September 9 in A.A. History

1925: Melvin D. “Mel” B. [left, c. WWII] was born in Norfolk, Nebraska, the eldest son (with an older sister) of the three children of Bertha E. Swish­er and Learner A. B.

One of his schoolmates would be Johnny Carson, the longtime host of The Tonight Show. In 1950, Mel would sober up in Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) and become a prolific writer, freelancing for Ohio’s The Toledo Blade and authoring numerous books and articles. Writing as “Mel B.,” he contributed dozens of articles to the A.A. Grapevine and published several recovery- and A.A.-related books. Additionally, he served as the primary author, without attribution, of Pass It On [right], the General Service Conference-approved biography of Bill W.

1933: William “Bill” B. was born in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of William and Ruth McLintock B.

He would get sober on 8 April 1962 in Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) and become a close friend of Lois W. [left: Bill with Lois] for the last 16 years of her life. He would author The Lois W―― Story: When Love is Not Enough (2005), along with 24 other titles. He would co-write the screenplay for the movie of the same name (2010) and write the screenplay for, as well as act in the role of “Wade” in, My Name Is Bill W. (1989). Additionally, he would produce several other films, including Dog Day Afternoon, Kansas City Bomber, and Serpico. He would serve as a volunteer at Stepping Stones (Bill and Lois’ former home) for half a century and sit on the Stepping Stones Foundation Board of Trustees from 1997 to 2006.

1935: Ernest “Ernie” K. [right] was born in Rochester, New York—just three months after Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) was founded. He was the oldest of two children of Edward and Josephine K. (a 4-syllable Polish name). In 2009, he would reflect back on his surname:

Eight years of grammar school in a German parish shortened that name for practical use, and when I began graduate school bringing transcripts in two names, I was ad­vised to choose one. Tired of too-lengthy phone interactions, I opted for the one that was easier to spell. But I do remain proud of my Polish heritage and advertise it when­ever appropriate.

In 1979, Hazelden Educational Services would publish Ernie’s Not-God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous, a revised and expanded version of his 1978 Harvard University dissertation. He went on to write at least six more books, along with numerous monographs and articles on the intellectual significance of A.A., recovery, and spirituality.

1936: Lois W.’s father, Dr. Clark Burnham [left], age 81, or possibly 80, died of pneumonia [right: New York Times obituary] at Mount Vernon Hospital in Mount Vernon, New York. He had graduated with honors from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and studied medicine at the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), specializing in gynecology. After his death, the Burnham family home at 182 Clinton St., Brooklyn, New York, was taken over by the mortgage company, but they allowed Lois and Bill W. to live there at a reduced rent (due to rent controls in the depressed housing market) until the end of April 1939.

September in A.A. History—day unknown

1948: The A.A. Grapevine published an article titled “And So From My Heart I Say,” by Rev. Sam Shoemaker [left], reflecting on the early days of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.):

It does not seem many years ago since we invited some of our gentleman-drunk friends to come and stay at Calvary House; and when there was a “second floor” to old Calvary Mission, down in the Gas House District, where some of the men who knew better days and were ‘standing’ in the new-found way of life were living together in a kind of starkly simple spiritual community.

We made a lot of mistakes in those old days. Some of the boys helped the others, as we hoped they would; but some helped them downwards instead of upwards. Yet these early experiments had their contribution to make to the beginnings of Alcoholics Anonymous. At least they showed some of the ways not to do it.

Bill often says he saw something in these men which showed him there was a law in operation here, [sic] If a few men could find sobriety through what William James called “a firmer hold on religious realties [sic],” then many might. He went to work to discover what those laws were, and to set about ways of making them available to more people.

Bill is a smart fellow, but I shall always believe there was something way beyond Bill working in the amazing shrewdness with which he gained his insight into alcoholics, into eternal spiritual laws, and into the ways in which one can bring men and women into touch with God without raising needless religious prejudices and creating unnecessary spiritual divisions.

September 8 in A.A. History

1894: James D. “J.D.” H. [right] was born in Groves County, Kentucky. He would become A.A. #10 (some sources say #8 or #17) in September 1936 and go on to be a founder of A.A. in Indiana.

September in A.A. History—day unknown

1947: The A.A. Grapevine published “Little Rock Plan Gives Prospects Close Attention” [left] by B.H.G., presumably Bud G., the founder of the Central Group in Little Rock, Arkansas.

More than five hundred men and women have been initiated into A.A. through the Little Rock Approach Plan… since its creation seven years ago when five men got together and began to use the book, Alcoholics Anonymous, which had just been published.

It is interesting to note that of these men, the founders of the movement here, all are alive and only one ever had a relapse. They are living, walking proof of the state-ment that “it works.”

The Little Rock Plan was, we believe, the first of its kind in the country.… By adhering strictly to the “Plan” hundreds have been brought into A.A. and because this group has kept accurate records and statistics, we can report that our success is better than the national average of 75%…—or to put it another way, our “slip” record is lower than the 25% expected and reported from other groups over the country.

It is not easy to become a member of this group. When a person has expressed a desire to achieve sobriety and has had a sponsor appointed for him, he must leave his work or position for at least two weeks. Usually the prospect is required to spend that entire time within the confines of the club rooms, studying, preparing a case history, meeting and filling assignments laid out by the sponsor.

If, after two weeks, he has discharged his assignments to the satisfaction of his sponsor, he is brought before the executive committee and there his request for membership is presented by his sponsor in his presence. In some instances, because of the peculiarity of the case, he may not be admitted for varying periods as high as six months in some cases [sic]. However, if he is deemed eligible by the committee, he is brought before the next meeting, receives a warm welcome, is handed a copy of the “Approach Program” and the 12 Steps.…

This is not all, however. We do not simply say, “Now here you are, you have had it all, go your way, and may God bless you.” No, we do not cut him off in mid-air, so to speak. We give him a small diary and ask that each day thereafter for 28 days, he record his impressions of the day, any event, whether a happy one or a sad one, and enter therein, “I have not taken a drink this day,” and sign his name.

At the end of this period he returns the diary to the club, is again welcomed and is admitted to full membership, the privilege of the ballot and an unrestricted part in the activities of the fellowship. He is then assigned to a squad, given some definite task, and encouraged to work, guided by some older member, with new prospects.

1948: The A.A. Grapevine was published in a “pocketbook size” of 5½″ × 7½″ with 32 pages for the first time [right: relative sizes of A.A. Grapevine issues through August 1948 (L) and from September 1948 on (R)].

This issue included a rare article by Dr. Bob S. titled “The Fundamentals—In Retrospect.” Among his statements were these:

It is fitting at this time to indulge in some retrospect regarding certain fundamentals. Much has been written, much has been said about the 12 Steps of A.A. These tenets of our faith and practice were not worked out overnight and then presented to our members as an opportunist creed. Born of our early trials and many tribulations, they were and are the result of humble and sincere desire, sought in personal prayer for Divine guidance.

As finally expressed and offered, they are simple in language, plain in meaning. They are also workable by any person having a sincere desire to obtain and keep sobriety. The results are the proof. Their simplicity and workability are such that no special interpretations, and certainly no reservations, have ever been necessary. And it has become increasingly clear that the degree of harmonious living which we achieve is in direct ratio to our earnest attempt to follow them literally under Divine guidance to the best of our ability.

September 7 in A.A. History

1939: Lois W. [near right] noted in her diary that Hank [P.] [far right] remained drunk.

1954: Alcoholics Anonymous in the U.K. reprinted the U.S./Canada first edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, marking the first such reprint outside the U.S. [left: U.K. Big Book 1st edition, 1st printing without dust jacket; below right: copyright page]. They would later do the same with the U.S./Canada second edition. The release of the third and fourth editions in the U.K. would coincide with their release in the U.S./Canada. All four U.K. versions contained the same stories as the U.S./Canada editions, although there was initial consideration of including uniquely British stories.

September in A.A. History—day unknown

1941: The first Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) group in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was held at the Biltmore Hotel [right, 1952].

A.A. in Oklahoma began with two men drying out at Oklahoma City’s Coyne Campbell Hospital [left, 1952], which was run by Dr. Coyne Campbell. This small, two-story facility on Walnut Street, located on the seedy east side of town, treated mental and nervous disorders. 

While there, they read Jack Alexander’s article, “Alcoholics Anonymous: Freed Slaves of Drink, Now They Free Others,” from the March 1941 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.

Upon their release, they—or perhaps one of their wives—sent a penny postcard to the Alcoholic Foundation office in New York City inquiring about meetings in Oklahoma. The office replied that there were no meetings yet, but someone would contact them. That someone turned out to be Johnny P., the candy salesman who founded A.A. in Kansas City, Missouri, and to whom the New York office forwarded their request.

On his next trip to Oklahoma, Johnny brought the message of A.A. to the two men. They then contacted others and held the first meeting of the Oklahoma City Group. By the end of the year, the group would have 11 members and be growing steadily. By 1942, they would reach 25 members; by 1944, 60.

1941: A month after the first Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) group in Colorado began in Denver on 19 August with 11 attendees, the group had grown to 16 members and moved to the Cosmopolitan Hotel [right, c. 1940].

Two factions threatened to split the group over whether newcomers should be required to follow rigid rules before joining. The dispute was resolved when Sarah McP. moved to Washington, D.C., and Venard F., who had played a key role in bringing A.A. to Denver, resigned as a group leader. However, this conflict led directly to the formation of a Denver Central Committee, which included Hugh McA., Art D., Ernie R., and Harold O.

1942: A small group of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) members in Hartford, Connecticut, who had been meeting in various homes, began holding a buffet supper meeting at the Blue Plate Restaurant in West Hartford [left: interior, recent]. Mr. and Mrs. Gengas, the restaurant owners, became intrigued by their unusual patrons and offered a banquet room as a regular meeting place on Monday nights. As a result, the original Hartford group became known as the Blue Plate Group.

1943: Bill W. [right, 1941] spoke at the first public meeting of the Blue Plate Group, the first A.A. group in Hartford, Connecticut, held to celebrate its first anniversary.

1944: Barely 11 months after its beginning, Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) in Iowa held its first State Convention at the swank Hotel Fort Des Moines [left, 1940s–50s] in Des Moines, Iowa. After a day of workshops, a buffet lunch, and afternoon tea for the wives, 150 people from all over Iowa and from Minneapolis, Minnesota; Chicago, Illinois; Omaha, Nebraska; and St. Paul, Minnesota attended the banquet. The convention was praised in the newspapers and on the radio.

September 6 in A.A. History

1939: Lois W. [near right] noted in her diary, “Hank [P.] [far right] drunk, phoned Bill in the afternoon.”

September in A.A. History—day unknown

1940: Earl T. [left] wrote to the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City to inform them that the A.A. members in Chicago, Illinois, were organizing a group and would hold regular meetings. He said, in part,

There are eight of us—with three new prospects who will go to Akron in the near future. Sylvia [K.] back in Evanston [Illinois] and anxious to help with the work here. Whether she has it yet is a question, but we will continue to work with her.

Sylvia [right] had recently left Akron, Ohio, and arrived in Chicago by train, drunk. In fact, she had sobered up for the last time on the day of her arrival, September 13, and would never drink again.

1940: Duke P.—who had gotten sober after reading newspaper accounts of Rollickin’ Rollie H.’s [left: in his Cleveland Indians uniform, c. 1940] recovery earlier that year—and other local members started the first A.A. group in Toledo, Ohio. In 1978, Duke recalled, there were thirteen attendees at Ruth T.’s big house on the Maumee River, including eight alcoholics. Among the attendees were Ernie G. [right] and his wife Ruth, who had just moved there from Akron, Ohio (one year later, Ernie would marry Dr. Bob S.’s adopted daughter Suzanne).

1940: Someone in Cleveland, Ohio, reported to Bill W. [left] at the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City that, in addition to their own six meetings and 400–500 members, Ohio had meetings in Akron, Toledo, Youngstown, Dayton, Wooster, and Canton. Dorothy Wright S. [near right] inquired about the possibility of a mimeographed directory “showing where people are,” and also suggested a newsletter to be sent to all groups to “bring everybody closer together.” Dorothy’s husband Clarence [far right] wrote to Bill, saying that “several groups do not permit a rummy to attend unless he has been hospitalized or talked to by ten men.” He noted that they have a “definite setup” with three hospitals and two sanitariums, and that they typically have 10–15 drunks hospitalized at any given time.

1940: In Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Group of A.A. made its first prison commitment at the House of Corrections [left, c. 1938]. This commitment continued until the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns began in 2020. (Note that this occurred before the first A.A. meetings at San Quentin Prison, initiated by Warden Duffy [right, c. 1943] in California, two years later.)

1941: Ernie G. married Sue, the adopted daughter of Anne and Dr. Bob S. [left: Ernie and Sue, 1957±3]. He was nearly twice her age. Sue later said,

I think my dad got the bright idea that if he could get Ernie to take me out, and he’d pay the way, he might be able to get me away from Ray [Windows, her then-boyfriend]. We’d go down and get hamburgers, and Dad would buy them. I knew all that, but I didn’t realize it was in connection with Ray at the time. Now I think it was. I think Dad was using Ernie, and it backfired on him.

Both her parents strongly objected to the idea of Sue’s marriage, and she never informed them of it, assuming they would learn about it from the local papers. Ernie was drunk at the wedding and remained unable to stay sober throughout the marriage. The marriage turned out to be a disaster, and Sue divorced Ernie in 1965 to marry Ray.

1941: Harper’s Magazine [right: cover, with white arrows indicating the relevant article] published the final installment of a four-part series titled “Laymen and Alcoholism,” by Genevieve Parkhurst^*, which primarily offered guidance for non-professionals, including family members, in dealing with alcoholics:

The layman’s burden I have indicated is not for the shoulders of the therapist alone. The family of the alcoholic—parents, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters, husbands and wives—may very well be the deciding factor in the success or failure of his cure, just as they are often the chief contributors to the disturbance which causes the illness.… For their benefit I am setting down a list of things to be remembered…

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^*No known relation to the early A.A. member who shared the same last name.

September 5 in A.A. History

1907: Nancy F. was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She would come to A.A. in New York City in June 1945 at the age of 38, and struggle to stop drinking. Her story, “The Independent Blonde,” would be published in the second edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. However, according to her later account, she was not the author and did not even know her story would appear in the Big Book.

1938: [Labor Day] Archibald “Archie” T. [left] arrived at Dr. Bob and Anne S.’s house [right: Bob and Anne on their porch] in Akron, Ohio, having had his last drink the day before. Sarah Klein and her husband had driven Archie down from Detroit. Bob admitted him to Akron City Hospital that day. Archie would later recall,

I spent Labor Day in the hospital reading Emmet Fox’s [The] Sermon on the Mount [left]. It changed my entire outlook on life. It changed my direction.

He would stay with the S.s for 10½ months before moving on to start A.A. in Detroit, Michigan. His story, “The Man Who Mastered Fear,” appeared in the first edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, and was retitled “The Fearful One” in the second and third editions.

1939: Lois W. [near right] wrote in her diary, “Kathleen [P――] [far right] phoned to say she thought Hank [her husband] was drunk.”

1947: This is the “official” date of Brazil’s first A.A. group—in Rio de Janeiro [left: map showing Brazil and Rio de Janeiro]. The date was established as a tradition during a group meeting on 29 August 1950, around its third anniversary. While no one knows exactly how or when the Rio de Janeiro Group was formed, it is likely that Herbert “Herb” D., a sober American expatriate who had been living there since 1946, played some role in its creation.

September in A.A. History—day unknown

1939: Prior to the September 30 publication of an article about A.A. in Liberty magazine, which would be A.A.’s first national publicity, Bill W. [far left] wrote to Dr. Bob S. [near left]:

We are growing at an alarming rate, although I have no further fear of large numbers.

Bill’s concern arose from the recent sudden expansion to thirty groups and several hundred members in Cleveland, Ohio. This rapid growth demonstrated that the Fellowship could reach a significant size. A few weeks later, Bill wrote to Dr. Bob again:

The press of newcomers and inquiries was so great that we have to [sic] swing more to the take-it-or-leave-it attitude, which curiously enough, produces better results than trying to be all things at all times at all places to all men.

1939: Dr. Bob S. [above, near left] wrote to Bill W. [above, far left] at this time regarding the mutual support between the Akron and Cleveland A.A. groups in Ohio, saying that he had…

attended a meeting of the Cleveland gang, as I do once or twice a month, and enjoyed a wonderful gathering. Think they have about 38 in their bunch now—refer to men only. Our [Oxford Group] meetings still have 75 or 80 every week, including both men and women.

At this time, some members from Akron were attending meetings in Cleveland, while others from Cleveland were attending meetings in Akron.

1939: Mort J. [right], a resident of Denver, Colorado, bought a copy of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. Without even looking at it, he packed it in his suitcase and forgot about it. In November, after coming to in Palm Springs, California, following a weeks-long international spree—still shaking violently—he found and began to read it. He would never drink again, and would eventually help reestablish A.A. in Los Angeles, California.

September 4 in A.A. History

1897: John S. [left: as a young man] was born in Houlton, Maine, to Rev. Richard and Kate Bolton S.

In the mid-1930s, he became an oil tanker captain [right: "Socony Vacuum," an oil tanker from Captain Jack's era (1934–54)]. In 1946, he got sober in Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), where he was known as “Captain Jack.” He would play a crucial role in establishing the Loners Internationalists Meeting and its confidential bulletin, a meeting-in-print for “Loners,” “Homers,” “Internationalists,” “Port Contacts” (who serve as contacts for Internationalists visiting their port city), and “Loner Sponsors.” He and hundreds of Internationalists like him, who sailed the seven seas, would carry the A.A. message wherever they dropped anchor, significantly contributing to A.A.’s phenomenal worldwide growth.

September in A.A. History—day unknown

1936: William “Bill” V. [near right] got sober in Akron, Ohio. He was one of five men whom Sister Ignatia [far right] recalled coming to the hospital after suffering terrible accidents due to drinking, all five of whom later became A.A. members. His story, “A Ward of the Probate Court,” was published in the first edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. In 1954, he recalled his first impression of Dr. Bob S. [far left], which occurred while he was still in the hospital:

I just lay there and enjoyed the conversation. He’d come every day. He said, “Of myself I am nothing.” I try to have some humility such as I saw in him and Annie. Their doorlatch was always open, and there was always a large pot of coffee back there in their small kitchen [near left]. And it was really potent, as any will remember who enjoyed it.

1938: Alcoholic Foundation Trustee Frank Amos [far left] arranged a meeting between Bill W. [near right] and Eugene Exman [far right], a friend of Amos and the religious editor of Harper Brothers Publishers. Exman offered Bill a $1,500 advance [~$35,500 in 2026] on the royalties from the sales of the book that would become Alcoholics Anonymous.

Upon hearing this, the Alcoholic Foundation Board of Trustees would urge acceptance, but Bill and Hank P. [left] wanted book ownership to remain within the Fellowship. At Exman’s suggestion, Hank would persuade Bill that they should form “One Hundred Men Corp.,” which, when women began seeking sobriety in A.A., became “Works Publishing, Inc.,” later “Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing,” and eventually “Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.” (AAWS), the name that remains today. They planned to sell stock at a par value of $25 [~$590 in 2026]. Six hundred shares would be issued; Hank and Bill would each receive 200 shares, and the remaining 200 shares would be sold to others. Later, thirty shares of preferred stock with a par value of $100 [~$2,400 in 2026] would also be sold.

Eventually, all of these shares would be bought back by the Alcoholic Foundation, with a loan from John D. Rockefeller [right]—except for Bill’s and Hank’s, which would essentially^* be relinquished without compensation. To appease the board, the author’s royalties, which would initially go to Bill, would instead go to the Alcoholic Foundation.

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^*Hank insisted on getting back the Alcoholic Foundation furniture he believed had come from Honors Dealers, but for which Bill claimed they had already compensated him. They eventually gave Hank $200 [~$4,700 in 2026].

1939: Your Faith magazine [left: cover with red arrows pointing to the relevant article] published D. J. Defoe’s interview with Dr. Bob S. (who is not named), titled “I Saw Religion Remake a Drunkard.”