November 4 in A.A. History

In 1939, the Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer published the second [right] and final article in Elrick B. Davis’s second series titled “A Physician Looks Upon Alcoholics Anonymous.” It read, in part,

    The first appraisal in a scientific journal of Alcoholics Anonymous, former drunkards who cure themselves by curing each other with the help of religious experience, was published in the July issue of the journal Lancet [sic]. It was “A New Approach to Psychotherapy [in]^* Chronic Alcoholism.: [sic] by W. D. Silkworth, M.D. physician in charge, Chas B. Town’s Hospital, New York City. A drunkard [Bill W.] during a moment of [deep]^* depression had the spontaneous “religious experience” which started his cure. This was the seed from which came Alcoholics Anonymous. Dr. silkworth [sic] was at first skeptical. He is no longer.

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^*Brackets in original

	In 1939, encouraged by Nona W., Marty M. and Bill and Lois W.* first visited Joy Farm in Kent, Connecticut, which was run by Ethelred Folsom [left], who preferred to be called Sister Francis, after Francis of Assisi. A remarkable woman, her generosity provided a home for those in need of healing and spiritual nourishment. Because her beliefs aligned with the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, she offered the farm to Bill W. for the work of A.A. Bill declined, but in 1940, others established it as the world’s first 12-Step treatment center, renaming it High Watch Farm [right: aerial view].

    Marty would later describe their arrival:

    There was something there, something that was really palpable that you could feel and every one of us felt it. To say that we fell in love with it, is not to use the right terminology at all. We were engulfed… What is at the Farm was already at the Farm before we ever found it. It found us, in my opinion.

    Bill famously described the spiritual atmosphere as so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

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^*Marty, in a speech at the 25th anniversary of High Watch, mentioned that it was late October and that Horace C. and Bert T., along with their wives, accompanied them.

In 1940, Bill and Lois W. moved into one of two small upstairs bedrooms [left, line drawing from February 1951 A.A. Grapevine] in the clubhouse at 334½ W. 24th St. in New York City, where they would live for about a year.^* Lois increased the apparent size of the room by removing unnecessary shelves and painting the walls white with red trim. She also made a dressing table out of an orange crate.

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^*Pass It On says 5 months (p. 239).

In 1963, Bill W. attended the funeral service for Rev. Dr. Samuel Moor Shoemaker, III at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Owings Mills, Maryland near Burnside, the Shoemaker estate [right: recent photo of the manor house at Burnside]. Thirty years later, Shoemaker’s younger daughter, Nickie Shoemaker Haggart, “well remembered” something Bill had said to her as they stood together that day in the driveway at Burnside:

    Don’t let anyone ever tell you that I founded A. A. If it wasn’t for Sam Shoemaker, A. A. would never have been born.

November 3 in A.A. History

In 1938, enclosing the latest chapters for the proposed, yet-to-be-named book (which would become Alcoholics Anonymous [right: 1st ed., 2nd printing]), Bill W. wrote to Dr. Bob S. for the third time, seeking feedback from the members of the Akron, Ohio, “Alcoholic  Squadron.” He urged Dr. Bob to encourage the Ohio members to “speak up or forever hold their peace” regarding the drafts he had been sending. It turned out that Dr. Bob had not shared any of these drafts with the other Akron members.
    Bill added that he hoped “to get out there about December first for a week or two so we can cover these matters better.” However, the ongoing writing and editing of the book ultimately prevented Bill from making that trip.

 

In 1941, at 8:00 p.m., the first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Columbus, Ohio, took place in the basement of the Downtown YMCA [left, c. 1926] at 40 W. Long St., with six attendees.

In 1975, Lois W.  [near right] , Bill’s widow, and Tom S.  [right, 2nd from left]  cut a blue ribbon to officially open the A.A. Archives at the General Service Office (GSO) in New York City. In attendance were Nell Wing  [right, 2nd from right], non-alcoholic archivist; Dr. John Norris  [far right], non-alcoholic chair of the Board of Trustees; Lois; George G., Class B (alcoholic) trustee and chair of the Trustees’ Archives Committee; Tom S., former Class B (alcoholic) trustee and former chair of the Archives Committee at large; other trustees; GSO and A.A. Grapevine staff; and a few overseas guests.

    The opening speaker called for “a minimum of myth about A.A. and its co-founders.” Dr. Norris emphasized that A.A. can continually renew itself by returning to its source. He recalled Bill’s frequent admonition that the Board and GSO should document everything they do. Both George and Lois paid special tribute to Nell Wing. Lois reminisced about the early days of A.A. on Clinton Street in Brooklyn during the 1930s. She noted that most of the early records were not saved, partly because their importance was not recognized, but mostly because “we were just too busy trying to help alcoholics and their families.” Lois added that Bill appreciated the theoretical significance of these records, “but he wasn’t very good at doing anything about it.” After the “usual closing” (i.e., the Lord’s Prayer), food and coffee were served. Then came the big laugh of the day: everyone realized that the opening of the archives had not been recorded for posterity! [Leftt: the A.A. Archives, Winter 2022.]

November 2 in A.A. History

In 1881, Frank Belford Amos [left, as a young man] was born in Caldwell, Ohio, the youngest of three children of John Major and Mary Elizabeth Wallar Amos. He would later become a close associate of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and an original Class A (non-alcoholic) trustee of the Alcoholic Foundation.

In 1939, the Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer published the first article [right] in a second series by Elrick B. Davis about Alcoholics Anonymous, titled “A Noted Divine Reviews ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’”:     When 100 members of Alcoholics Anonymous, the extraordinary fellowship of men and women who have cured themselves of “incurable” alcoholism by curing each other and adopting a “spiritual way of life,” had established their cures to the satisfaction of their physicians, families, employers and psychotherapists, they published a book.     It is a 400-page volume of which half is a history of the movement and a description of its methods, and the other half a collection of 30 case histories designed to show what a wide variety of persons the fellowship has cured.

November 1 in A.A. History

	In 1934, Edwin “Ebby” T. [left] made his “surrender” during an Oxford Group meeting at the Calvary Church Rescue Mission [right], located at 246 E. 23rd St. in New York City.

In 1941, Oklahoma’s Oklahoma City Times published an article titled “For Drunks: A Real Cure Comes to City” [right], which reported, in part:     Seven guys who can’t take their liquor without becoming “175 pounds each of roaring hell” met in an office in the Ramsey Tower Friday night to work over the eighth guy who was roaring drunk.      It was the first mass meeting here of Alcoholics Anonymous, an organization of former drunks formed by a drunk in New York six years ago, for the purpose of curing and keeping cured the sort of drinkers who are “alergic” [sic] to alcohol.

In 1947, A.A. “Group #1” was started in Anchorage [left, 1945], Alaska, with Herman C. as its leader. It would be the first lasting group in Alaska. Jack Alexander would write in his article, “The Drunkard's Best Friend,” which would be published in The Saturday Evening Post in April 1950,
    The group at Anchorage, Alaska, which started in a blizzard, has a dozen members, including one slightly puzzled Eskimo.

In 1963, the first all-Swiss A.A. meeting, a two-day event that began on this date, brought together French- and German-speaking members. Following this gathering, the all-Swiss Bulletin would be published in both languages [right: Dec ’63 Box 4-5-9 news of all-Swiss meeting].

In 2001, the fourth edition of Alcoholics Anonymous [left: cover] (the “Big Book”) was published; it included 24 new personal stories.

In 2001, JP Miller, the pen name of James Pinckney “Pappy” Miller [right, c. early 1980s], 81, died of pneumonia in Flemington, New Jersey. He wrote the screenplay for the film Days of Wine and Roses, which starred Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford, and Jack Klugman.

In 2022, JAMA Network Open published an open-access article by Marissa B. Esser, PhD; Gregory Leung, PhD; Adam Sherk, PhD; et al., titled “Estimated Deaths Attributable to Excessive Alcohol Use Among US Adults Aged 20 to 64 Years, 2015 to 2019” [left: p. 1] . The article concluded that an estimated…

    694,660 mean deaths per year between 2015 and 2019 suggest that excessive alcohol consumption accounted for 12.9% of total deaths among adults aged 20 to 64 years and 20.3% of deaths among adults aged 20 to 49 years.

In 2024, A.A.W.S., Inc. first published the Conference-approved soft-cover Plain Language Big Book: A Tool for Reading “Alcoholics Anonymous” [right: cover].

October 31 in A.A. History

In 1939, John Henry Fitzhugh “Fitz” M. [near right] and Hardin C. [far right]—both previously designated as “loners”—started the Washington (DC) Group of A.A. at Hardin’s home. Within months, Ned F., Bill E., George S., and Steve M. joined them. [This date assumes the group began on a Tuesday, which became their regular meeting night; they may have met for the first time 1–3 days earlier.]

In 1945, Vernon F. had his last drink. Born 22 April 1895, he joined the Pasadena (California) Group and died on 18 June 1964, with 19 years of sobriety.

In 1951, the American Public Health Association presented the Lasker Award to A.A. at their Annual Meeting held at the San Francisco Opera House for “meritorious service in the public health.” Each recipient received a statuette of the Winged Victory [left]. Originally, the award was intended for Bill W., but he asked that it be given to the Fellowship instead. The Lasker Foundation agreed, and when the Alcoholic Foundation Board polled Conference delegates by mail, they also approved. The Foundation declined the accompanying $1,000 cash grant [~$12,500 in 2025].

In 1957, John Richard “Dick” S. [right] died in Stow, Ohio. He had gotten sober on 28 February 1937 and his story, “The Car Smasher,” appeared in the 1st edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. He later rewrote it as “He Had To Be Shown” for the 2nd and 3rd editions.

In 1958, Clancy I. [below left] got sober. “I had to just get out of the rain and find a little rest,” Clancy said. “Somebody told me about a place drunks could go,” so he walked 72 blocks to a small alcohol rehabilitation center.

    He would leave a lucrative career with a Beverly Hills marketing firm to become the managing director of the Midnight Mission in downtown’s Skid Row, returning as a transformative leader to an institution that had once expelled him for bad behavior. Under his leadership, the soup kitchen and housing facilities would expand to include programs that addressed the social needs of those on Skid Row.

In 1963, Rev. Dr. Samuel Shoemaker [right], 69, died at Burnside, the family home in Green Spring Valley, Maryland, located 10 miles [~16 km] north of Baltimore. In his February 1967 A.A. Grapevine tribute titled “I Stand by the Door,” Bill W. remarked:     Dr. Sam Shoemaker was one of A.A.’s indispensables. Had it not been for his ministry to us in our early time, our Fellowship would not be in existence today.

In 1974, Sylvia K. S., 68, the first woman to achieve permanent long-term sobriety and author of “Keys to the Kingdom” in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions of Alcoholics Anonymous, died in Sarasota, Florida, possibly from emphysema [left: obituary from the 1 Nov 1974 Sarasota (FL) Journal, p. 4-A]. She was 35 years sober at the time.

October 30 in A.A. History

In 1940, the first A.A. meeting in St. Louis—and in the state of Missouri—was held at the Gibson Hotel, 5883 Enright Avenue [right, c. 1940s].^* Father Ed had been contacted by F., who claimed that his son-in-law had a drinking problem. However, it turned out that F. himself was the one struggling and seeking help. With Father Ed’s support and encouragement, F. gathered four other individuals and met with them at the Gibson Hotel. In December, they would form the first A.A. group in St. Louis.

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^*Some have suggested that this occurred after Father Edward Dowling returned to St. Louis from New York City, where he had met Bill Wilson at the 24th Street Clubhouse. However, that meeting did not take place until November 16, more than two weeks later.

In 1940, Bill W. wrote to a member in Richmond, Virginia, saying in part,

    I am always glad to say privately that some of the Oxford Group presentation and emphasis upon the Christian message saved my life. Yet it is equally true that other attitudes of the O.G. nearly got me drunk again, and we long since discovered that if we were to approach alcoholics successfully, these would have to be abandoned.

    He listed eight criticisms, including one concerning the Four Absolutes:

	… when the word “absolute” was put in front of these attributes, they either turned people away by the hundreds or gave a temporary spiritual inflation resulting in collapse. The Four Absolutes were originally published in Robert E. Speers’ The Principles of Jesus (1902) [left: 5th ed. title page].

October 29 in A.A. History

In 1881, Rowland G. Hazard, Jr. [right] was born into a prominent and immensely wealthy Rhode Island industrial family residing in a colony of estates in Peace Dale (South Kingston), Rhode Island. He was the oldest of five children born to Rowland Gibson Hazard and Mary Bushnell Hazard. An unbroken line of Hazard men named Rowland dated back to 1763. His father, grandfather, and great-great-grandfather had shared the same name, prompting him to adopt the suffix “III” to distinguish himself from his namesakes. The Hazard family’s colonial roots trace back to 1635, with its members being large landowners, manufacturers, and individuals of note in science and literature. They were widely respected as achievers and philanthropists.
    In 1934, Rowland would play a prominent role in helping Edwin “Ebby” T. get sober in the Oxford Group.

	In 1929 [Black Tuesday] The U.S. stock market crashed, leaving Bill W. broke and $60,000 in debt [~$1,100,000 in 2025]. He and his benefactor, Frank Shaw, parted ways. Later—possibly in November—Bill’s friend Dick Johnson offered him a job in Montreal with the stock brokerage firm Greenshields & Co. [left: Greenshields & Co. legal notice, in Montreal’s The Gazette, p. 26; right: Aldred Building, Montreal, Quebec—home of Greenshields and Co., 1930].     By Christmas, the W―—s would be in Canada.

In 1941, Bill W. spoke in Evansville, Indiana, praising James D. “J.D.” H. as the founder of the first A.A. group in Indiana, established in Evansville on April 23, 1940, approximately eighteen months prior.

In 1943, Don F. traveled from Omaha, Nebraska, to make a 12th-Step call on Judge Ray H. at his Des Moines office [left: Des Moines, looking east down Walnut Street from 9th Street, c. 1940s?]. Also present were Bill A. and Herbert L. It turned out that the judge had been dry on his own for a month, while Don F. had only been sober for two weeks.
    An immediate stream of lively, witty, and engaging correspondence began between Ray H. and the staff of the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City. Within a month, the letters from Iowa were printed on stationery bearing an “Alcoholics Anonymous” letterhead. Ray adopted the pseudonym “Hildegarde” and began sending the Foundation “News Flashes” and "Bedtime Stories" about the happenings in Des Moines A.A. By its third meeting, the group had grown to 17 members and secured its own P.O. box.

October 28 in A.A. History

In 1918, Bill W. [right, 1919 in France] arrived in France with Battery C, 66th Artillery, Coast Artillery Corps (C.A.C.). They would remain there until the end of the Great War (World War I) just 14 days later, on November 11 at 11:11 a.m., but would not return home until May 1919.

	In 1919, the U.S. Senate voted 65–20 to override President Wilson’s veto of the Volstead (National Prohibition) Act the day before; the House had also voted to override on the same day. Sponsored by the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Representative Andrew Volstead [left] of Minnesota, the act implemented the 18th Amendment, which prohibited “intoxicating liquors” without providing a clear definition.

    Some members of Congress believed this referred only to hard liquor. However, Wayne Wheeler [right], the head of the Anti-Saloon League, who actually written the legislation, had crafted it to define intoxicating liquors as any beverage containing more than 0.5% alcohol. The legislation made it illegal to “manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, furnish, or possess” such beverages, though it did not prohibit their consumption.

In 1936, William “Bill” C. [left], 36, committed suicide at the home of Bill and Lois W., located at 182 Clinton St., Brooklyn, while the couple was in Maryland visiting Fitz M and his wife.
    Bill C. had been living with the W―—s for nearly a year and had been left in charge of the house. A brilliant lawyer from Canada, he worked for a prominent law firm by day and played bridge for money by night. The W―—s had rarely seen him and did not know him as well as they did most of their other house guests. His gambling appeared to be an even greater obsession than his drinking.

    Bill W. returned home first. Upon opening the front door, he smelled gas. In the kitchen upstairs, he found Bill’s body on the floor, with a tube from the stove’s gas jet in his mouth. He had been dead for several days. Lois arrived the following day to find that Bill had already taken care of every detail [right: Daily News article from 29 Oct].
    It took several months for the W―—s to realize that Bill had been selling their personal belongings and dress clothes, which were hung in a closet near the hallway bedroom he occupied. Among the missing items were Bill’s dress suit, his evening jacket, Lois’s black velvet evening wrap lined with white velvet, and several evening gowns. Suitcases were also missing. These were the remnants of the W―—s’ once affluent lifestyle. His remorse for these thefts may have contributed to Bill’s decision to take his own life.

In 1940, Doherty “Dohr” S. [left], a retired local businessman, Irish Catholic, and devoutly religious, founded the first A.A. group in Indianapolis, Indiana. Desperate to stop drinking, Dohr had reached out to the Cleveland group for help. In response, Clarence S. had sent Irwin M. to make a 12th-step call on Dohr and guide him in starting an A.A. group.

In 1988, sociologist Milton A. Maxwell [right], PhD, 81, died. He had served as a Class A (non-alcoholic) Trustee on the General Service Board from 1971 to 1982, including the last four years as Chairman. Also, he had been an original member of the Trustees’ Archives Committee.

Today in A.A. History—October 27-31

In 2024, the 28th biennial World Service Meeting was held at the Westin at Times Square Hotel in New York City [left: Final Report cover]. The meeting’s theme was “The Three Legacies in the Digital Era: Our Great Responsibility to the Alcoholic Being Born Today.” Seventy-four delegates from forty-nine General Service structures were represented:

Argentina	Australia	Belgium (Dutch-Speaking)	Bolivia	Bulgaria	Brazil	Central America/Southern Zone
Chile	Colombia	Czech Republic	Denmark	Dominican Republic	Ecuador	Finland
French-Speaking Europe	German-Speaking Europe	Great Britain	Greece	Guatemala	Honduras	Hong Kong
Hungary	Iceland	India	Iran	Ireland	Italy	Japan
Latvia	Lithuania	Mexico	Netherlands	New Zealand	Norway	Paraguay
Peru	Poland	Portugal	Romania	Russia	Slovakia	Slovenia
South Africa	Spain	Sweden	Turkey	U.S./Canada	Uruguay	Venezuela

October 26 in A.A. History

In 1937, Dr. Leonard V. Strong [near right], brother-in-law of Bill W. [middle right], married to Bill’s sister Dorothy, wrote him a letter introducing Bill to Rev. Williard S. Richardson [far right]:

Dear Mr. Richardson,
    This will serve to introduce my brother-in-law, Mr. William W—–, of whom I spoke in our telephone conversation yesterday.
    His work with alcoholics appears very effective and I think merits your interest and possibly that of the Rockefeller Foundation.
Your courtesy in seeing him is greatly appreciated by me, and I regret my inability to be present.

    Bill would meet Richardson shortly afterward in his 56th-floor office in the RCA building. Richardson was warmly cordial; Bill described him as “an elderly gentleman who had twinkling eyes set in one of the finest faces I have ever seen.” He showed deep interest as Bill shared his own story and that of the struggling Fellowship.

In 1939 , the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Ohio) published the final article [left] in Elrick B. Davis’s five-part series titled “Alcoholics Anonymous Makes Its Stand Here.” It read, in part,

    It is hard for the skeptical to believe that no one yet has found a way to muscle into Alcoholics Anonymous, the informal society of ex-drunks that exists only to cure each other, and make a money-making scheme of it. Or that someone will not. 
    The complete informality of the society seems to be what has saved it from that. Members pay no dues. The society has no paid staff. Parties are “Dutch.” Meetings are held at the homes of members who have houses large enough for such gatherings, or in homes of persons who may not be alcoholics but are sympathetic with the movement.

			In 1939, the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City, presumably Ruth Hock [far left], wrote a letter to John “Fitz” M. [middle left], a “loner” living in Washington, DC. The letter referred another Washington “loner,” Hardin C. [near left?], to Fitz. Within days, the Washington Group of A.A., the first in that city, will be established out of the contact between these two men.