November 9 in A.A. History

1944: Four months before his 58th birthday, James Hodges “Jim” R., co-founder of the first A.A. group in Baltimore, Maryland, died [near right: headstone; far right: obituary, Baltimore’s The Evening Sun] of a heart attack after playing handball at the Baltimore’s Central YMCA. He had gotten sober on 7 Jun 1933, more than 18 months before Bill W., and he never drank again.

2001: The General Service Office (GSO) sent a complimentary copy of the 4th edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous [left], to every registered group in the United States and Canada.

November in A.A. History—day unknown

1949: The shortened form of the Twelve Traditions was first printed in the A.A. Grapevine [left: cover]. Two changes in wording were made later: “primary spiritual aim” was changed to “primary purpose” in Tradition Six, and “principles above personalities” was changed to “principles before personalities” in Tradition Twelve.

The entire Grapevine issue was dedicated to the Traditions in anticipation of the 1st International Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, in June 1950, where Bill W. would seek approval^* of these Traditions. In the same issue, in an article titled “A Suggestion for Thanksgiving,” Bill pointed readers to an article by Thomas “Tom” Y. [right: high school yearbook picture, 1921] , the immediate past editor of the Grapevine, titled “You Have a Stake in the Future of AA.” He suggested that Thanksgiving^† week be dedicated to discussing the Traditions and added, “If the groups respond positively to this idea, special material on the Traditions will be sent out from the General Service Office to all groups.”

The replies were overwhelmingly in favor. As a result, November became known as Traditions Month and later as Gratitude Month.

---

^*When Bill presented the Traditions for approval in Cleveland, he omitted Tradition 10. In Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, on p. 102, Bill wrote Tradition 3 as “The only requirement for A.A. membership is a sincere desire to stop drinking” [emphasis added].

^†This reference pertains to the United States Thanksgiving holiday. Might it not have been better for a U.S./Canada general service structure to alternate between this and the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday, on the second Monday in October?

1950: The Alcoholic Foundation in New York City published the pamphlet [right] titled “Your Third Legacy: Will You Accept It?” by Dr. Bob S. and Bill W. This pamphlet outlined the plans and procedures for the General Service Conference and included a “Temporary Conference Charter” with “Twelve Suggested Principles.” Below are edited excerpts from the pamphlet regarding elections.

The Alcoholic Foundation invited one Conference delegate from each state and Canadian province. Seven states with large AA populations were assigned additional delegates. Delegates were divided into two Panels so that half would be elected and half would rotate in odd- and even-numbered years. Panel 1 areas were asked to form a committee to organize an election assembly no later than March 1951. Bill W. traveled across the US, attending over two dozen assemblies where area committees and Conference Delegates were elected.

Each group could select a Group Representative to attend and vote at the assembly. Group Representatives later came to be called “General Service Representatives,” or GSRs. They placed an “A” next to their name in the assembly registration book to indicate they were “available to serve” as a Committeeman or Delegate. Nominations were not accepted from the floor, and elections were by written ballot.

The Area Delegate, Officers, and Committeemen were chosen by election, by lot, or a combination of both, for terms of two years, and took office in April following their election.

1. To begin, the assembly decided by simple majority the number of Committeemen to be elected. Committeemen later came to be called “Committee Members” and then “District Committee Members” (or DCMs). Elections were decided by plurality. The first three Committeemen elected from the pool of those “willing to serve” automatically became the Area Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary, in that order. The newly elected Chair immediately presided over the remainder of the assembly. All new Committeemen and Officers were automatically in nomination for Delegate (unless they declined).
2. For the Delegate election, the assembly was asked if it was willing to make a single attempt to elect a Delegate by written ballot. If 2/3 agreed, a ballot was cast. If the assembly declined to vote for a Delegate by written ballot, or if the single attempted vote failed to produce a 2/3 majority, the election was decided by lot (“from the hat”). 
3. The Chair then opened the assembly for discussion. Questions on the General Service Conference, or instructions to be given to the Delegate, were brought to the floor. Initially, Delegates were both informed and instructed. The Chair closed the assembly after announcing the date and location where the Delegate would make a post-Conference report. The Secretary recorded the results and prepared a written report of the assembly proceedings.

November 8 in A.A. History

1944: The Scarborough (Ontario) General Hospital Service Meeting [left: Scarborough General Hospital, c. 1956] was started by Tony T., Duncan Donald M., Jack T., and Joe S., all of whom remained continuously sober until their deaths. Bill M. from the Unionville Group attended the first meeting and would participate until at least the group’s 25th anniversary. Tommy H., also from the Unionville Group, attended the inaugural meeting and would continue until his death in 1999. Betty, Tommy’s wife and a hospital employee, supported and facilitated the meeting, even arranging discounted parking for members. Roy St. C., a hospital patient, would attend the second meeting, and other patients would soon follow. Eventually, Murray D., who would die after 44 years of continuous sobriety, would become a regular attendee, arriving early to set up and make coffee.

Originally a discussion meeting, the format would evolve into one that lasted for over 25 years: three readings followed by a speaker sharing their experience, strength, and hope for 25 minutes, and concluding with a 15-minute question-and-answer period. This format would prove to be quite suitable for the hospital setting.

November in A.A. History—day unknown

1947: With the help of A.A. members known to Harry B. in Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah, the Idaho Falls group organized the first meeting in Pocatello, Idaho [right: Center St., Pocatello, 1940s]. Founded six months earlier by Harry, Idaho Falls Group #1 had grown to 38 members.

1947: As reported three months later in the February 1948 A.A. Grapevine, by a group member:

…a new group was formed in Anchorage, Alaska [left, 1945] …composed of former members from different groups in the States. We have had several newcomers already and have plans for club rooms in the near future.… This country certainly needs A.A. in the worst way. Anchorage has a population of about 15,000 and over 80 drink-dispensing establishments—14 in one block on the main street!

The July 1948 A.A. Grapevine would report:

Only two members of the Anchorage, Alaska, Group have lived in the territory for more than five years. The membership of the little group is therefore made up of moving A.A.s, many of them construction workers.

1948: Bill and Lois W. returned to Milwaukee, Wisconsin [right: skyline c. 1940], primarily to visit Dr. Gilbert “Gib” King, who was nearing death from cancer. Gib urged Bill to accept his violin as a gift, which Bill did; he cherished it for the rest of his life [left: Bill, late in life, playing Gib’s violin at Stepping Stones] . With only a few hours’ notice, local A.A. members organized an evening open meeting that drew over 500 attendees. Bill also visited Group 7, where no one recognized him.

Lois [right, 1951] was taken to the alcoholism ward at St. Michael’s Hospital [left, 1946] to visit a female patient. After talking with the girl for a while, Lois began to leave. Just before exiting, she turned, took a small corsage from her suit jacket, and pinned it to the girl’s nightgown. She said, “You know my dear, it’s as easy to kick yourself up as it is to keep kicking yourself down.”

The W――s stayed with George S. at his home. George, who had started the second A.A. meeting in Milwaukee, sought Bill’s advice on whether to pursue a full-time career in the alcoholism field, as he was already heavily involved in A.A. as a volunteer. Bill chose to wait until the morning of his departure to respond. Over breakfast, he said,

George, I don’t think there is much of a choice. Someone must begin to spearhead the dreams we have of working with the public to make the lot of the alcoholic a better one.

George made his choice and became a prominent figure in the field. He continued his A.A. activities, including serving as Area 75’s first Delegate on Panel 1 of the General Service Conference from 1951 to 1952.

November 7 in A.A. History

1944: The Cleveland (Ohio) Central Committee held its monthly meeting with 37 members representing 23 of the 44 local groups, plus one from Toledo. “[A] restless and exciting atmosphere was quite noticeable,” said one attendee. Even after the call to order and the Serenity Prayer, as reports of old business were being read, the moderator had to call the body to order “again and again.” Still, there was “a murmur of persistent whispering.” When they reached the last report, that of the Hospital Committee,

… the impatience and restlessness… was [sic]… obvious. Not many seemed to know… the reason for the strange atmosphere… Rumors had… spread that a group of members, mostly old-timers, were… proposing the affiliation of… A.A.… to the Oxford Group. Others… had heard that this same group wanted to have a screening committee to approve applications of new members. There… [were] many different rumors about what was to be proposed. Two members were so incensed… that they… voice[d] the opinion that it would be… better not to allow the group of agitators or reformers to talk. It wasn’t easy for the moderator to maintain quietness and proceed. Finally the turn to new business began.

One member… requested to be heard on… [an item] of new business. The moderator consented and this member,… [said] that he was speaking not only for himself but also for… other members. He said some… were present and others were not; however,… their names were Charles D., Dr. F. F., Cliff B., Paul J., Elmer L., Abby G., Kay H., Clarence S., John D., Jack D., Clarence W. and a few others whose names… [have been lost]. All present had their eyes and undivided attention fixed on the man talking,… waiting for the bomb that was supposed to explode. [He]… went on to say that he, as well as… [those he represented], had driven to Akron for some time to attend meetings of the Oxford Group… before the actual birth of A.A.… [T]he purpose of their interest in the Oxford Group had been the same interest… [as] now… [in] A.A. Practically all of… [them] had journeyed… to Akron… to acquire… sobriety…. However,… many men and women here [are] in need of our A.A. program and… [he] and the… men he represented [thought] that the Central Committee… [consider] the establishment of a Central A.A. Office similar to that already functioning in Chicago.

Even before he… [was] back in his chair, practically every member’s hand was raised requesting the floor. After a… prolonged discussion the assembly became divided… [between] those in favor of the project, and [those]… against. After almost three and a half hours of debate, a motion was made and carried that was made and carried that the Central Committee appoint a committee to formulate a plan as to how the establishment of a District Office could be carried out.

Three months later, to the day, the Alcoholics Anonymous Cleveland District Office would open in Suite 435 of the Williamson Building, located at 200 Public Square (southeast corner) [right: panoramic view of Public Square with Williamson Building at upper right, 1912].

November in A.A. History—day unknown

1947: Florence and Charles C., Jr. [left] signed their personal “Articles of Drinking” [right], committing to each other to drink only under specific conditions. Charles, a member of the Oxford Group from Bedford Hills, New York, had worked with Rev. Sam Shoemaker, but he struggled to achieve sobriety until in October 1935, when A.A. founder Bill W. starting helping him.

Charles served as an officer in both World Wars. He had gone broke as a stockbroker in 1934 and then worked as a theatrical producer (The Cat and the Canary, The Goose Hangs High), a real estate broker, and a writer of radio advertisements, articles, and books.

Around 1937, he wrote The Big Bender [far left], published in 1938, which recounts his story. He then authored Drunks Are Square Pegs [near left], published in 1942. He would later write Drinking’s Not the Problem [near right], published in 1949 and reviewed in the A.A. Grapevine [far right: cover] in December 1949.

November 6 in A.A. History

1880: Ernest Jacoby [right, 1913] was born in Manchester, Lancashire, England, as the eighth of eleven known children of Bertha Iklé and Siegfried Jacoby. After emigrating to the United States in 1888, he became a rubber merchant in Boston, Massachusetts, and a parishioner at Emmanuel Episcopal Church. In 1908, he initiated weekly meetings for men struggling with alcohol problems. This group would later advertise itself as the Jacoby Club, “A Club for Men to Help Themselves by Helping Others” [left: ad from 17 Jan 1914, Boston (MA) Evening Transcript, p 43].

1970: Henry Berton “Bert” Davis, 58, died in Memphis, Tennessee.

Today in A.A. History—November 6–8

2020: The 62nd Australian General Service Conference was held online [left: Conference Report cover]. The theme was “I Am Responsible.” Among the advisory actions was #009/2020, which stated:

Conference resolved that the creation of a virtual Area be included as part of the review of the General Service Structure by the Conference Policies & Admissions Committee. All Conference members are requested to advise of any concerns so they can be addressed in a guideline for creating a virtual Area. A draft of this guideline will be circulated to Conference members for input, following which a mail poll will be conducted for approval of the guideline prior to Conference next year.

November in A.A. History—day unknown

1944: In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, George S., a man of small stature and dynamic energy, came out of the county hospital and contacted Dr. Gilbert “Gib” K.. Gib had started the first A.A. group in that city in December 1940–January 1941; they met in his home. George had been active in A.A. in Dayton, Ohio, five years earlier but had suffered three prolonged relapses. George and four or five other members started another A.A. meeting on Wednesday nights at 8:00 p.m. at the Odd Fellows Hall on 10th St. in Milwaukee. It was an open meeting. At 7:00 p.m. they held a beginners’ meeting, which was attended by alcoholics who had come before Judge Harvey Neelen. About the same time, an Alano Club opened and an A.A. central office was established at 1012 N. 3rd St. with a full-time secretary [right: Milwaukee skyline, 1940].

1945: The A.A. Grapevine [left: cover] published Bill W.’s article “Those ‘Goof Balls’” [right], a follow-up to the unsigned October article “Evidence on the Sleeping Pill Menace,” which summarized material from the press, magazines, and medical journals on the dangers of “pills,” especially for alcoholics. Bill’s article was a presentation of personal experiences and observations on the subject. He noted, “Sometimes a general practitioner, not knowing that his patient is already loaded with barbiturates, will give a morphine injection,” citing two examples. He also admitted:

Near the end of my own drinking career I had an alarming experience. Chloral hydrate was prescribed for one of my terrible hangovers. The doctor warned me to stick rigidly to his dosage. But I kept possession of the bottle. While my wife slept quietly beside me I reached under the mattress, took out the flask, and guzzled the whole business. I had a narrow shave. Moral: When a doctor gives a legitimate sedative prescription don’t let the alcoholic have the bottle.

Bill finished with the story of an “alkie” he called “Slim.”

He finally had consented to go to a hospital. On the way he had a few—but only a small quantity compared to his customary capacity. Just before we reached the hospital Slim’s speech suddenly got very thick and he passed out.

Dr. Silkworth took one look at Slim’s blue face.

Said he to me, “How is this man’s heart?” Confidently I replied, “He’s got a heart like an elephant. Told me so himself. But I don’t see how he got drunk so fast. I gave him very little liquor.” Out came the doctor’s stethoscope. Turning then to me, he said, “Not much use bringing this man in here. He can’t last long. What else has he been taking besides liquor?” Stunned, I replied, “Nothing, that I know of.” The doctor shook his head, saying, “This poor chap has been loaded with barbiturates for days. When you gave him alcohol, even a little, it fired off the accumulated charge of sedative he had in him. See how blue he is? His heart isn’t really working much. It’s just jittering. I can’t even count it.”

When Silkie called Slim’s wife, she said he had been on heavy doses of Amytal for 10 days. Silkworth consulted a famous heart specialist who prescribed for Slim, but neither doctor thought he would survive. When the prescription arrived, Silkworth and Bill went to take it up to Slim’s room. As they got off the elevator, they saw someone coming down the hall happily smoking a cigarette. “Hello, boys,” Slim called, “what am I supposed to be doing in here?”

November 5 in A.A. History

1962: The CBS radio program Dimensions of a Woman’s World, hosted by Betty Furness [right, 5 Mar 1962], featured an episode about “International A.A.” Furness began by saying, “I’ve just discovered some of the international aspects of Alcoholics Anonymous… it’s a most interesting story.” She shared stories about A.A. overseas and concluded by saying, “A.A. both here and abroad working with Loners, or large groups of people… [it] is an extraordinary organization.”

2002: The Scarborough General Hospital Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous [left: Scarborough General Hospital, c. 2014] in Scarborough, Ontario, celebrated 25 years of continuous service, with one original member and several early members in attendance. The speaker was Mildred F. from the Rox Glen Traditional Group of A.A.

2019: Central Recovery Press published the first edition of Writing the Big Book: The Creation of A.A. [near right: cover] by William H. “Bill” Schaberg [far right].

November in A.A. History—day unknown

1941: Leonard V. Harrison [left], director of public affairs for the Community Service Society of New York, joined the Alcoholic Foundation Board as a Class A (non-alcoholic) Trustee. He would serve on the board until October 1950 and then again from January 1953 to July 1965. Harrison would twice hold the position of Chairman of the Board, first from March 1942 to October 1950 and again from April 1956 to April 1961. He would be named Trustee Emeritus in July 1965 and hold that title until his death in September 1969.

1941: Rev. Dr. Samuel M. Shoemaker [right, 1940] broke with Moral Re-Armament (MRA, formerly the Oxford Group), which was already losing adherents rapidly, and re-formed the “Faith at Work” fellowship. Sam Shoemaker’s long-confidential document “The Decision of 1941” recounts his experience of Buchman’s manipulation and exploitation of a man who had been his closest follower.

Buchman went on to make Moral Re-Armament an international anti-Communist, pro-morality organization. Shoemaker’s dispute with Frank Buchman was amplified in the press, leading to MRA being asked to vacate Calvary House, the parish house of Calvary Episcopal Church, which had served as their U.S. headquarters.

1942: The Fresno (California) Bee reported that during the local A.A. group’s first week, it received requests for help from 28 people.

1942: The Dartmouth Alumni Magazine [far left: cover; near left: 1902 Class Notes extract] published a brief note about Dr. Bob S.: 

Bob S[——] as we knew him is now Dr. Robert S[——], surgeon, of Akron, Ohio. He visits Hanover [VT] each year but seems to have missed our reunions. We want you next time, Bob. He has a daughter, Sue, and a son, Lieutenant Robert S[——], in the Air Corps. His wife, a graduate of Wellesley, he says is ‘a remarkable woman mentally, morally and spiritually’ and we want to meet her, also. Bob has sent me a book ‘Alcoholics Anonymous.’ In the past few years he has been very interested and I judge a prime worker in the field of rescuing the pitiable souls who have lost themselves in drink, so far having rescued over 8000. I know of no more splendid work in the world. 1902 is proud of you, Bob.

November 4 in A.A. History

1939: The Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer published the second and final article [right] in Elrick B. Davis’s second series titled “A Physician Looks Upon Alcoholics Anonymous.” It read, in part,

The first appraisal in a scientific journal of Alcoholics Anonymous, former drunkards who cure themselves by curing each other with the help of religious experience, was published in the July issue of the journal Lancet [sic]. It was “A New Approach to Psychotherapy [in]^* Chronic Alcoholism,” by W. D. Silkworth, M.D. physician in charge, Chas B. Town’s [sic] Hospital, New York City. A drunkard [Bill W.] during a moment of [deep]^* depression had the spontaneous “religious experience” which started his cure. This was the seed from which came Alcoholics Anonymous. Dr. silkworth [sic] was at first skeptical. He is no longer.

---

^*Brackets in original.

1939: Encouraged by Nona W., Marty M. and Bill and Lois W.^* first visited Joy Farm^* in Kent, Connecticut, which was run by Ethelred Folsom [left], who preferred to be called Sister Francis, after Francis of Assisi. A remarkable woman, she generously provided a home for those in need of healing and spiritual nourishment. Because her beliefs aligned with the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, she offered the farm to Bill for the work of A.A. Bill declined, but in 1940, others established it as the world’s first 12-Step treatment center, renaming it High Watch Farm [right: aerial view].

Marty would later describe their arrival:

There was something there, something that was really palpable that you could feel and every one of us felt it. To say that we fell in love with it, is not to use the right terminology at all. We were engulfed… What is at the Farm was already at the Farm before we ever found it. It found us, in my opinion.

Bill famously described the spiritual atmosphere as so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

---

^*Marty, in a speech at the 25th anniversary of High Watch, mentioned that it was late October and that Horace C. and Bert T., along with their wives, accompanied them.

1940: Bill and Lois W. moved into one of two small upstairs bedrooms [left: line drawing from Feb 1951 A.A. Grapevine] in the clubhouse at 334½ W. 24th St. in New York City, where they lived for five months. Lois increased the apparent size of the room by removing unnecessary shelves and painting the walls white with red trim. She also made a dressing table out of an orange crate.

1963: Bill W. attended the funeral service for Rev. Dr. Samuel Moor Shoemaker, III at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Owings Mills, Maryland, near Burnside, the Shoemaker estate [right: recent photo of the manor house at Burnside].

Thirty years later, Shoemaker’s daughter, Nickie Shoemaker Haggart [left], “well remembered” something Bill had said to her as they stood together that day in the driveway at Burnside:

Don’t let anyone ever tell you that I founded A. A. If it wasn’t for Sam Shoemaker, A. A. would never have been born.

November in A.A. History—day unknown

1937: The first challenge Bill W. [near right, 1930s] and Hank P. [far right] faced with the project of writing a book about A.A.—what would eventually become our Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous—was funding. The United States was still in the throes of the Great Depression; overseas, the specter of another world war loomed. The two men spent the entire month trying to raise funds for the book, without a penny to show for their efforts.

1941: Margaret Kate Carleton “Daisy” Farrand [left], wife of a former Cornell University president and a friend of the U.S. Surgeon General, became A.A.’s first female trustee, a Class A (non-alcoholic). She would serve on the Board of the Alcoholic Foundation until 1944. As a wealthy socialite, she helped raise funds to support the Alcoholic Foundation’s early work.

In 1922, she had founded the Ithaca Garden Club, and a delphinium cultivar was named in her honor (Delphinium ‘Margaret Farrand’) [right: a delphinium, not the cultivar named for her].

November 3 in A.A. History

1938: Enclosing the latest chapters for the proposed, yet-to-be-named book (which would become Alcoholics Anonymous [right: 1st edition]), Bill W. wrote to Dr. Bob S. for the third time, seeking feedback from the members of the Akron, Ohio, “Alcoholic Squadron.” He urged Dr. Bob to encourage the Ohio members to “speak up or forever hold their peace” regarding the drafts he had been sending. It turned out that Dr. Bob had not shared any of these drafts with the other Akron members.

Bill added that he “hoped to get out there about December first for a week or two so we can cover these matters better.” However, the ongoing writing and editing of the book ultimately prevented Bill from making that trip.

1941: At 8:00 p.m., the first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Columbus, Ohio, took place in the basement of the Downtown YMCA at 40 W. Long St. [right, c. 1926], with six attendees.

1975: Lois W., Bill’s widow, and Tom S. cut a blue ribbon [right, respectively: Lois W., back of Nell’s head, Dr. Norris, George G.] to officially open the A.A. Archives at the General Service Office (GSO) in New York City. In attendance were Nell Wing, non-alcoholic archivist; Dr. John Norris, non-alcoholic chair of the Board of Trustees; Lois; George G., Class B (alcoholic) trustee and chair of the Trustees’ Archives Committee; Tom S., former Class B (alcoholic) trustee and former chair of the Trustees' Archives Committee; other trustees; GSO and A.A. Grapevine staff; and a few overseas guests [left: A.A. Archives, Winter 2022].

The opening speaker called for “a minimum of myth about A.A. and its co-founders.” Dr. Norris emphasized that A.A. can continually renew itself by returning to its source. He recalled Bill’s frequent admonition that the Board and GSO should document everything they do. Both George and Lois paid special tribute to Nell Wing. Lois reminisced about the early days of A.A. on Clinton Street in Brooklyn during the 1930s. She noted that most of the early records were not saved, partly because their importance was not recognized, but mostly because “we were just too busy trying to help alcoholics and their families.” Lois added that Bill appreciated the theoretical significance of these records, “but he wasn’t very good at doing anything about it.” After the “usual closing” (i.e., the Lord’s Prayer), food and coffee were served. Then came the big laugh of the day: everyone realized that the opening of the archives had not been recorded for posterity!

November in A.A. History—day unknown

1936: Dartmouth College’s Alumni Magazine published a brief note [right] about Dr. Bob S. that said:

Some of you fellows have been wondering about Bob S――, but you can let up on it now. Bob says that while he has been in Hanover [New Hampshire] many times, he could never make it at reunion time. He hopes now to be present in June 1937.

1936: Within three months of Frank Buchman [left, 1936] interviewing Himmler [right: inspecting Gestapo troopers] in August 1936, the Gestapo’s Central Security Office produced the first official document warning its network against the Oxford Group (OG) as “a new and dangerous opponent of National Socialism.” The operative part of the document ordered the intelligence service to pay the closest attention to the work, tendency and influence of the movement, and in particular to infiltrate every kind of OG meeting, to monitor the productions of the Leopold Klotz Verlag of Gotha—a company that had published OG books and pamphlets—to determine who was receiving the company’s literature, and to find out which men and women in public life were interested in the OG’s ideas.