October 14 in A.A. History

In 1939, The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a brief and unfavorable review [right] of the book Alcoholics Anonymous, which concluded with:

    The book under review is a curious combination of organizing propaganda and religious exhortation. It is in no sense a scientific book, although it is introduced by a letter from a physician who claims to know some of the anonymous contributors who have been “cured” of addiction to alcohol and have joined together in an organization which would save other addicts by a kind of religious conversion. The book contains instructions as to how to intrigue the alcoholic addict into the acceptance of divine guidance in place of alcohol in terms strongly reminiscent of Dale Carnegie and the adherents of the Buchman (“Oxford”) movement. The one valid thing in the book is the recognition of the seriousness of addiction to alcohol. Other than this; the book has no scientific merit or interest.

October 13 in A.A. History

In 1937, at an “alcoholic squadron” meeting^* in T. Henry and Clarace Williams’ living [right] in Akron, Ohio, Bill proposed expanding the movement with hospitals for alcoholics, paid missionaries, and a book.
    Later, Bill said that after “counting noses” with Dr. Bob and realizing the success they were having, he made this proposal to Bob. While Bob was initially cool to the idea, he found the notion of a book somewhat appealing. Together, Bill and Bob decided to call a meeting of the Ohio members, along with the New York City members Bill had brought with him, to thoroughly discuss Bill’s ideas and take a vote.
    Eighteen voting members attended the meeting. Bill presented his proposal, suggesting that the rich would be willing to fund these plans. But as he made his case, it became clear that the Ohio contingent was not impressed. They preferred to keep things simple, believing that money would create a professional class and ruin everything. Active alcoholics wouldn’t trust paid missionaries any more than early Christians would have trusted paid apostles. Jesus, they noted, did not rely on pamphlets or books; his program was word-of-mouth. Moreover, the publicity surrounding a book would overwhelm them as they tried to answer all the inquiries. After passionate arguments and counterarguments, the group seemed angrily deadlocked, but they reluctantly agreed to take a vote.
    Bill’s proposal narrowly passed with a vote of 10–8 (noting that a two-thirds majority would have required 12 votes in favor). Dr. Bob likely gave his reluctant approval. No one knows for certain who else was there, who voted, or how anyone voted. Bill was in Akron with three members from New York City: Bill R., Sterling P., and Fitz M. If they were present and voted, that would account for 5 votes in favor. If they weren’t there or didn’t vote, 8 more votes would have been needed from the Ohio members. The other New York City members would have been much more enthusiastic.

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^*Note the 13th is only the most likely date, as Schaberg deduces in a footnote to Writing the Big Book on page 27, partly because that was the regular night for the “alcoholic squadron” of the Oxford Group meeting at the Williams’ home; however, it could have been any day between the 11th and 15th.

In 1947, the first permanent Alcoholics Anonymous group in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, held its initial meeting in the deacons’ room of the Independent Hall on Collins Street.

		Attendees included Lillian R. [far left, 1947], a Hollywood movie star on tour in Australia; her husband, Burt McG. [near right, 1968]; Harold J., a local drunk; and Jack O’H. [far right, with his wife], a composer and playwright who chaired the meeting. Two non-alcoholics also attended: Rev. Dr. Gordon Powell [near left, 1947], the Presbyterian minister of the Collins Street Independent Church [below left] (now St. Michael’s Uniting Church), broadcaster, and author; and Norman Ley, secretary of the Independent Church. Harold was elected secretary. This group, known as the Melbourne Group of A.A., met at least once a week for the next two years in Powell’s room in the Independent Hall.

	Three additional weekly meetings soon followed: one on High Street in St. Kilda [near right, 1957]; another near Brighton railway station [middle right]; and one at Talbot House [far right: interior, 1928], better known as “Toc H,” a soldiers’ rest and recreation centre located at 476 Collins Street in Melbourne.

October 12 in A.A. History

In 1911, Ruth Miller [right] was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Fredric and Sophie Kraemer Muller. 
    She would marry George Hock in 1929, but they would separate in 1935 and divorce in 1941. In January 1936, she would be hired as a secretary at Honor Dealers by Hank P. In 1940, she would become the first National Secretary of Alcoholics Anonymous.

In 1948, Paul H. [left, 1956] wrote a memo titled “BILL’S STORY OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE ‘TWELVE STEPS.’” In this memo, he recounted a story shared by Bill W. during a train ride from New York City to Washington, DC, on 1 January 1948. They were traveling to a regional banquet where Paul was scheduled to speak about the late Fitz M.
    Later, Paul wrote to Bill, mentioning that upon arriving in Washington, he had dictated Bill’s story to Eileen Barrett, who had also been on the train and who confirmed the accuracy of Paul’s recollection. It was from these dictated notes that Paul composed the memo, which included the following:

    Bill said that Fitz himself had no actual part in the writing of the “Twelve Steps” but that his spiritual perception and influence were a definite factor in their formulation.
    Bill went on to explain how the pioneers in A.A. fought, thought—and prayed—their way through to recovery. In his effort to rehabilitate himself the alcoholic was obliged:

1. To admit he was powerless over alcohol.
2. To make an inventory of his own character.
3. To put trust in God.
4. To work with other alcoholics.

    As it stood, this program needed clarification. Bill sat down and began to figure out the various phases of his own recovery. Setting them down on paper, he found there were twelve separate and distinct steps.

    The significance of this account lies in the fact that, despite occurring more than nine years after the event, it was the first known account Bill provided about the writing of the Twelve Steps. His later accounts would introduce important variations. Notably, this account identifies only four steps instead of the later six, and Paul’s account indicates that Bill based the steps on “the various phases of his own recovery” rather than, as Bill later said, that “the words kept right on coming”^* and that “Why the Steps were written down in the order in which they appear today and just why they were worded as they are, I had no idea whatever.”^†

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^*Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p. 161.
^†The “Blue Book”, Vol. XII, “National Clergy Conference on Alcoholism: Alcoholics Anonymous,” pp. 179–210, 1960.

October 11 in A.A. History

In 1917, J. Frederick “Fred” Seiberling, Sr. and Henrietta Buckler [right: c. 1917] were married in Akron, Ohio. The couple would have three children but would separate in early 1935, though they would never divorce. Henrietta would move from the huge Manor House of Stan Hywet (pronounced “stan HEE-wit”), the Seiberling estate in Akron, to the much smaller Gate Lodge [below left], located on the edge of the estate.

    Shortly after the Oxford Group came to Akron, in January 1933, Henrietta would become involved with them. In May 1935, she would introduce Bill W. to Dr. Bob S. at her home, playing a crucial role in the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous. Both Henrietta and Fred would become devoted supporters of A.A.

	In 1937, [12th?] In Akron, Ohio, Bill W., Dr. Bob S., and Bob’s wife Anne [right, respectively] sat in the couple’s living room [left] discussing the two-year-old fellowship they had started. Taking stock of its achievements so far, they counted 35 to 40 people who had sobered up, with more than 20 having maintained sobriety for at least a year. This conversation would come to be known as the “counting noses” meeting.

     In Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, written after the 1955 International Convention in St. Louis, Missouri, and published in 1957, Bill would write:

    It was on a November^* day in that year [1937] when Dr. Bob and I sat in his living room, counting the noses of our recoveries. There had been failures galore, but now we could see some startling successes too. A hard core of very grim last-gasp cases had by then been sober a couple of years, an unheard-of development. There were twenty or more such people. All told we figured that upwards of forty alcoholics were staying bone dry.
    As we carefully rechecked this score, it suddenly burst upon us that a new light was shining into the dark world of the alcoholic. Despite the fact that Ebby had slipped, a benign chain reaction, one alcoholic carrying the good news to the next, had started outward from Dr. Bob and me. Conceivably, it could one day circle the whole world. What a tremendous realization that was! At last we were sure. There would be no more flying totally blind. We actually wept for joy, and Bob and Anne and I bowed our heads in silent thanks.

Bill would also write about this meeting in the October 1945 issue of the A.A. Grapevine,

The realization that we “had found something” began to take hold of us. No longer were we a dubious experiment. Alcoholics could stay sober. Great numbers perhaps! While some of us had always clung to this possibility, the dream now had real substance. If 40 alcoholics could recover, why not four hundred, four thousand—even forty thousand?

And on 12 June 1954, speaking at the Texas State Convention in Fort Worth, Texas, Bill would say:

Bob and I saw for the first time that this thing was going to succeed. That God in his providence and mercy had thrown a new light into the dark caves where we and our kind had been and were still by the millions dwelling. I can never forget the elation and ecstasy that seized us both.

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^*Not only was this date incorrect—despite his repeated assertions over the years that the meeting had taken place in November—but he was also conflating this trip with another one he made in search of work in Detroit, Michigan, and Cleveland, Ohio, which included a visit to Akron by himself.

October 10 in A.A. History

In 1937, after spending the night in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, with Bill and Lois W., Bill and Kathleen R. picked up Fitz Mayo just outside Pittsburgh. The five of them then continued on to Akron, Ohio, arriving around 5 PM. They received a warm welcome and were entertained by the large crowd gathered for dinner at Paul Stanley’s home. Sterling P. and his wife, also from New York City, arrived separately and were presumably welcomed as well. Bill and Kathleen stayed with T. Henry and Clarace Williams, while Bill and Lois would spend the next 5½ days with Dr. Bob and Anne S. [left: Bob S., Anne S., Lois W., Bill W., respectively, c. 1937].

In 1970, in New York City, Bill W.’s widow, Lois, read “Bill’s Last Message” [right] at the annual dinner hosted by the New York Intergroup Association in honor of Bill’s 36th anniversary of sobriety. It read, in part,

    My thoughts are much occupied these days with gratitude to our Fellowship and for the myriad blessings bestowed upon us by God’s Grace. If I were asked which of these blessings I felt was most responsible for our growth as a fellowship and most vital to our continuity, I would say, the “Concept of Anonymity.”

In 1988, Lois W. was buried next to her husband, Bill, in the East Dorset Cemetery in East Dorset, Vermont [left: Lois’ headstone].

In 2002, the second Gulf Conference began in Bahrain’s American Mission Hospital [right]. Under the title “A.A. Primary Purpose in Full Throttle in Arabian Gulf,” Bahrain’s central office would later report,

    October 10 witnessed a miracle for us; we experienced A.A.’s altruistic movement ripple its way through the atmosphere, deep into our souls. The second 
Gulf Conference started at 4:30 p.m. with a recovery meeting in Bahrain’s American Mission Hospital and ended past midnight with everyone boogying in a member’s home.
    There was mingling, sharing and bonding. There was fellowship from Oman, Riyadh, Kuwait, Daharan, Dammam and even Bournemouth. Attendance was quite overwhelming. To be honest, the organizing committee had expected 35-45 people, but almost double that number came. Some were in A.A., while others were from the medical body. Overall the message of recovery was carried effectively.
    No committee, no human power, absolutely nothing but God can take credit for such success.… 
    God bless your trudge along the Road of Happy Destiny.

October 9 in A.A. History

In 1937, while Sterling P. and his wife drove separately to Akron, Ohio, Bill [near right] and Kathleen R. from Hackettstown, New Jersey, picked up Bill and Lois W. [far right, c. 1937] in Brooklyn at noon to travel to Akron. The four of them stopped for the night in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. [Bill W. typically—and erroneously—referred to this event as occurring “in late fall,” and that it also included trips by him to Cleveland and Detroit to look for work. Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers states—also erroneously—that it was in November, while others incorrectly date it to 1936.]

Today in A.A. History—October 9–11

In 1969, the first World Service Meeting (WSM) took place in the East Room of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, attended by 27 delegates from 16 countries: [left: WSM banner, country flags]:

Australia	Belgium	Canada	Costa Rica	Colombia
England	Finland	French Europe†	Germany	Guatemala
Holland	Mexico	New Zealand	Norway	South Africa
United States
†Delegates from Belgium and France represented all of French-speaking Europe.

    The theme of the WSM was “Our Common Welfare” [below: World Service Meeting images—Big Book display, map of nations represented, East Room of the Roosevelt, pamphlet display].

October 8 in A.A. History

In 1937, Bill W. [right: mid to late 1930s] lost his job at Quaw & Foley^†, and at that time, he was still owed one of his two weeks of vacation. Bill claimed he was let go due to the March 1937 market crash; indeed, the market losses on 10 March 1937, are ranked as the second-worst day in U.S. financial history. Following this all aspects of the nation’s business remained depressed for well over a year, with unemployment reaching about 18%. Lois’s diary notes that Quaw & Foley were forced to let Bill go “because they nearly failed.” This would be the last substantive job Bill would ever hold outside of Alcoholics Anonymous.
[William Schaberg, in Writing the Big Book: The Creation of A.A., asserts at this point in the story (p. 24) that…

Wilson was never happy with his ongoing lack of real employment and he would spend the rest of his life chasing the occasional job opportunities that came his way, while just as constantly trying to resign from the central leadership position that was always being forced back on him by the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.^* In many ways, these two factors defined Bill Wilson’s life from this point forward: he never again held a job outside of A.A. and he was never able to completely let go of the reins that controlled A.A.…

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*Dipping into any of the folders containing Wilson’s voluminous thirty-five years of correspondence that are carefully preserved at Stepping Stones will provide ample support for both of these observations. However it must be noted that Bill Wilson’s desire to hand over the leadership of A.A. to others was always tempered by a conflicting desire on his part to continue “running the show.” He was a complicated and fascinating man.]

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^†Quaw & Foley was a firm that specialized in stock market investigations and provided Bill W. with most of the professional work he did in the early 1930s.

In 1988, a memorial service for Lois [left, near the end of her life], Bill W.’s widow, was held in Bedford Hills, New York. About fifty family and friends gathered for an informal Quaker-style service in the living room of Stepping Stones, in front of a roaring fire in the stone fireplace. During the service, Michael Alexander, Class A (non-alcoholic) Trustee and chair of the General Service Board, spoke of her many talents and facets: not only was she the leader and organizer of Al-Anon, but she was also a writer, artist, poet, musician, highly sought-after speaker, lover of nature, homemaker, tireless hostess, and devoted wife. “She was a remarkable and great lady and we shall sorely miss her.”

October 7 in A.A. History

	In 1903, test pilot Charles Manly attempted to make the first-ever manned flight, in Professor Samuel Pierpont Langley’s heavier-than-air craft, which was launched by catapult. Although it had been largely designed and built by others, Manly contributed to the design and engineering. The craft lacked landing gear and had controls only for pitch and yaw, but none for roll [left]. It plunged into the Potomac River “like a handful of mortar,” according to one reporter. Langley claimed that the crash resulted from a wing clipping part of the catapult.

    Seven-and-a-half years earlier, on 6 May 1896, Langley had launched—also from a catapult—the 25-pound [~11 kg] Aerodrome Number Five [right], a model which made two flights, one of 1,005 meters [~3,300 feet] and another of 700 meters [~2,300 feet] at 40 kph [~25 mph] landing in the water, as planned. This was 10 times farther than any previous heavier-than-air flying machine, making it the world’s first successful flight of an unpiloted, engine-driven, heavier-than-air craft of substantial size. Six months later, on 11 November, his Number 6 model flew more than 1,500 meters [>5,000 feet].
    In 1898, based on the successes, Langley received two War Department grants to develop a piloted airplane, totaling $70,000 [~$2.7 million in 2025] from the Smithsonian Institution, of which he was secretary (top executive).
    Langley would make a second attempt in December, which also would end in failure. Newspapers would mock the unsuccessful flights, and some members of Congress would harshly criticize the project. Remarkably, Manly would survive both crashes.
    The Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, makes reference to these events in “We Agnostics” (p. 51) [below: newpaper articles about and photos of these flights, the leftmost image by Alexander Graham Bell].

In 1978, the Finnish Alcoholics Anonymous Convention, which celebrated the 30th anniversary of A.A. in Finland, opened with several delegates in attendance from the 5th World Service Meeting held in Finland in the days prior.

		In 2009, The Red Book [far left: cover; near left: p. 119], a red leather‐bound folio manuscript created by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung [right, c. 1905–15] between 1915 and about 1930, was published, in both German and English. Although The Red Book isconsidered a central work in Jung’s œuvre, the estate of Jung, who died in 1961, would not permit its publication prior to 2000, when they began instead to make preparations for its release.

    The book recounts and comments on Jung’s psychological experiments conducted between 1913 and 1916, drawing from earlier manuscripts—seven private journals—journals—known collectively as the Black Books [right], which he first drafted in 1913–15 and 1917.