March 18 in A.A. History

1905: Clinton “Duke” P. was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to George W. and Frances Thompson P. In 1918, the family would move to Kansas City, Missouri, where Duke would graduate from the University of Missouri in 1926 and from the Kansas City School of Law in 1932. That same year, he married Catherine “Katie” Northern.
    In 1940, Duke would be admitted to Akron City Hospital in Akron, Ohio, with “acute gastritis,” and it was there that he sobered up. Dr. Bob S. became his sponsor, and later that year, he led the first A.A. meeting in Toledo, Ohio.

1947: Despite only two A.A. groups existing in the area, the Dallas Central Office opened and held its first Board meeting. Located in the Davis Building [left, c. 1945] at 1309 Main Street (near Akard Street), the office was a musty, slightly cluttered space.
    Dick P. served as the director. Although he suffered physical ailments from Jamaica Ginger^* [right] poisoning during Prohibition, he tirelessly answered phones, coordinated 12th-Step calls, shared with friends and strangers over coffee, and even sold literature.
    Over the next several years, the office would relocate a few times, but always remained in the Downtown Dallas area.

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^*During the Prohibition Era, Jamaica Ginger was typically made at home or produced illicitly, using whatever ingredients were available, which led to inconsistent quality and potency. Homemade recipes often consisted of fresh ginger, sugar, water, and high-proof alcohol such as moonshine. The quality and safety of this bootlegged Jamaica Ginger were dubious, and consumers risked contamination or exposure to harmful ingredients. Nevertheless, ginger liqueurs remained popular during Prohibition, frequently used in cocktails to disguise the unpleasant taste of inferior alcohol.

1951: Cliff W. [left] of Los Angeles, California, sober since 1941, was elected as the first Southern California Delegate to the General Service Conference.
    A year before getting sober, in March 1940, Cliff had invited a stranger, Mort J. [right], into his home. Mort had just left the residence of Kaye Miller, a non-alcoholic who was trying to start A.A. meetings in Los Angeles, but was giving up and moving to Hawai'i. Desperate to talk to someone about his alcoholism to help him stay sober, Mort had retrieved leads from Kaye’s wastebasket, including Cliff’s name and address, which had been submitted to the Alcoholic Foundation by Cliff's wife. Although Cliff had no interest in quitting drinking at the time, he felt sympathy for Mort and agreed to listen.

March 17 in A.A. History

1938: John D. Rockefeller Jr. [near right] replied to a 23 February memorandum from Willard S. “Bill” Richardson [far right] that detailed the work and achievements of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) in its first few years. Richardson’s memo also requested $10,000 [~$230,700 in 2026] in funding over two years. In his reply [left], Rockefeller stated,

    … What has been accomplished according to these records in regener­ating human life is almost miraculous. I do not wonder at your interest in the work.
    On the other hand, much as I would like to do what you gentlemen want me to do and agree to contribute $5,000 a year for two years to the support of the work, as you know it is contrary to our office policy to undertake the entire responsibility for any enterprise, or even a fifty per cent responsibility, unless we expect to carry it indefinitely or to its conclusion. This policy I am sure you agree has been proved, by our long experience, to be a wise one. I feel that it would be a mistake to deviate from it.
    However, because of the interest of yourself and these other friends in the matter, I will provide a total of $5,000 for this enterprise. Because the service 
for which this sum is to be used is closely related to the Riverside Church, the friends who present the request to me being officers of the Church, I am making the contribution of $5,000 to Riverside Church as a non-quota item of of the Benevolent Department, understanding that it will be dispensed for the object mentioned in response to your requisition.
    From my standpoint it is understood that the money can be spend during one, two, or three years, as may seem to you wise, but that in any event you will not look to me for a further contribution for this object.…

March 16 in A.A. History

1940: The Alcoholic Foundation relocated^* from 17 Williams St. in Newark, New Jersey, to a two-room office at 30 Vesey St.^†  [left] in Lower Manhattan, New York City. With the move, Ruth Hock  [right] became the first National Secretary of the Alcoholic Foundation. Before the move, most of the draft lined yellow pages and draft manuscripts of the Big Book had been discarded, including the first draft of the Twelve Steps, a tremendous loss for the Alcoholics Anonymous Archives.
    Rent for the new office was $650 a year [~$15,100 in 2026]. Lorraine Greim  [right], Ruth’s recently hired non-alcoholic assistant, received a raise from $12 [~$278 in 2026] a week to $15 [~$350 in 2026], because she had expected to work in Newark when she was hired. Bill W. affectionately nicknamed her “Sweetie Pie.”

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^* Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age incorrectly dates this move to February 1940.

^† On 11 September 2001, 30 Vesey Street was nearly destroyed when the World Trade Center buildings collapsed.

1975: The first 12-step meeting conducted in Japanese took place at the Kamata Catholic Church  [left] near Haneda Airport in the Ōta district of Tokyo. This event marked the beginning of Alcoholics Anonymous in Japan. After this, A.A. events started being held throughout Japan.

2000: Nancy M.-O. [right] founded AA History Buffs on egroups.com. After at least 444 posts to the group, she somehow lost or forgot the password, and subsequently restarted the group on Yahoo Groups.

March 15 in A.A. History

1941: The first Alcoholics Anonymous group in Connecticut was formed in New Haven, which spurred the creation of groups in neighboring towns.
    Alex P., a Westport resident who attended meetings in New Haven [left, c. 1944], handled inquiries from others in his area. Soon after, a group was established in Westport [right, c. 1940s–50s].

Other significant events in March
                 (no specific date known)                 

1946: The A.A. Grapevine published the following notice [right]:

    The March of Time is in the process of making a documentary film on alcoholism, in which Alcoholics Anonymous is to play a large part. The film, said a March of Time official, will probably not be ready for release for several months to come. Prior to the release they will notify the Central Office, which in turn will inform all A.A. groups in time to catch the picture immediately it is out.

    The film, titled “Problem Drinkers,” was released on 14 June 1946.

1947: Nellie “Nell” Wing [right] was traveling through New York City on her way to Mexico to study art. Low on funds, she took a temporary position at the Alcoholic Foundation office, which would later become the General Service Office.
    A non-alcoholic, Nell would retire in December 1982, after more than 35 years of service to Alcoholics Anonymous. Until he died, she would be Bill W.’s secretary. Early in 1972, she became A.A.’s first official Archivist, though she had begun collecting archival material in 1955. Over her career, she also held many other positions, including receptionist, clerk, stenographer, switchboard operator, librarian, editor, and designer of publications such as Box 4-5-9, which she worked on for many years. In 1951, at the first General Service Conference, she even acted as a “bouncer,” ensuring only those involved in Conference business were admitted. 

March 14 in A.A. History

1906: Sylvia Brainerd [left^*] was born in Washington, D.C. She married Philip C. K―― and, though they later divorced, she continued to use his last name. As Sylvia K., she became the first woman in Alcoholics Anonymous to achieve so-called “permanent” (i.e., for the remainder of her life) long-term sobriety, beginning on September 13, 1939, in Chicago, Illinois. Her story, titled “Keys to the Kingdom,” appears in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

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^*A portrait of Miss Brainerd, exhibited by English sculptor Cecil Thomas at the Free Art Gallery, in Washington, who said of her appearance, “one of the types of beauty most inspiring America” (El Mundo del Auto, mayo 1925).

1935: At Calvary Episcopal Church in Manhattan, Dr. Frederick B. [near right] was baptized by Rev. Samuel Shoemaker [center right], with Bill W. [far right] serving as his godfather.

1942: The New Jersey Group of Alcoholics Anonymous commemorated its anniversary with a dinner [right: invitation] at the Hotel Suburban [below left], located at 141 S. Harrison St. in South Orange, New Jersey. Bill W. was the featured speaker, with tickets costing $2.50 [~$50 in 2026].

1949: Knowing he was dying, Dr. Bob S. [near right] wrote to Bill W. [far right] regarding the idea of a General Service Conference:

    Have been feeling quite painfully ill… Do not have the feeling that this [conference] is a particularly guided thing to do now. Maybe I am wrong, but that is the way I feel. Why don’t you see if can get the boys to put across this committee and let it go at that.

March 13 in A.A. History

1887: James “Jim” R. was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the first son and third of eight children of Mary Fisher and Joseph R. He would get sober on 7 June 1933, more than 18 months before Bill W. In June 1940, he would co-found Alcoholics Anonymous in Baltimore.

1895: Henry “Hank” P. [right: as a young man] was born in Marion, Iowa, the second of three children and first son of Mary Giffen and Daniel P., whose family had lived in the area for several generations.

    Hank would become the first person in New York City to achieve sobriety with the help of Bill W. Considered by many to be the “forgotten” co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, he played a significant role in writing and publishing the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. His story in the first edition of that book is titled “The Unbeliever.”

Other significant events in March
                 (no specific date known)                 

1942: Irwin “Irv” M. [left] wrote the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City to report that he, along with three other alcoholics—Bill S., George S., and Louis J.—were forming an Alcoholics Anonymous group in Charleston, West Virginia. The group, the first in the state, was initially attended by three members: "W. T." S. [presumably the same person as Bill S.], secretary; George S.; and Louis J.
    Within six months, the group would double in size and move its meetings to W. T.’s office. Over the next three months, membership increased to 12, then 16, and eventually 29 members. These new members included individuals who had been active in A.A. in Cleveland, Ohio; New York City; Cincinnati, Ohio; Zanesville, Ohio; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before relocating to Charleston.
    A year later, on March 22, Bill S. would write to National Secretary Bobbie B. at the Foundation, recognizing Irv as the “sponsor” of the group. Bill W. would visit in March 1943, and clubrooms would be established in 1944. By June of that year, membership would reach 71.

March 12 in A.A. History

1992: Dr. C. Nelson Davis [near right: from his obituary], 88, died at his home in Malvern, Pennsylvania.
    Recognizing the benefits of a 12-step program for recovering alcoholics, Dr. Davis and Dr. C. Dudley Saul [far right] became early advocates of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) and lectured together on its behalf. In 1946, Dr. Saul had helped establish one of the first A.A. clubhouses, the 4021 Clubhouse [left] at 4021 Walnut Street in Philadelphia. That same year, the two doctors had opened the C. Dudley Saul Clinic in Philadelphia, the first private treatment center for alcoholism in the United States, with Dr. Davis serving as Physician-in-Charge. The clinic is known today as the Malvern Institute.

Other significant events in March
                 (no specific date known)                 

1940:The third and fourth meetings of the Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Group of A.A. were held at the homes of Dr. A. Wiese Hammer [near right] at 323 S. 17th St. [far left, Nov 2018] and R. H. Bayard B., Jr at 1710 Walnut St. [near left, Jul 2011], respectively. At the latter meeting, Dr. C. Dudley Saul [far right] became the first medical advisor to A.A. Both doctors’ names were mentioned in Jack Alexander’s March 1941 article about Alcoholics Anonymous in The Saturday Evening Post, making them the first medical doctors publicly associated with A.A.

1941: The second printing of Alcoholics Anonymous, included two notable revisions. First, an Appendix II, titled “Spiritual Experience,” was added. Second, Step 12 was reworded to replace “spiritual experience” with “spiritual awakening.” These two changes addressed the common misapprehension that members needed a dramatic, sudden spiritual experience akin to that of Bill W, as described in his account in Chapter 1, “Bill's Story,” at Charles B. Towns Hospital. In addition to these content changes, a misprint on page 234, where the second and third lines from the bottom were duplicated, was corrected.

1941: The original Alcoholics Anonymous group in Baltimore, Maryland, was forced to leave its meeting place in the basement of the Altamont Hotel, 1215 Eutaw Street [left, 1930s], to accommodate World War II draftee processing. The group then found a run-down, second-floor mail-order house at 857 Eutaw Street [right: interior views]. With only $6 in their treasury, four members signed a two-year lease for $45 per month. Several members, some still newly sober, worked to remove shelving, paint, and lay a new floor. An employer, pleased that one of his employees had gotten sober, donated 50 chairs.
     In early 1941, the group moved into what became known as “857” and remained there until 1987, when they relocated to 123 N. Clinton St. in Highlandtown [left, Nov 2007]. After 53 years, the 857 Club—also called the Rebos Club—continues to reach alcoholics at 100 S. Haven Street [right, Jul 2024] after 53 years, hosting 13 meetings a week, including 2 hybrid meetings.

1941: In Jacksonville, Florida, the Alcoholics Anonymous group reported a membership of five. The previous fall, Cmdr. Junius C., Jr [left], a naval officer stationed at the nearby Air Force base, had introduced Tom S. [right] to A.A. Soon after, the two men began working together to carry the A.A. message to other alcoholics.

March 11 in A.A. History

1891: James McCready “Mac” H. [near right, 1925] was born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania [far right: map, 1902]—about 30 miles [50 km] south of Pittsburgh—to Joseph Huston, a dentist, and Elizabeth Fishburn H. In March 1940, Mac would help found Alcoholics Anonymous in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1951: In American Weekly, Booton Herndon memorialized Dr. Bob S. in an article titled “Dr. Bob: His Only Monument Is a Plaque, but the Thousands He Helped Rescue From Alcoholism Will Never Forget Him” [left: article, illustration].

2020: “Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12‐step programs for alcohol use disorder,” [left: cover] by John F. Kelly, Keith Humphreys, and Marcia Ferri 
was published. They sought to

    … evaluate whether peer‐led AA and professionally‐delivered treatments that facilitate AA involvement (Twelve‐Step Facilitation (TSF) interventions) achieve important outcomes, specifically: abstinence, reduced drinking intensity, reduced alcohol‐related consequences, alcohol addiction severity, and healthcare cost offsets.

    Their methodology was to search

• Cochrane Drugs and Alcohol Group Specialized Register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and PsycINFO from inception to 2 August 2019.…
• ongoing and unpublished studies via ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) on 15 November 2018.…
• included non‐English language literature.…
• references of topic‐related systematic reviews and bibliographies of the included studies

    They looked for existing studies and included

    … randomized controlled trials (RCTs), quasi‐RCTs and non‐randomized studies that compared AA or TSF (AA/TSF) with other interventions, such as motivational enhancement therapy (MET) or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), TSF treatment variants, or no treatment. We also included healthcare cost offset studies. Participants were non‐coerced adults with AUD [alcohol use disorder].

    They concluded:

    There is high quality evidence that manualized AA/TSF interventions are more effective than other established treatments, such as CBT, for increasing abstinence. Non‐manualized AA/TSF may perform as well as these other established treatments. AA/TSF interventions, both manualized^* and non‐manualized, may be at least as effective as other treatments for other alcohol‐related outcomes. AA/TSF probably produces substantial healthcare cost savings among people with alcohol use disorder.

    One anonymous Substack writer titled a post that referred to this study as “Guess What? AA Works.”

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^*In this study, manualized refers to interventions that follow a standardized, structured approach; they are characterized by:
1.    A session-to-session outline
2.    Treatment based on standardized content
3.    Content delivered in a linear or modular fashion
4.    Consistent treatment delivered across time and different sites

March 10 in A.A. History

1886: Frank S. Shaw, a descendant of Mayflower passengers, was born in Bath, Maine, to William R. and Jane Stinson Shaw. In 1914, he would join the Wall Street firm J.K. Rice, Jr. & Co. [right: post card solicitation, 1920] and eventually became a partner. Shaw remain with the firm until 1957, when he retired for health reasons, two years before his death in 1959. He would become a good friend of Bill W. and an early supporter of Bill’s stock market theories. Shaw would marry Elsie Valentine, a close childhood friend of Bill’s wife, Lois.

1916: The day after Pancho Villa [near right] raided Columbus, New Mexico, and the U.S. Army post at nearby Camp Furlong, killing 10 civilians and 8 soldiers, President Woodrow Wilson [left] ordered an armed force under Brigadier General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing [far right] to lead a “punitive expedition” into Mexico to capture Villa and prevent future raids. As a result, Norwich University readmitted and mobilized its sophomore class in June, who had all been expelled following a hazing incident in February. One was Bill W.

1939: After a 10-week separation, Hank P. [far left] returned from Bill and Lois W.’s home at 182 Clinton St. in Brooklyn to his wife, Kathleen [near left], at their home at 344 N. Fullerton Ave. in Montclair, New Jersey.

March 9 in A.A. History

1953: Works Publishing, Inc. was renamed Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing, Inc. [below: paperwork].  

Other significant events in March
                 (no specific date known)                

1919: [Early] Four months after the end of World War I, Bill W. sailed from Bordeaux, France, to New York City aboard the SS Powhatan [right: docked in New York City, 6 Sep 1918]. 

1934: After Bill W. relapsed following his first admission to Charles B. Towns Hospital, his wife, Lois, quit her job at Macy’s [left, early 1930s]. Hoping to keep him away from alcohol, she took him to his sister Dorothy and Leonard Strong’s farm in Green River, Vermont [right: aerial view with close-up inset of the farm]. However, on his first day of fishing, Bill encountered a generous man with a bottle and relapsed. They would stay until summer.

1937: [1938? 13 Sep 1937?] Florence R. of Westfield, New Jersey, became the first woman to get sober in A.A.’s New York City Group and the second woman to do so anywhere. Previously married to a Wall Street acquaintance of Bill Wilson’s, Florence had believed that divorce would eliminate the cause of her drinking. Ironically, her ex-husband had been the one who brought Lois Wilson to visit her at Bellevue Hospital. Bill and Lois had gotten her out, and Florence stayed with them briefly before moving in with other A.A. members. Although she began attending meetings in March 1937, staying sober proved challenging. Florence’s presence in the group influenced the decision to drop the name “One Hundred Men” for the Big Book (and its publishing company). Her story, “A Feminine Victory,” would later appear in the first edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

1939: Reviewers were returning multilith copies of the draft of Alcoholics Anonymous that had been sent out in February. Certain readers noted that the text frequently used directives and the words “you” and “your.” While “greatly impressed and enthusiastic,” Dr. James Wainwright Howard [left], Assistant Attending Psychiatrist at Mountainside Hospital in Montclair, New Jersey, felt the tone was too dogmatic and directive. He suggested toning down the use of direct instructions to the reader in favor of relating personal experiences. Drs. William D. Silkworth [near right] and Harry M. Tiebout [far right] offered similar advice.

1940: Mort J. [left] had bought the book Alcoholics Anonymous in September 1939 and tossed it into his suitcase without even glancing at it. He had then embarked on a multi-week spree, traveling from Denver, Colorado, to California, through Arizona, and into Nogales, Guaymas, and Hermosillo in Mexico, ultimately arriving in Palm Springs.
    There, he had regained consciousness and discovered the book in his luggage. “Shaking violently,” he began to read it. From that day in November 1939, he never drank again.
    In Los Angeles, he contacted the Alcoholic Foundation, and Ruth Hock provided him with the phone number and address of Kaye Miller, a non-alcoholic who had been the driving force behind the first A.A. meeting and group in Los Angeles.
    Mort called on Kaye at her home and asked, “Where's the meeting?”
    “There are no meetings anymore,” Kaye replied. “I’m disgusted. I’m going to Hawaii or Europe.”
    “Where are all the members of A. A?”
    “They are all drunk,” she said bitterly.
    “Do you have any names for me? I want to get in touch with some alcoholics in town.”
    “You’re wasting your time.” She had cleaned out her apartment and thrown all the names of prospects and letters of inquiry into a wastebasket. Mort picked them out of the trash, pocketed them, and then left.
    Kaye’s last words to him were, “Don’t waste your time on them. I’ve called on them all. They can’t stay sober.”
    As Mort walked home, he sifted through the contacts and letters he had taken from Kaye. He found the address of Cliff W., whose wife had written to A.A. in New York for help after reading about the organization in the syndicated column of Beatrice Fairfax, the “Dear Abby” of that era.
    He went to Cliff’s house and rang the doorbell. Cliff opened the door.
“My name is Mort J. I’m a member of Alcoholics Anonymous; may I come in?”
    When Mort showed up at Cliff Walker’s door [right: 4222 Vantage Ave, Studio City in April 2024, likely his home in 1940], Cliff listened to Mort’s story, despite having no desire to stop drinking or attend A.A. meetings. However, he was spellbound as Mort recounted the story his last roaring drunk. Mort explained that, as he understood it, he could not stay sober unless he carried the message to other alcoholics. Would Cliff come to a meeting? Could he help organize one?
    Cliff liked Mort, and more as a favor to him, to help him stay sober, he agreed. Years later, after he had joined A.A. himself, Cliff reflected, “I had no desire to join Alcoholics Anonymous. But I had to see Mort again. He attracted me. And years later, when Bill W. came out with the 11th tradition, I realized how true it was when he said A.A. is a program of attraction rather than promotion.”
    Looking for a meeting place, Mort contacted Dr. Ethel Leonard, who worked with alcoholics and happened to be the house physician at the Hotel Cecil [left, c. 1928] on Main St. in Los Angeles, California. Through Dr. Leonard's assistance, Mort rented a large room on the mezzanine for $5.00 [~$113 in 2025]. This was the first public meeting of A.A. in Los Angeles, held on a Friday at 8 p.m. in March 1940. It was open to anyone who desired to stop drinking. Ted LeBerthon, a columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News, wrote about the meeting in his column, noting that it was held in the heart of Skid Row.
    “I chose this location,” Mort J. later recalled, “because the price was right, and there was a good psychological reason for holding a meeting down there because I knew it would show us where we were headed unless we did something about it—that was our destination, Skid Row, the drunk tank, sleeping in the alleys and under the bridges, winos, dead men…”
    Besides Mort and Cliff, about 10 other men attended—men who had failed to sober up at Johnny Howe’s classes or Kaye Miller’s meetings earlier that year. Mort urged them to give A.A. another chance.
    Mort didn’t know how to run an A.A. meeting. There was no coffee, no doughnuts; all he had was his copy of Alcoholics Anonymous. He opened the meeting by stating that he had not had a drink in five months. He asked if anyone would read a few pages. When no one volunteered, Mort opened the book to Chapter 5 and began reading, “Rarely have we seen a person fail…”
    Thus began the practice of reading a portion of Chapter 5, which eventually spread throughout A.A.