July 15 in A.A. History

1938: Bill W. [left] wrote to Willard Richardson, inviting him and fellow Rockefeller associates A. LeRoy Chipman and Albert Scott [right, respectively] to attend any weekly A.A. meeting at the Brooklyn home of Bill and Lois, located at 182 Clinton Street. In the letter, Bill stated:

Certainly in the cases of you gentlemen, we shall gladly waive the heavy drinking requirement that has qualified us for Alcoholics Anonymous. We think you are one of us, and there are no honorary members.

This letter contains the earliest documented use of the name “Alcoholics Anonymous,” which suggests Richardson was likely already familiar with it.

1950: The first A.A. meeting in Honduras took place in Comayagüela [left: Comayagüela, late 1950s; right: 1987 Honduran stamp celebrating 37 years of A.A.].

A.A. History—month & day unknown

1937: In January, while Earl T. [left] was visiting his father in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, his father suggested he look into the “alcoholic squadron” in Akron, where two of Earl’s acquaintances had successfully gotten sober. Earl, believing his drinking wasn’t as severe as theirs, assured his father he could get sober on his own at his home in Evanston, Illinois (1324 Central Street [right]).

However, Earl soon realized he needed help. He drove to Akron, arriving at 11 p.m., and woke up Howard, one of the friends his father had mentioned. For the next two hours, Howard shared his story and insights into alcoholism, instilling hope in Earl that recovery was possible. The following day, two more men visited Earl, each recounting their experiences and recovery strategies. Over the next few days, the remaining members of the group reached out, offering encouragement and sharing their methods for staying sober. After speaking with eight or nine members, Earl was finally invited to attend a meeting.

Earl’s first meeting was held in a member’s living room and was led by Bill D. [left] (A.A. #3). Eight or nine alcoholics and seven or eight wives were present. The hour-long meeting concluded with the Lord’s Prayer, followed by coffee, doughnuts, and late-night discussions in the kitchen. Earl was deeply impressed by the meeting and the genuine happiness displayed by the men.

Earl remained in Akron for two or three weeks, immersing himself in the program. He spent considerable time with Dr. Bob Smith and visited the homes of several other members. Each evening included a meeting, followed by coffee, doughnuts, and conversation.

On Dr. Bob’s day off, the day before Earl was scheduled to return to Evanston, Earl went to Dr. Bob’s office (Second National Bank Building, 159 Main Street

[right]). For three or four hours, they formally reviewed the six-step program as it existed then. During this session, Earl committed to three things: starting a group in the Chicago metropolitan area, returning to Akron every two months until a group was established, and prioritizing the program above all else in his life.

Upon returning home, Earl experienced a setback. After a few months of sobriety, his wife, Katie, criticized his coffee drinking and smoking, which angered him and led him to deliberately get drunk.^* An A.A. member from Akron traveled to Evanston and helped him get sober for the last time. Subsequently, Earl frequently traveled to Akron, as these trips were his only connection to A.A. Whenever Earl expressed frustration about his inability to help others, Dr. Bob [left] would respond, “When you are right and the time is right, Providence will provide.”^†
For months, Earl tirelessly sought an alcoholic willing to embrace his message, all while continuing his bimonthly trips to Akron to maintain his own sobriety.

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^*This incident is mentioned in Earl’s story, and more details can be found in “To Wives,” p. 135 of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

^†Other sources state that Bob told him, “When the time is ripe for a group in Chicago, you’ll have one.”

July 14 in A.A. History

1949: In a letter to Rev. Sam Shoemaker [far left], Bill W. wrote, “So far as I am concerned, and Dr S―― too, the Oxford Group seeded AA. It was our spiritual wellspring at the beginning.” Bill later expressed regret for not having also written to Frank Buchman [near left]. In Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, Bill wrote: 

Early A.A. got its ideas of self-examination, acknowledgment of character defects, restitution for harm done, and working with others straight from the Oxford Groups [sic] and directly from Sam Shoemaker, their former leader in America, and from nowhere else.

1950: The front page of The San Quentin News—a unique, non-profit, monthly newspaper written and edited by incarcerated individuals at San Quentin State Prison in California—was overprinted in red with “Greetings [to the] First International Conference [of] Alcoholics Anonymous” [right].

1955: A presentation copy of the first edition, fifth printing of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, was given to Henry “Hank” G. It contained over 400 dated signatures from participants, spanning 1945 to 1952. The front endpaper included additional signatures, such as those of Bill W., Dr. Bob S. and Hank himself.

The two founders’ inscriptions read:

For Hank. In truest affection and gratitude for all that has happened to him - and so to many - since he first saw the book. Evermore, Bill. NY, 7/14/55 [left]

With best wishes for continued success in A.A. [Dr. Bob S. (obviously, 1950 or earlier)]

Hank G. became the second general manager of the General Services Office of Alcoholics Anonymous in New York in 1953, succeeding Bob H. At that time, it was still a volunteer, part-time position. Presentation copies were typically prepared for trustees, board members, and general managers upon their retirement.

2023: The Star Tribune of Minneapolis, Minnesota, published an editorial by Steven Kind [right], Minnesota outreach coordinator for SMART Recovery. Titled “Counterpoint: AA helps many. For others, alternatives exist,” the editorial’s subtitle was “Not every recovery program puts God at the center.” The first three paragraphs read:

A July 10 commentary asked, “Could AA help more people if it were not Christian-centric?” Well, maybe, but there are better options out there for people who want a secular alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous.

While Alcoholics Anonymous has undeniably helped countless people, it is not for everyone. Just removing references to God from AA’s 12 steps does not address important underlying issues.

AA’s 12 steps call on members to admit they are powerless over alcohol and must rely on something outside of themselves to recover. The AA program treats addiction as a moral issue—or, as Step 2 suggests, a form of insanity.

A.A. History—month & day unknown

1937: [Late spring?] The nameless group of drunks that would eventually become the New York City Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) group separated from the Oxford Group (OG).

Before this separation, the group had been meeting at Bill and Lois W.’s home at 182 Clinton St. in Brooklyn. They were also attending Oxford Group (OG) meetings associated with Calvary Episcopal Church [left, 1925]. The rector of Calvary, Rev. Dr. Samuel Shoemaker [right], was also the leader of the Oxford Group in the U.S.

Calvary Episcopal Church hosted two sets of OG meetings: one in the Parish Hall, also known as Calvary House [below left, behind a wing of the church, 1925], adjacent to the church, and another a few blocks away at the Calvary Rescue Mission [below right], a shelter for the homeless owned and operated by Calvary Episcopal. Members of the nameless group attended both locations; the Parish Hall fostered their spirituality, while the Rescue Mission served primarily as a recruiting ground for new members. However, tensions between the New York City nameless group and the Oxford Group began to escalate.

Some non-alcoholic OG members, particularly leaders at the Rescue Mission, disapproved of the alcoholics’ exclusive focus on helping other alcoholics. This disapproval also extended to the other nameless group of alcoholics under Dr. Bob S.’s leadership in Akron, Ohio. Taking advantage of one of Shoemaker’s absences, leaders at the Mission prohibited alcoholic residents from attending the meetings at Bill and Lois’s home. The couple were accused of not being “maximum,” meaning they were not fully embracing OG principles, and consequently they stopped attending OG meetings.

In 1938, a quote from Frank Buchman, founder and world-wide leader of the Oxford Group, taken out of context, surfaced (via an interview published under the headline “Fascist World Ruled by God, Buchman Idea” [right] by the New York World-Telegram:

I thank heaven for a man like Adolph Hitler, who built a front-line of defense against the anti-Christ of Communism.

This statement further tarnished the OG’s reputation, and added to nameless groups’ desires to distance themselves from the OG.

July 13 in A.A. History

1972: At the 30th-anniversary banquet for the Summer School of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University Commons, the E. M. Jellinek Memorial Fund Award was presented posthumously to Bill W. The award, a bronze bust [near right] of E. M. “Bunky” Jellinek, recognized Bill for his contributions as co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. His widow, Lois Burnham W. [left], accepted the award on his behalf. This marked the first time the award was given to a non-scientist. Approximately 500 people attended the banquet [far right: article from The Courier-News of Bridgewater, New Jersey, “Co-founder of A.A. to be cited,” p. 26].

Today in A.A. History—July 13–14

2019: The General Service Office (GSO) of A.A. collaborated with several Southern California Area Assemblies—the Southern California Area Assembly (SCAA, Area 05), San Diego-Imperial Area Assembly (SDIAA, Area 08), Mid-Southern California Area (MSCA, Area 09), and Central California Area Assembly (Area 93)—to host a bilingual Local Forum. This event, titled a “Unity Forum” (El foro de Unity) [left: flyer], took place at the Westminster Presbyterian Church [right] in Pasadena, California. Like all Local Forums, this was a unique event with the purpose of:

… bringing together A.A. members, volunteers, and staff from all A.A. service organizations in our area to connect, strengthen unity, share valuable ideas and experiences, and explore ways to further support and collaborate with one another in our mission to assist still-suffering alcoholics.

More than 400 people attended the forum over the weekend.

Ted C., Chair of the 2019 Area 05 A.A. Unity Forum Planning Committee, described the motivation for this event in the Spring 2019 issue of SCAA’s news-letter, Southern California Area Assembly Newsletter (SCAAN):

In Los Angeles, observing Tradition 9 (organizing minimally) and Tradition 4 (intentionally lacking a centralized authority—favoring autonomy instead) has led to “service communities” that often operate independently, with limited interaction and collaboration between them, low overlap in membership, and at times a surprising lack of awareness of each other’s purposes and activities.

We would like to counteract this separation with a great celebration of all of AA’s service entities, the valuable services they perform, and the wonderful trusted servants that serve them. This is the idea behind the 2019 AA Unity Forum in which we invite you to participate. We are extending this invitation to participate and collaborate to all AA service organizations in the Greater Los Angeles Area and surrounding communities. This includes Young People’s and Seniors’ organizations, Central Offices, Hospitals and Institutions Committees, local Roundups and Conventions, General Service Areas and Districts, and any other organization that has been formed under Tradition 9. We are also inviting all linguistic organizations to fully participate and collaborate, and will be providing Spanish and ASL interpretation at the event.

A.A. History—month & day unknown

1935: [March or April] Delphine Weber [left], a member of the Oxford Group (OG), approached her friend and fellow member, Henrietta Sieberling [right], with a pressing concern: “What are we going to do about Bob Smith?” Henrietta inquired, “What’s wrong with him?” Delphine explained, “He’s a terrible drinker,” detailing his hospitalizations and near bankruptcy. Henrietta “immediately felt guided” to organize a meeting for Bob. She contacted OG members T. Henry and Clarace Williams [left], who readily agreed to host the meeting at their home [right].^*

Henrietta invited members she believed would openly share their own struggles, hoping their honesty would encourage Bob to confront his alcoholism and overcome his pride.

As the meeting progressed, each person shared deeply about their shortcomings and personal challenges. Eventually, Bob admitted he was a secret drinker who couldn’t stop. Following his revelation, someone suggested they pray for him, and they all knelt together.

The next morning, Henrietta, who had no knowledge of alcoholism, offered her own prayer for Bob:

God, I don’t know anything about drinking but I told Bob that I was sure that if he lived this way of life, he could quit drinking. Now I need Your help, God.

She then heard something “like a voice in my head—‘Bob must not touch one drop of alcohol,’” which she relayed directly to him. Despite this warning, Bob continued to drink, though perhaps less than before.

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^*This was the first of many Oxford Group meetings held at the Williams’ home. They continued until 1954, almost 15 years after the Akron “alcoholic squad” separated from the Oxford Group.

July in A.A. History—day unknown

1949: [August?] International Doctors in Alcoholics Anonymous (IDAA) [left: logo] was founded in upstate New York by Dr. Clarence P. [right], a recovering alcoholic and practicing physician, and his wife, Polly. They hosted the first Alcoholics Anonymous retreat for physicians and their families at their summer home near the Canadian border. This initial gathering attracted thirty-four attendees, including physicians from both the United States and Canada, as well as a psychologist, making it an international and interdisciplinary event.
    Since then, IDAA has held annual meetings in July or August at various locations across North America. While the format has evolved, the core mission remains the same: to provide fundamental A.A. meetings. Over time, the program has expanded to include Al-Anon, Children’s, Teen, and Ala-Twenties fellowship meetings, making IDAA a true family affair for many.

1955: Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing, Inc. published the second edition [left: 4th printing, 1960] of Alcoholics Anonymous. This edition included a new Foreword and thirty-three new stories.

1959: Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing, Inc. was renamed Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (A.A.W.S.). A.A.W.S. took over non-Grapevine publishing and management of the General Service Office (G.S.O.), which had long been known as “headquarters.”

1960: The AA Exchange Bulletin announced [right] that a Grapevine workshop would be held at the 3rd International Convention in Long Beach, California, celebrating Alcoholics Anonymous’ 25th anniversary. Volunteers at the workshop would sell subscriptions to the A.A. Grapevine and copies of A.A. Today [left], a special publication commemorating the anniversary. The bulletin also quoted the Grapevine, stating that over 14,000 copies of A.A. Today had been sold in advance of its publication.

1962: The cartoon strip “Victor E.” [right], created by editor Jack M., first appeared in the A.A. Grapevine. It ran until the late 1970s, at which point Jack’s declining eyesight forced him to stop. Since then, all appearances of Victor E. have been reprints.

2021: A revised Preamble was published in the July 2021 issue of the A.A. Grapevine [left: cover]. In “A Letter From the Editor,” it was explained that:

    After two years of discussion by the Fellowship, and after much thoughtful deliberation at the 2021 General Service Conference, the AA Preamble has been updated. The new version can be seen on the inside cover of this issue.

    The 71st General Service Conference (GSC) had previously adopted an Advisory Action that changed the phrase “men and women” to “people.” This decision sparked significant controversy; however, subsequent GSCs have chosen not to revert to the original wording or consider alternative proposals.

A.A. History—month & day unknown

1935: [Early spring?] In Little Rock, Arkansas, Sterling C. received a call from a local businessman seeking help for an employee, Harlan N., who was struggling with alcoholism. Sterling tried to help Harlan for six months without success. However, in 1940, both men would go on to found Little Rock’s Central Group [right, date unknown], the first A.A. group in Arkansas.
    Sterling himself had gotten sober three and a half years earlier, following the advice in Richard R. Peabody’s book, The Common Sense of Drinking. Peabody’s method emphasized retraining the mind and maintaining a continuous self-inventory. Sterling’s return to Little Rock was motivated by a desire to make amends, a key component of Peabody’s program.

July 11 in A.A. History

1950: Lawrence Morris Markey, author of the September 1939 Liberty magazine article “Alcoholics and God,” was found dead by family members at his home in Halifax, Virginia.
    The Winchester Evening Star (Virginia) reported [right], under the headline “Former Newsman Is Shot to Death,” that the local coroner discovered a small-caliber bullet wound behind Markey’s right ear. The coroner issued an “open verdict,” stating there was insufficient evidence to determine whether the death was a homicide, suicide, or accident. The case remains open to this day.
    The next day, The New York Times headlined its page 30 article [left]: “Morris Markey, 51, Writer, Shot Dead,” and included a brief biography:

    Mr. Markey, a member of the original staff on the New Yorker magazine, was widely known in the writing field. He established the magazine’s feature “A Reporter at Large.”
    Mr. Markey’s career carried him through jobs here with the Daily New, World and Evening World, and assignments for McCall’s magazine, the North American Newspaper Alliance and the Reader’s Digest.
    Apart from his career on The New Yorker, 1925–31, when he served in virtually every department, Mr. Markey won his greatest recognition for a series on the American scene later published under the title “This Country of Yours.”
    Just eighteen years ago he wrote a sentence of which he was extremely proud. It happened while on a tour of Russia and Manchuria. Under a Harbin dateline, in June, 1932, he predicted: “Ten years from this day the United States of America will be at war with the Japanese Empire.”…
    A venture as a script writer in Hollywood, 1936–38, was, he once recalled, “unproductive.” Mr. Markey was accredted a war correspondent with the Navy in the Marshall Islands, Mariannas [sic], Iwo Jima and the Philippines [sic] Sea.

    Two days after his death, The New York Times published another article, “Markey Death Mystery” [right], which revealed two additional details: 1) Markey's body was found “with a rifle beside him,” and 2) The Commonwealth attorney “expressed an opinion that Mr. Markey might have fallen, jarring down the gun, suspended on the wall, causing it to fire when it struck the floor.”

1960: Time magazine [left: cover] published an article titled “Passionately Anonymous,” which covered the 25th anniversary celebration of Alcoholics Anonymous in Long Beach, California. The article began:

    The 15,000 men and women who thronged California's Long Beach Memorial Stadium last week differed from most conventioneers in one major respect, there was no danger that any of them would get together in a hotel room to kill a bottle For this was Alcoholics Anonymous, mustering its recovered, sworn-off drinkers, their relatives and well-wishers to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

2023: By this date, JBKM, Ltd. had re-established a National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) website at ncaddnational.org. In May 2021, JBKM, Ltd. had acquired NCADD (formerly National Council on Alcoholism—NCA—founded by Marty M. [right, 1940s] in 1942 as National Committee for Education on Alcoholism—NCEA).

July in A.A. History—day unknown

1947: Herbert “Herb” L. D., an American residing in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, received contact information for a prospective Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) member from Margaret “Bobbie” B., National Secretary of the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City. Bobbie included Spanish-language booklets and pamphlets, despite Portuguese being Brazil’s primary language.
    Herb had gotten sober in A.A. in Chicago in 1945. When he learned he would be transferred to Rio de Janeiro to direct McCann-Erickson, Inc.’s art department, he had requested contact information for A.A. in that city. The Alcoholic Foundation provided him with the name and address of their sole contact there: Lynn G. However, Herb was unable to locate anyone by that name and, in June, had written the Alcoholic Foundation requesting other potential contacts.

July in A.A. History—day unknown

1942: The first Alcoholics Anonymous group in Rochester, New York, moved its meetings from a member’s home on N. Goodman St. to Room 103 on the Mezzanine of the Hotel Seneca [left: entrance, c. 1940s] at 26 S. Clinton Ave. During the war years, gas rationing made twelfth-step calls difficult, but Rochester members persevered by bus or on foot. Initially, meetings were held on Wednesday evenings, with additional sessions added later. An answering service was eventually established with the phone number “Hamilton 3347.”
    As of 2026, the Seneca Group, which now meets on Tuesday evenings at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit [right, 2019] at 835 South Ave., is the oldest continuously operating A.A. group in Rochester.

1942: Bill W. taught at the first four-week sessions of the Summer School of Alcohol Studies at Yale University, which attracted 86 students [left: class portrait, 1943]. He continued to teach at the next four sessions as well. By the early 1960s, class sizes had grown to over 300, with students attending from all 50 states and numerous countries.
    The Summer School was founded by E. M. (Elvin Morton) “Bunky” Jellinek [right], the first director of the Center of Alcohol Studies at Yale University. Jellinek did not anticipate that the school would continue beyond its initial summer; in fact, he expected the Center to lose money on the “experiment.” Nevertheless, the program still exists today as the one-week Summer School of Addiction Studies, now operated by the Center of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Studies in Smithers Hall [left, 1964] at Rutgers University—Busch Campus in Piscataway, New Jersey.

1945: The A.A. Grapevine published an article titled “History Offers Good Lessons for A.A.” [right] by C. H. K. from Lansing, Michigan, which discusses the Washingtonian movement. This article likely served as the original source for Bill W.’s early understanding of the Washingtonians and clearly influenced his thoughts. This is evident in his subsequent article, “Editorial Squabbles,” published the following month, which directly references the previous month’s piece.

1946: Ricardo “Dick” [left] and Helen P. traveled from Cleveland, Ohio, to New York City to “have the pleasure of delivering our work [a Spanish translation of Alcoholics Anonymous] to Bill W――.”
    Dick had sobered up in 1940, while living illegally in Cleveland, Ohio, after reading about Rollie H. [near right] in the Cleveland Plain Dealer [far right: typical article about Rollie]. In 1943, Helen “got the idea that maybe if the Big Book was in Spanish, it would be easier for other Mexicans who don’t understand or speak English to recover.” From 1943 to 1946, they worked on the translation in their spare time. Dick wrote:

    My wife already had an old typewriter. We sent it out to be fixed. We worked on the translation using several dictionaries, an encyclopedia and several other books. We usually did this work at nights and on the weekends. Thank God, little by little this adventure was finished at the beginning of 1946. My wife and I took the translation and the Big Book to the college professor, Mary Coates, so that she could do a detailed revision of our work and correct style and grammatical errors.… [Bill] told us that our translation of the AA Big Book into Spanish was the first translation ever done into a foreign language. [Note: quoted translation from Spanish by Jim W. of Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico.]