December 31 in A.A. History

In 1937, Bill and Lois W. hosted a gala New Year’s Eve party at 182 Clinton St. [right: living room]. They invited nearly 30 people, including most, if not all, of the members of the New York City as-yet-unnamed Alcoholics Anonymous fellowship, as well as a number of other friends and relatives.

In 1940, the first major Alcoholics Anonymous event in Detroit, Michigan, was a New Year’s Eve celebration at Mike E.’s house. About 20 A.A. members attended, along with their spouses or guests, bringing the total to around 40 people [left: photo taken at the celebration].

In 2006, the Delegate Area (DelArea) system for tracking groups and contributions was shut down at the General Service Office in New York City.

December 30 in A.A. History

In 1921, Ella Brock Griffith, 72, Bill W.’s maternal grandmother, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in her bed in Dorset, Vermont. She and her husband, Gardner Fayette Griffith, had raised Bill and his sister, Dorothy, from the age of 10. She would be buried in East Dorset Cemetery [right: death certificate; left: gravestone].

In 2021, Arthur S. [left], 81, of Arlington, Texas died after a long illness. 
    Born and raised in Yonkers, New York, Arthur attended one of the first computer schools in the world. He spent his entire professional life working with computers, and retired to Texas where he pursued his avocation as a historian—traveling the country with friends giving history presentations. He authored “A Narrative Timeline of AA History,” perhaps the most detailed and accurate compendium of facts about A.A. history.

December 29 in A.A. History

In 1946, Dr. Bob S. [near right] wrote a two-page note [below left] to Ed W. [far right], presumably upon receiving some gems or jewels from him:

My Dear Ed, –
    The [illegible] reached me safely & thanks a lot for them. My jeweller [sic] is taking them to NY some time next month to see what can be done with them most advantageously. I imagine that the red one will wind up as a pendant. It was swell of you to send them. I have enjoyed your little book very much & know that it will prove to be of a lot of help to many. I had a number of letters & cards from folks at camp, [illegible], McCombs, Dr. Bennett, [illegible] Schneiders, Muenknoellers, et al. Wish we could go up next year but have serious misgivings about it. It does not look now as tho we could. Am following your advice and leave in ten days for Florida for a month.
    Love to Hazel
        Most sincerely
            Dr. Bob

Dr. Bob’s reference to “your little book,” was to The Little Red Book: A Suggested Outline for Reference and Study of the Working Mechanics of the Twelve Steps [right: cover]. Ed was the primary author, while Dr. Bob was one of several contributors who assisted in its writing and editing.

December 28 in A.A. History

In 1890, Frank Horace C. [right], known as “Horace,” was born in Manhattan to Frances Moore and Joseph C. He was the second of four children, all boys. Horace would join Alcoholics Anonymous in December 1938 and become actively involved in a number of projects within the Fellowship.

In 1988, John Bolton “Captain Jack” S. [near left: as a young man] died [far left: obituary] in Portland, Maine, where he had retired. He became an oil tanker captain in the mid-1930s and achieved sobriety through Alcoholics Anonymous in 1946. He played a crucial role in founding what became the Loners Internationalists Meeting and its confidential bulletin, a publication for “Loners,” “Homers,” “Internationalists,” “Port Contacts” (who served as liaisons for Internationalists visiting their port cities), and “Loner Sponsors.” Alongside hundreds of Internationalists like him, he sailed the seven seas, spreading the A.A. message wherever they dropped anchor and contributing significantly to A.A.’s remarkable global growth.

December 27 in A.A. History

In 1893, Samuel Moor Shoemaker [right] was born in a second-floor front room of a rented house on Read Street in Baltimore, Maryland. He was the son of Ellen Ward “Nellie” Whitridge, who later became president of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, and Samuel Moor Shoemaker, Jr., who eventually served as chairman of the Board of Regents of the University of Maryland. His parents had met at Emmanuel Church in Baltimore, where Sam’s uncle was the rector.
    When Sam was two years old, the family would move to their country home, Burnside, located about ten miles [~16 km] north of Baltimore. For Sam, this was home throughout his life. Between 1860 and 1863, his grandfather had purchased thirteen tracts of land, totaling 467 acres [nearly 2 km²], that comprised Burnside—a beautiful piece of land nestled between two lines of gently rolling hills in the Green Spring Valley.

In 1957, Dr. A. Weise Hammer [left], 77, died [below right: obituary]. He was an early supporter of Alcoholics Anonymous in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Bill W.’s tribute to him in the May 1957 issue of the A.A. Grapevine provided the following “abbreviated list” of his contributions:

    Opened his home to all AA members—secured the Philadelphia Group its first meeting rooms—introduced us to Dr. Stouffer, another great friend-to-be, who was then Chief Psychiatrist at the Philadelphia General Hospital—secured us treatment and visiting privileges there—had AAs speak before the County Medical Society—along with his good wife, Helen, attended nearly every AA meeting for years—gave free medical and surgical aid to every AA who wanted it—visited other cities to talk about AA and paid the expenses of the Philadelphia members he took along—offered to buy the Philadelphia Group its first clubhouse (which had to be declined)—saw that his friend, Judge Curtis Bok, owner of The Saturday Evening Post, became interested in AA—and finally induced the Judge to assign Jack Alexander to do the famous article in 1941 that made our fellowship a national institution.

December 26 in A.A. History

In 1902, Clarence S. [near right] was born at 1280 E. 89th St., Cleveland, Ohio, to Charles [center right] and Jenny Patterson S. [far right]. It was a cold, gray winter morning, with snow and a brisk wind in the forecast. He was the youngest of three boys [left: S. family, c. 1907].
    On 11 February 1938, he would sober up in Akron, Ohio, and would have a falling out with his sponsor, Dr. Bob S., over efforts to enable Catholics to attend A.A. meetings. Catholic priests forbade parishioners from associating with the Oxford Group, with which Akron A.A. was deeply involved. When Dr. Bob refused to take action, Clarence started a new group in Cleveland on 11 May 1939, naming it the Alcoholics Anonymous Group after the newly published book. He sought publicity for A.A., resulting in rapid growth; invented the concept of sponsorship as we know it; distanced himself from the Oxford Group; focused on spirituality while avoiding religion; emphasized the use of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous; and helped create the Cleveland Central Committee, which introduced the concept of rotation.
    However, Clarence’s youthful broadmindedness appeared to diminish over the years, leading him to become more rigid as he got older.

In 1940, The St. Louis Star–Times published a favorable article about A.A. with the headline, “Alcoholics Anonymous, Fraternity that Streamlined the Waterwagon, Has Formed a Group in St. Louis” [left].

In 2001, The Boston Globe published David Mehegan’s article “AA’s growing pains evident in revision of its Big Book” [right]. It noted that

    Until now, the Big Book had been revised only twice: in 1955 and 1976. Now the fourth edition is just off the press, and its painstaking revision is a window into the delicacy of tinkering with a book that many people revere as inspired scripture.…
    While there may be unanimity on the first 164 pages, there is none about the stories.…
    …in the [revision] committee, there was no consensus on the stories, which constitute 80 per-cent of the book. 
    So the committee decided to research [Bill] W――’s writings to find out his attitude toward the book—much as constitutional scholars dig into what James Madison or John Adams meant by “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
    They found, says Richard [the committee chair], that “Bill always saw the book as organic and dynamic, never locked in. The book was not for those of us who were already here. That was cold water for many. People who had been in AA for 30 years said, ‘But you can’t take out that story – it’s my favorite.’ But we had to say, ‘We don’t care. You’re sober now. We need to change it for the new people.’”

December 25 in A.A. History

In 1962, Paul H., Esq. [near right, 1956], 59, the last surviving member of a prominent Butte, Montana family, died of a heart attack in Memphis, Tennessee. He would be buried three days later in the family mausoleum in Butte [far right]. 
    His father, Daniel H. founded a department store bearing the family name in Butte [far left, 1901]. Paul was born in Butte, attended the University of Virginia, and was a Rhodes Scholar [right: The Kevin Review, Kevin, Montana, page 1 headline]. He studied at Oxford and became a lawyer. He had survived a botched frontal lobotomy in 1936, sobered up in Washington, D.C., in 1940, and in January 1948 dictated the first known account by Bill W. (from memory) of how he had written the Twelve Steps for the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.