November 26 in A.A. History

In 1895, William G. “Bill” W. [left, at 3 months] was born to Emily G. W. [near right, 1905] Gilman B. [far right] and at 3 a.m. on a wintry day in East Dorset, Vermont, behind the bar of the W―― House [far right, c. 1920s–50s, when it was known as Mt Æolus Inn], a village hotel run by his paternal grandmother, Helen Elizabeth Barrows W. [near right].

    The night before, Emily’s pain had driven her from the kitchen to the north parlor. She lay on a couch, trying to breathe and writhing as contractions tore through her. In and out of consciousness, she screamed and cried out as midnight passed. The midwife and Emily’s mother, Ella Brock Griffith [left], tried to comfort her.

    Outside, Mark Whalon [left: late in life], whom Bill would later call his only close local friend, and a group of neighborhood boys gathered on the porch to listen to Emily’s screams, a testament to the strangeness of the adult world. Later, Emily would say that Bill’s birth had nearly killed her.

In 1918, Francis “Barry” L., Jr. [right, as a young man] was born in Timpson, Texas, to Lenora Fenn and Francis Leach, Sr. Raised in Weatherford, Texas, he was the oldest of four boys.
    In 1944, he would move to New York City, where he would get sober in 1945. He became one of the first openly gay members of Alcoholics Anonymous and would play a crucial role in discussions about inclusivity in A.A., particularly regarding LGBTQ+ members. He would also be involved in early conversations about creating special meetings for gay men in 1945.
    Barry would write both Living Sober [left: cover, 1st ed. 1st printing] (1975) and the pamphlet “Do You Think You're Different?” [right: 1st printing] (1976), which would include two stories about gay experiences. He also co-authored Lois’s W.'s memoir Lois Remembers. He would work as a staff writer at the General Service Office of A.A., record and report on many of the early General Service Conference final reports, and also contribute to the A.A. Grapevine. Furthermore, he would become a trusted friend of both Bill and Lois W., growing particularly close to Lois after Bill's death in 1971.

    In 1978, Lois gifted Barry a copy of the original manuscript [left: first page] of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. In 1979, Barry would sign a notarized letter gifting the manuscript to A.A. World Services while retaining possession until his death, a fact he would discuss publicly in the months leading up to his death in 1985.

In 1939, at the First Unitarian Church located at Euclid Ave. and E. 82nd St. in Cleveland, Ohio, Rev. Dilworth Lupton [right] delivered a sermon titled “Mr. X and Alcoholics Anonymous.” The sermon centered on Mr. X, an alcoholic (actually Clarence S. [left]), whom he had seen recover from alcoholism. It would later be reprinted in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and would become one of A.A.’s first pamphlets.

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

     the government… would begin the nation-wide rationing of gasoline to conserve rubber on Dec. 1, as scheduled [right: gasoline ration card 1942].

In 1965, Nancy M.-O. [left], the 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 later become one of the founding members of A.A. in Seattle, Washington, discovered that the national secretary at the Alcoholic Foundation, with whom he had been corresponding—R. Hock [right]—was a woman! He chose to keep this information from the other men he was working with.

In 1947, Mrs. Marty M. [left, 1955] spoke to the Economic Club of Detroit [below right: logo]—as well as a radio audience—about the National Committee for Education on Alcoholism (NCEA) and about Alcoholics Anonymous itself. She began by saying,

    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. [right], commonly known as Paul, was born to Emma Savercool and Charles S. in Pennsylvania, likely near Scranton, where he was christened on 29 December. He would meet Dr. Bob S. in January 1936 and sober up on 2 July 1936. His story, “Truth Freed Me!” would appear in the first edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

In 1939, Mrs. J. J. Stewart of Seattle, Washington [left: skyline, 1938], whose husband was an alcoholic, wrote to the Alcoholic Foundation, stating, “[W]e have the book Alcoholics Anonymous and have read it.” She then inquired about the presence of any A.A. unit in Seattle. Almost three months later, the reply suggested she reach out to “the growing Fellowships in San Francisco and Los Angeles.” Mrs. Stewart’s letter marked Seattle’s first contact with A.A., and she would eventually play a role in establishing the city’s first A.A. group, although her specific contribution remains unclear.

In 1942, Rev. Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick [right] 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, although it was first published by the Alcoholic Foundation in April 1939. 

In 1976, Elise Valentine Shaw, 85, died [left: memorial service announcement, The Bridgeport (CT) Post, 26 Nov 1976 ]. 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 [right], National Secretary for the Alcoholic Foundation, about the 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 [left] had said that if just one person was helped by hearing Morgan Ryan [right] tell his A.A. story, which had aired on Heatter’s We the People radio show in April, it would be a real service. In reality, many people benefited from that broadcast and what followed. Today, 85 years after that first meeting, there are over 600 A.A. groups in San Francisco alone, along with many thousands more across 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. [left], 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, assisted by the Revs. William F. Weeks, bishop-coadjutor of Shelburne, and Philip Schuyler of Bennington, conducted the funeral of 18-year-old Miss Bertha Bamford at Zion Episcopal Church [right: interior], where her father served as rector.

    Newspaper accounts [left: Bennington Evening Banner, 23 Nov 1912] noted the “profusion of beautiful flowers” and “the floral tributes.” The Manchester Village and Manchester Center schools were closed to allow teachers and students to participate. Nearly all the Burr & Burton students—about 70 in total, including Bill W.—attended as a group and marched together to the vault at Manchester Center, where Miss Bamford’s remains were temporarily laid. The pallbearers were Prof. James Brooks, Prof. Walter Shaw, Bill W., Clifford Wilson, Roger Perkins, and John Jackson. Miss Bamford’s remains were later taken to Jeffersonville, Indiana, for burial.
    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.

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” [right]. Below this, he would write two more pledges before he 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 [near right, c. 1930] on Geary St. in San Francisco, California. Here’s how it came about.

    In April, Morgan R. [far right]—an A.A. member, former ad man, asylum patient, and friend of the host—had been a guest on Gabriel Heatter’s nationally broadcast radio show, We the People. Morgan had briefly shared his story and concluded by mentioning the newly published book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

    Mrs. Gordon Oram, who ran a boarding house at 51 Potomac St. [far left, recent] in San Francisco, heard the broadcast. She had been concerned about one of her boarders, Ted C. His drinking had led to multiple stays in state hospitals and jails, and 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 [near left: plaque at 51 Potomac St.].

    Others in the Bay Area had also heard the program or read Morris Markey’s article, “Alcoholics and God,” in the September 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 person and arranged a meeting in his room.
    In addition to Ray and Ted, Don B. and Dave L. also attended. The meeting lasted two hours. Ray shared his list of local contacts with the three men, and all four began reaching out to the others, who were from Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, and San Francisco.
    Bill W. would vividly describe 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 [right], a psychiatrist who had been impressed with A.A. as he had seen it at work in Bellvue Hospital in New York. Now 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, where salesman Ray’s contacts foregathered with Ted.
    Ted never made the grade. But one John C. did, and he has stayed in the clear ever since. Soon these were joined by Fred and Amy C. and a little bit later by King, Ned and others. At this stage there was plenty of slipping and backsliding. But, encourage by Mrs. Oram and Dr. Poliak, the group somehow held together.
    From New York we began writing letters to San Francisco, but the replies were sketchy and uncertain. At the end of a year an alky lady appeared at our New York office on Vesey Street. She was a little tight, and crying. Though of course she exaggerated a bit, she said, “Bill, we've been going a whole year in San Francisco, and do you know that at Christmas time we were all drunk.”

In 1942, the Lakewood Group, located near Cleveland, Ohio, celebrated its third anniversary at Townsend Hall in Lakewood. The December 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 [right], 86, died. He was A.A.'s first connection to the Rockefeller Foundation in October 1937. Affectionately known as “Uncle Dick,” he served as the treasurer of the Alcoholic Foundation and later became the Chairman of the Board.

November 20 in A.A. History

In 1923, Bill W. left Brooklyn Law School [left: the Brooklyn Eagle Building, home of the Law School from 1904–28] for good. He was in the process of retaking 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 and convened at 15909 Detroit Ave. [right: recent picture of the location]. There were eleven original members, led by William B., Warren C., William L., and Edward H. The group’s secretary was Elvira B., William B.’s wife. Later, the group would change its name to the Lakewood Group.

In 1941, The Fresno Bee in California published a three-page article [left] titled “Alcoholics Plead for Aid in Correcting Drink Problems.” It reported on reader responses to the formation of Fresno’s first A.A. group, which had been announced 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 Washingtonian Temperance Society held its first public meeting, setting off the rapid growth of the movement. They received widespread and enthusiastic support from thousands of existing temperance societies, as the Washingtonians successfully mobilized public attention for temperance through their “experience sharing” of alcoholic debauchery, followed by inspiring accounts of personal reformation [left: Washingtonian pledge card].
    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 the chapel at Burr and Burton Academy and took his seat with the other students, believing that his first love, Bertha Bamford, was in New York City with her family. Nothing could have prepared him for what was to come. His later recollections included the following:

    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 [right: Bertha’s obituary, The Bennington (Vermont) Evening Banner, 19 Nov 1912, p. 1].…
    Interest in everything except the fiddle collapsed. No athletics, no schoolwork done, no attention to anyone. I was utterly, deeply, and compulsively miserable, convinced that my whole life had utterly collapsed.…
    The healthy kid would have felt it badly, but he would never have sunk so deep or stayed submerged for so long.…
    The upshot was that I failed German and, for that reason, could not graduate. Here I was, president of my senior class… and they wouldn’t give me a diploma! My mother arrived, extremely angry, from Boston. A stormy scene took place in the principal’s office. Still, I didn’t get that diploma.…
    I could not be anybody at all. I could not win, because the adversary was death. So my life, I thought, had ended then and there.

In 1935, Ebby T. came to live with Bill and Lois W. at 182 Clinton Street in Brooklyn [left, c. 1940].

In 1939, Cleveland, Ohio’s first Spanish-speaking meeting, Grupo Serenidad (Serenity Group), was founded—just three days after the Borton Group, the city's longest-running A.A. group and the first anywhere without a connection to the Oxford Group. There are no known records of Grupo Serenidad's subsequent activities or its demise.

In 1941, The Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) published “New Way Out for Hopeless Drinkers” [right] 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 [left, with Bill], 18, died from a hemorrhage following surgery to remove a tumor at Flower Free Surgical Hospital [right, c. 1890s–1910s] on York Ave (nee Eastern Blvd) between 63rd and 64th Sts. in New York City. She was the daughter of Julia Read and Rev. Walter H. Bamford, the rector of Zion Episcopal Church in Manchester, Vermont.

In 1946, the first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) in Ireland—and indeed in Europe—was held in the home of one of the S. brothers in Rathmines [left, c. 1940s], a suburb of Dublin. It is believed that seven members attended this inaugural meeting: Conor Flynn, Richard P., Jimmy R., Jimmy the Teacher, brothers Matt S. and Leo S., and another man.

    Conor F. [right] had immigrated to the U.S. from County Roscommon, Ireland, and had gotten sober in 1943 in Philadephia, Pennsylvania. He and his wife were on vacation in Ireland when she read an Evening Mail interview with  Father Tom Dunlea, who was also vacationing, from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. In addition to discussing his “Boys Town Home” project, he spoke at length about the success of the Sydney A.A. group with which he was involved. This interview marked the first introduction of A.A. to the general public in Ireland, prompting Conor’s wife to suggest that he take action to start A.A. in Ireland.
    While in Derry, Conor tried to generate interest but was told that there were no alcoholics in the north and that he should try the south. In the south, he was advised that problem drinkers should join the Pioneers (Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart, an international association of Roman Catholic teetotalers). He also gave an interview to the Evening Mail, providing a box number for the paper to share with anyone interested in contacting him. He received a letter from a man requesting that his brother be contacted. The brother was reached, but he replied, “He’s the one you should talk to,” i.e., the letter writer.

    Just as Conor was about to accept defeat, he met Eva Jennings, who was staying at his hotel, the Abbotsford Hotel [left: advertisement] on Harcourt Street in Dublin. They met for breakfast, and he confided in her about the difficulties he was facing in starting A.A. in Dublin. She was sympathetic and advised him to meet with Dr. Norman Moore, head of St. Patrick’s (psychiatric) Hospital [right] , where a close relative of hers was under his care. Conor met with Dr. Moore, who had read about A.A. in Reader's Digest, and gave him a copy of Alcoholics Anonymous (the “Big Book”). Dr. Moore remarked about one of his patients, Richard P., “whom he feared he might be saddled with for life,” saying, “If you [Conor] can help this man, I’ll believe in A.A. 100 percent!” Dr. Moore introduced Conor to Richard, who expressed interest and was then escorted to Conor’s hotel. The two men ‘clicked,’ and Richard P. was subsequently discharged from the hospital.
    Together, the two men arranged the first closed meeting in Dublin. Both brothers Matt and Leo S., who had each considered the other alcoholic, but not themselves, joined; ironically, the first public meeting of A.A. was held in one of their homes.

November 17 in A.A. History

In 1943, the first meeting of the Board of Trustees of The Alcoholic Foundation, Inc. was held. Originally incorporated as a trust, it would later be reorganized as a membership corporation. The number of trustees was increased from seven to nine. Leonard Harrison [near right] was the first President. A. LeRoy Chipman [far right] joined the board as a Class A Trustee and served until December 1954. He continued to serve as Trustee Emeritus from January 1955 until his death in December 1964.