July 30 in A.A. History

1863: Company B, 14th Regiment of Vermont, Gardner Fayette Griffith's military unit [far left: Griffith], was mustered out of the Union Army in Brattleboro, Vermont, just weeks after its pivotal role [right: Monument to the 14th Vermont volunteer infantry regiment at Gettysburg] in the decisive victory over Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania [near left: a Vermont soldier, c. 1863]. Griffith would later become Bill W.’s grandfather.

1945: Silas Bent, 63, died in a Stamford, Connecticut hospital after a year-long illness [near right: obituary, The Brooklyn (NY) Daily Eagle, 1 Aug 1945, p. 11; far right: gravestone]. He had been a very early member of Alcoholics Anonymous in New York City (A.A. #3 or #4) and, in January 1939, had written the first newspaper article ever published about the organization. However, he returned to drinking less than a year later.

1950: Attendees at A.A.’s 1st International Convention at the Cleveland Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio, adopt the Twelve Traditions nearly unanimously.

1950: Dr. Bob Smith [left] made a brief appearance at A.A.’s 1st International Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, to deliver his final public remarks. His now-famous talk included the following:

There are two or three things that flashed into my mind on which it would be fitting to lay a little emphasis. One is the simplicity of our program. Let’s not louse it all up with Freudian complexes and things that are interesting to the scientific mind but have very little to do with our actual AA work. Our Twelve Steps, when simmered down to the last, resolve themselves into the words love and service.

A.A. History—month & day unknown

1948: [Late] George H., an Alcoholics Anonymous member from New York City, traveled across the United States, surveying A.A. groups about their views on self-governance. He visited Dr. Bob S., who was recovering from one of several surgeries since summer for his recently diagnosed cancer. After the visit, George sent a wire recording to Bill W. that included a brief message from Bob: “Surgery varies a good deal depending on whether you do it or whether it’s done to you.” He also reported on Bob’s condition—bedridden, losing weight, and given no more than six months to live.

George also shared the results of his survey, detailing the attitudes of old-timers in Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; and Akron, Ohio. He believed these groups were opposed to any changes, while the majority of the 370 groups he had personally visited across the country supported the idea of a conference. George noted that these old-timers felt more entitled to serve on committees than A.A. members elsewhere. They preferred a council of older members instead of a conference and believed that only the Twelve Steps should be emphasized, considering the Twelve Traditions too unwieldy.

Later, Bill W. would reflect on this conversation, possibly to Dr. Bob, saying,

I have just been having a long talk with George about the state of AA affairs throughout the country. And he has sharpened up to me, as he as doubtless did to you, the tremendous necessity of getting some sort of council organized which can relate the foundation to the AA groups. I also went over the internal situation here with George, and on the whole he is inclined to think that the changes suggested in the reorganization plan are really necessary for us here in New York before we start the formation of a council.

1948: [Late] Howard Alfred “Al” S. [right] became the second editor of the A.A. Grapevine, succeeding Tom Y. At that time, the magazine was not widely known across the U.S. or Canada. For many months, Al single-handedly wrote entire issues, signing each article with different initials and various locations. Al also transformed the A.A. Grapevine’s focus, shifting the editorial emphasis from stories about drinking to the theme of “You’re Not Drinking—Now What?”

A.A. History—Date Unknown

Month & day unknown

1945: Bob Valentine, an A.A. member from the U.S., was in Rio de Janeiro [left: aerial view, 1945], Brazil, when he met another American named Lynn Goodale. After their conversation, Lynn decided to get sober. Upon returning to the U.S., Bob shared Lynn’s contact information from Brazil with the Alcoholic Foundation office in New York City, most likely with Bobbie Burger, who was A.A.’s National Secretary at that time.

1946: The New York Intergroup published its first list [right] of A.A. meetings in and around New York City. The list included a total of 30 meetings held each week, comprising 20 open meetings, 9 closed meetings, and 3 luncheons “for A.A. members, friends and guests.”

1946: Drs. C. Dudley Saul [far left] and C. Nelson Davis [near left] opened the first private alcohol treatment center in the United States, known as the C. Dudley Saul Clinic, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Davis assumed the role of Physician-in-Charge. After Dr. Saul’s death in 1947, Dr. Davis relocated the clinic to Malvern, Pennsylvania, renaming it The Malvern Institute. The institute still provides treatment for alcoholics to this day.

1946: The first permanent A.A. group in Richmond, Virginia, founded in 1941, opened spacious clubrooms on Grace Street.

1946: Judson B. made the initial inquiry from Alaska to the Alcoholic Foundation office in New York City after he read about A.A. in a Reader’s Digest article. Despite his efforts, Jud was unable to stay sober. In the same year, the Sourdough Group was started in Anchorage [right, 1945] by Jay B. and Shielan R., the first A.A. group in the state with a membership peaking at six individuals. Regretably, the majority of members were transient, and Shielan, who was one of them, eventually left for the lower 48 states, resulting in the group disbanding.

Year, month & day unknown

c. 1945: When Dr. Bob S.’s son, Lt. Robert R. “Smitty” S. [far left, at Mount Farm, England, after his first combat mission, June 1943], returned from military service in World War II, A.A. member Paul S. [near left] helped him secure a job as a service manager at a car dealer-ship in Cleveland, Ohio.

c. 1945: During World War II, a deserter from a U.S. warship that had docked in Cape Town, South Africa arrived, “quite by chance,” at Imperial Military Hospital, Baragwanath (later renamed Johannesburg General Hospital) [right, c. 1930–45].^* He was “drunk as a lord and with a suitcase, inside of which was nothing but AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] literature from the US.” Although the fate of the deserter remains unknown, Sister Maxwell, a Catholic nurse “who maintained alcoholic ward” at that hospital, “accepted without conflict the newish concept that it [alcoholism] is a disease.” She “held on to and used” this literature “to form her own style of AA.” Sister Maxwell, despite not being an alcoholic herself, deeply empathized with those who were. Her method “helped several dozen alcoholics to sobriety on this basis.”

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^* The distance, in a straight line, from Cape Town’s harbour to the Imperial Military Hospital is 775.26 miles (1,247.66 kilometers).

July 25 in A.A. History

1943: American Weekly published the third installment of a three-part series by Genevieve Parkhurst [left], titled “ALCOHOLISM—Laymen Join Science to Cure It.” The first two pages [right] spanned approximately 5 ft2: 32" × 22" [~½ m2: 81 × 56 cm]. The article continued across several additional pages and generated roughly 1,100 inquiries to the Alcoholic Foundation office in New York City.

1947: The U.S. House of Representatives District Committee published a conference report titled “Rehabilitation of chronic alcoholics in District of Columbia” to accompany H.R. 2659 (an “act to establish program for rehabilitation of alcoholics, promote temperance, and provide for medical and scientific treatment of persons found to be alcoholics by courts of District of Columbia, and for other purposes”). The bill was signed into law by President Harry S. Truman on 4 August. During the hearings on this bill, Julius S., a member of the Cosmopolitan Group in Washington, D.C., had testified.

A.A. History—month & day unknown

1944: The first New Jersey-based Intergroup was established in a modest space on the second floor of the Alanon Club [right, 1940s], at the corner of 7th Street and 7th Avenue in Roseville, New Jersey (formerly the Roseville Athletic Club). The office was sparsely furnished with a desk, a few chairs, and a telephone. Prior to this, New Jersey groups had been operating from the A.A. Clubhouse at 334½ W. 24th Street in Manhattan.

Henry “Hank” T. Tesch became the first full-time paid secretary of the New Jersey Intergroup office, serving from 1946 to 1949 [left: minutes of the special meeting at which Hank was elected]. The Intergroup requested a monthly contribution from groups of 50¢ per member, in line with the unwritten tradition of self-support among A.A. groups at that time. Despite some groups having thirty or more members, Intergroup typically received only $5–10 [~$95–190 in 2026] a month from each group. This amount was barely enough to keep the office running, but it set the important precedent that New Jersey A.A. groups would support their Intergroup office.

1944: [Late] The Manhattan Group relocated to what had been Knox Memorial Chapel [right] at 405 W. 41st St., where A.A. members converted the space into a clubhouse named the Cosmopolitan Club.

1945: The first permanent A.A. group in Richmond, Virginia, founded in 1941, held its first public meeting, which drew a large crowd.

1945: Theresa “Teddy” R., a recovering alcoholic, learned about the nineteen-bed alcoholic ward on the third floor of Knickerbocker Hospital [left] and felt a strong calling to work there. She persistently contacted the supervising nurse for three months until she secured the job. Dr. William D. Silkworth [right], in charge of the unit, praised Teddy as a “red-headed powerhouse.” From 1945 onwards, Teddy treated over 5,000 alcoholics, while Silkworth cared for approximately 7,000 patients, before his death from a heart attack at his Manhattan residence in 1951.

July 24 in A.A. History

1969: Bill W. [near right, 1966], the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, and Marty M. [right center, 1964], the founder of the National Council on Alcoholism, testified before the United States Senate Special Subcommittee on Alcoholism and Narcotic. This subcommittee, part of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, was chaired by Senator Harold E. Hughes [far right, c. 1969-1975], who was himself an alcoholic. All three were known for publicly breaking their anonymity.

Today in A.A. History—July 24–26

1992: A “Freedom in Sobriety” event, themed “Living in the Answer”—a reference from the Big Book—took place at the Best Western Executive Inn in Tacoma/Fife, Washington [left: Emerald Queen Hotel & Casino in Fife, formerly the Best Western Executive Inn].

A.A. History—year, month & day unknown

≥1942: The Charleston Group of Alcoholics Anonymous in West Virginia planned to establish what Bill W. termed an “all-purpose” foundation, envisioning a comprehensive center that would include a club, hospital, rehabilitation facility, and research center. They sought Bill’s opinion directly through the Alcoholic Foundation Office in New York City. Bill responded by sharing his experience, cautioning that most similar undertakings had not succeeded. Despite his advice, the group decided to proceed with their plans.

Soon after, the Alcoholic Foundation began receiving troubling correspondence from West Virginia regarding the local foundation’s progress. One of the alcoholics who had conceived the idea for the foundation sent cards in small envelopes to groups nationwide. Each card bore the inscription “Charleston AA Group Rule #62,” implying 61 preceding rules. Inside, he had written, “Don’t take yourself so damn seriously!”

Late 1943–early 1944:  Lois W. visited Little Rock, Arkansas, as part of a nationwide tour with her husband, Bill. Regarding a public meeting there, Lois later quipped:

The Little Rock, Arkansas group was so anonymous that the leader, Bud G., spoke from behind a curtain to the audience of 1,200. But Bill spoke from the open platform.

A.A. History—month & day unknown

1943: The first Alcoholics Anonymous group in Arlington, Virginia, was established in North Arlington, likely by Bill A. This group became the mother group for others in the region. Bill A. also collaborated with Fitz M. and Hardin C. to launch A.A. in Washington, D.C.

1944: Jack W., along with five other members, founded the first permanent A.A. group in Richmond, Virginia. He reported that 20 regular members were meeting at the William Byrd Hotel [right].

1944: [Summer?] Bill W. delivered a talk titled “The Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous” at the Yale School of Alcohol Studies. The talk was followed by a Q&A session, which concluded with the following exchange:

Q: If an alcoholic comes to an A.A. meeting under the influence of alcohol, how do you treat him or handle him during the meeting itself?

A: Groups will run usually run amuck [sic] on that sort of question. At first we are likely to say that we’re going to be supermen and save every drunk in town. The fact is that a great many of them just don’t want to stop. They come, but they interfere very greatly with the meeting. Then, being still rather intolerant, the group will swing way over in the other direction and say, “No drunks around these meetings.” We get forcible with them and put them out of the meeting, saying, “You’re welcome here if your [sic] sober.” But the general rule in most places is that if a person comes for the first or second time and can sit quietly in the meeting, without creating an uproar, nobody bothers him. On the other hand, if he’s a chronic “slipper” and interferes with the meetings, we lead him out gently, or maybe not so gently, on the theory that one man cannot be permitted to hold up the recovery of others. The theory is “the greatest good for the greatest number.”

July 23 in A.A. History

1940: The Philadelphia Group of A.A. set a precedent for the 7th Tradition by contributing 10% of their funds to the Alcoholic Foundation.

1943: Clarence S. and four other members of Alcoholics Anonymous 12th-stepped Esther C. into sobriety while she was hospitalized in Cleveland, Ohio, just two months after her 34th birthday. She became known for riding her “Little Indian Scout” motorcycle [right: Esther on her bike] from Cleveland to meetings in Akron, Ohio. 

Sixty-some years later, when informed that someone from California was coming to ask her about A.A. history and the Big Book, Esther quipped, “What’s the matter with him, doesn’t he have a Big Book?”

1946: Bill W. wrote a note [far left] to Ricardo “Dick” P. [near left] to thank him for translating Alcoholics Anonymous into Spanish. It read:

Dick, an A.A. member since 1940, had worked for three years with his wife, Helen, on this translation.

1985: Loran D. Archer [left], Senior Policy Advisor on Alcoholism and Other Health Issues at the Drug Abuse Policy Office during President Ronald Reagan’s administration, wrote to Mr. Hal M., an A.A. member in Arlington, Virginia. He enclosed 12 copies of the President’s message to A.A.’s 50th International Convention. He also noted his pleasure with the “resounding ovation” received when Bob P. read this message to the Convention. Unfortunately, whatever response the President's message might stimulate, it wouldn't be known for at least 11 days; the letter [right] was dated 24 June; the Convention would be held 5–7 July in Montreal, Quebec.

Today in A.A. History—July 23–25

1976: The 19th International Conference of Young People in Alcoholics Anonymous (ICYPAA) took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [left: letter from U.S. V.P. Nelson Rockefeller; right: Conference SWAG].

July 22 in A.A. History

1873: William Duncan Silkworth [left, 1908] was born in Brooklyn, New York, the oldest of seven children born to Isabelle Duncan and William Silkworth Sr.

1917: Junius C., Jr. [right, as a midshipman] of Pike, Mississippi, was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy. He would later become one of the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous in Jacksonville, Florida.

1980: Margaret “Marty” M. [left], 75, died at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, Connecticut, following a stroke. Her final public appearance was earlier in the month at A.A.’s 7th International Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she was a featured speaker.

She had been briefly married in her twenties but identified as a lesbian for the remainder of her life. She used her maiden name and the title “Mrs.” to protect her privacy. Marty had a distinguished career as a magazine editor, art critic, and photojournalist, contributing to prominent publications such as Vogue, Harper’s, and Tatler [right, respectively]. However, alcoholism ultimately left her unemployable. 

Marty began attending Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) meetings on 11 April 1939, at the home of Bill and Lois W., the day after the publication of the book Alcoholics Anonymous. This made her one of the earliest women involved in the Fellowship. She developed a close friendship with Bill W. and was in a 40-year romantic relationship with fellow alcoholic Priscilla P. [right: together at Fire Island, 1948]. Peck served as an Art Editor at Vogue for 25 years. Together, they owned a home in Greenwich Village, a vacation property at Cherry Grove on Fire Island, and later in life, a residence in Connecticut.

Marty authored at least three books: Primer on Alcoholism, Marty Mann’s New Primer on Alcoholism, and Marty Mann Answers Your Questions about Drinking and Alcoholism [left, respectively], as well as numerous articles for various publications. She played a pivotal role in founding High Watch Farm, the world’s first recovery center based on A.A. principles, and established the National Council for Education on Alcoholism (NCEA^*).

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^*The NCEA evolved into the National Council on Alcoholism (NCA) in 1950 and later became the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) in 1990; in 2019, NCADD merged with the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids to form the Partnership to End Addiction.

A.A. History—month & day unknown

1942: The first New York City Central Committee was established to respond to inquiries from prospects. Based at the A.A. Clubhouse at 334½ West 24th St. in Manhattan, the committee hired two secretaries to answer letters and phone calls. At this time, New Jersey groups also used this Clubhouse as their headquarters.

1942: [Year-end] In New Orleans, Louisiana, Steve C. had gotten sober and was seeking to help others struggling with alcoholism.

A.A. History—month & day unknown

1940: [Second half] Three well-off members of Alcoholics Anonymous from the Washington, D.C. area—Bill A., Bill E., and Hardin C.—purchased 30 shares of Works Publishing, Inc. Preferred Stock [right: non-preferred Works Publishing stock certificate], with a par value $100 [~$2,400 in 2026], a total of $3,000 [~$71,600 in 2025].

1941: After Kathleen [far left] divorced him, Hank P. [near left] married Caroline Wright, sister of Dorothy Wright S., Clarence’s wife.

1941: Dr. Bob S. [right] wrote to the Alcoholic Foundation trustees, stating that he considered the idea of royalties “unwise” and that the book should be “the property of the foundation 100 percent.”

1941: After the first Alcoholics Anonymous group in Richmond, Virginia disbanded—Bill W. noted its members “believed in getting away from their wives and drinking only beer”—Jack W. started a new, more traditional Richmond group with five members.

1941: NBC launched a 13-part syndicated radio program titled “Is Alcohol a Problem in Your Home?” Broadcast nationwide, the idea of using the radio to inform the public soon inspired local A.A. groups to utilize radio in their own outreach efforts to spread the word about Alcoholics Anonymous.

1941: Detroit, Michigan's first “Central Office” was located in the home of Sarah Klein [left], a non-alcoholic with a telephone. She would receive calls for help and dispatch local A.A. members on 12th-Step calls.

1942: Bill W. and Dr. Bob S., the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, faced accusations of excessively profiting from the sales of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

Rumors circulated in Cleveland, Ohio, that the Alcoholic Foundation office and the Big Book operated as a “racket,” primarily generating royalties from book sales. Clarence S. [right, 1942] claimed he was unaware that either Bill or Dr. Bob was receiving royalties until…

I met Bill at the depot when he came in for the shindig [Doc Smith Day in March 1941]. He told me then. I was stunned. I thought it was a labor of love—no one was supposed to get any royalties. But Bill didn’t make any bones about it. People in New York [City] knew, and he assumed that Dr. Bob would tell them in Akron. Bill was willing to tell them in Cleveland—about himself, but not about Dr. Bob. He would admit anything. I told him, “Not right now, that I would work it out.”

In hindsight, it might have been better if Bill had immediately discussed the royalty issue with the Cleveland members. Despite Clarence’s assurances that he would squelch the rumors, they persisted.
To confront the problem directly, some Cleveland A.A. members organized a dinner where Dr. Bob and Bill were invited to speak. After a sparsely attended dinner, the two “guests of honor” were asked to meet privately with the chairpersons or secretaries of all local groups, an attorney, and a CPA. The dinner organizers voiced concerns that Bill and Bob were profiting significantly from the book, alleging they had shared $64,000 [~$1.46 million in 2026] in 1941. In reality, Bill earned $25 [~$550 in 2026] weekly from Works Publishing sales, and both he and Dr. Bob received $30 [~$684 in 2026] weekly from contributions by wealthy non-A.A. supporters. Records indicate Dr. Bob received a total of $1,000 [~$22,800 in 2026] in 1941; even the weekly $30 was not consistently paid.

Bill “just happened” to have brought a certified audit of all A.A. financial affairs from its inception. The investigating committee’s CPA read and confirmed the statement’s accuracy. Bill and Dr. Bob received apologies from those present. The group officers vowed to quash the rumors, but they never fully disappeared, and talk of this as a “racket” persisted for years.