Mrs. Oram wrote to the Alcoholic Foundation office in New York City and obtained a copy of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, for Ted.
    Others in the Bay Area had also heard the program, or had read Morris Markey’s article, “Alcoholics and God,” in the Sep 30th issue of Liberty magazine; they too had contacted the Alcoholic Foundation office. So when New York A.A. member Ray W. came to San Francisco for sales training in November, he brought a list of all who had inquired. From his room in the Clift Hotel, Ray called each and arranged a meeting in his room.
   Besides Ray and Ted, Don B. and Dave L. also attended. The meeting lasted two hours. Ray gave his list of local contacts to the three men, and all four begin to contact them. They were from Berkeley, Oakland, and Alameda, as well as San Francisco. Unfortunately, Ted would be unable to stay sober.
   Bill W. vividly described the historic meeting and its immediate aftermath in Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age (p. 88).

Ray had been an atheist and he still stuck to it.... He said, “Now, boys, this A.A. is great stuff. It really saved my life. But there’s one feature of it I don't like. I mean this God business. So when you read this book [the Big Book], you can skip that part of it.” Ten days later, Ray was on his way back East, leaving a shivering and divided group in his wake.
   But they soon found… Dr. Percy Poliak, a psychiatrist who had been impressed with A.A. as he had seen it at work in Bellvue Hospital in New York. No at the San Francisco County Hospital, Dr. Poliak gave the group his full support.… Mrs. Oram… opened her flat for the first [sic] A.A. meeting late in 1939…

In 1942, the Lakewood Group (near Cleveland, Ohio) celebrated its 3rd anniversary at Townsend Hall in Lakewood. The Dec 1942 Central Bulletin reported, “A pot-luck supper was served and cards and games followed. A large crowd enjoyed the festivities.”

In 1952, Rev. Willard S. Richardson, 86, died. He was A.A.'s initial connection to the Rockefeller Foundation in October 1937. Affectionately known as “Uncle Dick,” he was the Alcoholic Foundation treasurer and later, the Chairman of the Board. 

 November 20 in A.A. History

In 1923, Bill W. left Brooklyn Law School for good. He was in the process of repeating a class he had failed earlier in the year, which prevented him from graduating as expected in June. Contrary to what his wife would later write in her memoir, Lois Remembers, he never completed the requirements for a law degree.

In 1939, in Cleveland, Ohio, the Orchard Group split from the newly formed Borton Group. They met at 15909 Detroit Ave, which today is an automobile sales lot. There were eleven original members, and its prime movers were William B., Warren C., William L., and Edward H. The group’s secretary was Elvira B., William B.’s wife. The group would later rename itself the Lakewood Group.

In 1941, The Fresno (California) Bee published a 3-page article titled “Alcoholics Plead for Aid in Correcting Drink Problems.” It reported on reader response to the formation of Fresno’s first A.A. group, which had been reported the previous week. The article noted

… a welcome response from twenty-eight persons seeking aid in solving their excessive drinking problems. Some of the messages were from wives and mothers asking for help for husbands and wives.… Membership in the local chapter has increased from three to fifteen and plans have been outlined for the first meeting.… The meetings will be conducted following rules established in other chapters. Each member takes his turn as chairman and conducts the meeting as he sees fit.… Alcoholics Anonymous is not a reform group. There is no religious affiliation and members are not concerned with prohibition.… One of the letters to the chapter requested women be included in the membership. This is being considered by the members and it is expected arrangements will be made for feminine affiliation in the near future. Plans will be made for dances and card parties.

November 19 in A.A. History

In 1840, the Washingtonians held their first public meeting. The movement would grow rapidly. Widespread and enthusiastic support came from thousands of existing temperance societies, as the Washingtonians would have great success in mobilizing public attention for temperance through their “experience sharing” of alcoholic debauchery followed by glorious accounts of personal reformation. One of the movement’s leaders remarked,

There is a prevalent impression, that none but reformed drunkards are admitted as members of the Washingtonian Society. This is a mistake. Any man may become a member by signing the pledge, and continue so by adhering to it.

In 1912, Bill W. hurried into chapel and took his seat with the other students. Nothing could have prepared him for what was to come. He later recalled,

The principal of the school came in and announced with a very grave face that Bertha, the minister’s daughter and my beloved, had died suddenly and unexpectedly the night before. It was simply a cataclysm of such anguish as I’ve since had but two or three times. It eventuated in what was called an old-fashioned nervous breakdown, which meant, I now realize, a tremendous depression.

In 1935, Ebby T. came to live with Bill and Lois W. at 182 Clinton St. in Brooklyn.

In 1939, Cleveland’s first Spanish-speaking meeting, Serenidad, is founded (three days after the Borton Group, the longest continually meeting group in Cleveland and the first group anywhere with no Oxford Group affiliation).

In 1941, The Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) published “New Way Out for Hopeless Drinkers” by Edith Johnson. It began,

Because they known just how it feels to be befogged and sick and thoroughly miserable through days or weeks or months of intoxication Alcoholics Anonymous are having success in helping others to discard the drink habit that is no less than startling.

November 18 in A.A. History

In 1912, Bill W.’s schoolmate and first love, Bertha Bamford, 18, daughter of Julia Howard Read and Rev. Walter H. Bamford, the rector of Zion Episcopal Church in Manchester, Vermont, died of a hemorrhage following surgery to remove a tumor at Flower Hospital in New York City.

In 1946, the first ever meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous in Ireland, and indeed in Europe, was held in the home of one of the S. brothers in Rathmines, a suburb of Dublin. Seven members likely attended this meeting: Conor F., Richard P., Jimmy R., Jimmy the Teacher, brothers Matt S. and Leo S., and another man.
    Conor F. had immigrated to the U.S. from County Roscommon, Ireland, and had gotten sober in 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He and his wife were on vacation in Ireland. She read an Evening Mail interview with Father Tom Dunlea also vacationing, from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. In addition to reporting on his “Boys Town Home” project, he spoke at length about about the success of the Sydney A.A. group with which he was involved. This interview introduced A.A. to the general public in Ireland. Conor’s wife suggested that he try to get A.A. started in Ireland.
    While they were in Derry, he tried to get people interested, but was told that there were no alcoholics in the north and that he should try the south. In the south he was told that problem drinkers there should join the Pioneers (Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart, an international association of Catholic teetotalers). He also gave an interview to the Evening Mail, along with a box number for the paper to give to anyone interested in contacting him. He received a letter from a man asking that his brother be contacted. The brother was contacted but said “He’s the one you should talk to.”
    Conor was about to accept defeat when he met Eva Jennings, who was staying at his hotel, the Abbotsford Hotel on Harcourt Street in Dublin. They met for breakfast and he confided in her the difficulties he was having in getting A.A. started in Dublin. She was sympathetic and advised him to meet with Dr. Norman Moore, head of St. Patrick’s [psychiatric] Hospital, where a close relative of hers was under his care. Conor met with Dr. Moore, 0who had read about A.A. in Readers Digest, and gave him a copy of Alcoholics Anonymous (the Big Book). Dr. Moore said of one of his 0patients, Richard P., “whom he feared he might be saddled with for life,” that “if you [Conor] can help this man, I’ll believe in A.A. 100 0percent!” 0Dr. Moore introduced Conor to Richard, who showed interest and was then escorted to Conor’s hotel. The two men ‘clicked’, and Richard was discharged from the hospital.
    Together the two men arranged the first closed meeting in Dublin. Brothers Matt and Leo S., who had considered each other alcoholics but not themselves, both joined, and ironically, the first public meeting of A.A. was held in one of their homes.