March 8 in A.A. History

In 1862, Governor Horatio Seymour of New York pardoned Jeremiah “Jerry” McAuley [left], who was released from Sing Sing Prison. The 26-year-old intended to connect with Christians, but he found their “wavering, unstable, half-and-half faith staggered me.” The lessons he learned during this period significantly influenced his approach when he later founded the first rescue mission in North America.

In 1944, The Christian Century published “The Church and the Alcoholic,” an article by Rev. Alson Jesse Smith^*. In it, he likened Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) to a call made by Sebastian Franck^† in his 1531 book, Von dem greulichen Laster der Trunkenheit (The Horrible Vice of Drunkenness) [right]:

It [drinking or drunkenness] is too deeply rooted and sin has become a habit. All would have to be reborn and receive new heads. Yes, a new world would have to come.

    Smith argued that A.A. offers such “new heads.” Until now, Von dem greulichen Laster der Trunkenheit had been an obscure work on the topic of drunkenness.

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* Alson Smith [right, 1936] (12 Aug 1909–17 May 1965) was a liberal independent scholar, a Methodist Episcopal minister, and a freelance journalist who consistently reported on the far right beginning in the 1930s.

† Sebastian Franck [left] (20 Jan 1499–c. 1543) was a 16th-century German freethinker, humanist, and radical reformer. Despite being an ordained priest, he combined the humanist’s passion for freedom with the mystic’s devotion to the religion of the spirit, and came to believe that God communicates with individuals through a portion of the divine remaining in each human being. He dismissed the human institution of the church and claimed that theology could not properly claim to give expression to this inner word of God in the heart of the believer. For example, he wrote, “To substitute Scripture for the self-revealing Spirit is to put the dead letter in the place of the living Word…” and “God is an unutterable sigh, lying in the depths of the heart,” which Ludwig Feuerbach called “the most remarkable, the profoundest, truest expression of Christian Mysticism.”

March 7 in A.A. History

In 1940, the first meeting of the Philadelphia Group of A.A. was held at the home George “Bud” S. [right: Bud’s high school yearbook photo], located at 1212 Arrott^* Street in Northeast Philadelphia. Bill and Lois W., and 15 others, attended this open meeting.

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^* While all sources mention Arnott Street, no such street exists in Philadelphia. The closest street name is Arrott, which is ¾ mile (1.2 km) long, running between the 4600 and 4700 blocks from Frankford Avenue northwest to Adams Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia. The 1940 Census records confirm that 1212 Arrott Street was the residence of George and Laura S.

In 1941, a Boston newspaper reported that anyone struggling with alcoholism was more than welcome to attend the weekly A.A. meeting at the Jacoby Club, located at 115 Newbury St., every Wednesday at 8 PM. Boston’s first A.A. meeting had taken place two nights earlier at the same location. 

In 1941, Ruth Hock, National Secretary for the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City, responded to a letter from Dale A. [left] written four days earlier, advising him to connect with Dave W., also from Seattle, with whom Ruth had been corresponding for nearly a year. She suggested they start an A.A. group in Seattle, which Dave would soon do, although without Dale and with two other men. Dale would attend his first A.A. meeting in July and, shortly thereafter, establish a meeting in his home, eventually being recognized by many as the founding father figure of Seattle A.A.

In 2002, Clinton “Duke” P., 98, died in Jacksonville, Florida. He had been a pioneering member in Akron, Ohio, and had played a key role in establishing A.A. in Toledo, Ohio.

March 6 in A.A. History

In 1940, the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City responded to Margaret D. of Seattle, Washington, who had written to them about her husband on February 11, nearly a month earlier. She would later play a role—though details are scarce—in the establishment of Seattle’s first A.A. group.

In 1942, Bill W. [left] wrote to the Adjutant General of the U.S. Army requesting a commission “as a procurement or quartermaster officer, or to engage in some form of intelligence or morale work.” He noted that he had “served in the World War [I] as an artillery officer” and, from 1920 to 1924, worked in “the insurance department of The New York Central Railroad” and at “The U.S. Fidelity & Guaranty Co.… as a criminal investigator.” He described his work as an independent field investigator “of large industrial companies” from 1925 to 1930, detailing the skills and knowledge required for the job, and stating that his “income ranged from $5,000 to $20,000 [~$85,500–358,000 in 2025] annually.” Bill concluded his pre-A.A. period by noting, “From 1931 to 1934 my earning power was poor due to [the?] depression and other causes.”
    In 1934, he “took an interest in the cure of alcoholism which resulted in my becoming the founder of… Alcoholics Anonymous which has since made possible the recovery of some 5000 cases of alcoholism of the most acute kind.” He predicted that A.A. “will probably clear up some 5000 new cases during the current year.” He mentioned that A.A. was “nationally known through much newspaper and magazine publicity” and that A.A. “enjoys the highest medical standing as well.” The book he authored, Alcoholics Anonymous, “earns him about $7000 [~$135,500 in 2025] annually.” He also pointed out, “In addition, I have handled the public relations of [A.A.]…, have done a very large amount of personal work with individuals, and am an experienced public speaker.”
    Finally, he listed four business references—Frank Shaw, Dick Johnson (of Greenshields & Co.), Clayton Quaw (of Quaw & Foley?), and Rudolph Eberstadt—as well as two personal references—Williard Richardson and John Wood.

March 5 in A.A. History

In 1941, after reading Jack Alexander’s article about Alcoholics Anonymous in The Saturday Evening Post, Robert MacW. wrote a short note to the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania saying,

    Am greatly impressed with the working of this group[.] And would appetite [sic] any information you may be able to furnish me as to whether there is such a group organized in Pittsburgh, their address, or the requirements of organizing such a group.

The Alcoholic Foundation would reply eight days later.

In 1941, Boston, Massachusetts’ first A.A. meeting was held at the Jacoby Club, 115 Newbury St. [right], in the office of Dr. Lawrence M. Hatlestad, non-alcoholic assistant secretary of the Club.
    He had written the Alcoholic Foundation office in June 1940 that he had read “your splendid book Alcoholics Anonymous” and declared “You have come upon something of real merit.” He pointed out that his club had similar goals and that some of the members were alcoholics and had quit drinking. He was anxious to contact A.A.s in Boston.
    After Jack Alexander’s article about A.A. in The Saturday Evening Post appeared, Ruth Hock prepared a list of 31 inquiries from the Boston area to be contacted. Paddy K., who had been in contact with Ruth and Bill W. as early as 1939, had been trying to start an A.A. meeting in Boston as early as 13 Nov 1940. When Ruth couldn’t locate Paddy, she sent the list to Dr. Hatlestad. Once Paddy re-emerged, something of a row took place, in part because the Jacoby Club accepted outside contributions.
    Bill would travel to Boston “to straighten things out,” which resulted in A.A. being banned from use of the Jacoby Club.

In 1941, in an article titled “Alcoholics on the Air,” Time magazine [left: cover and article] reported on Detroit radio broadcasts featuring A.A. members. It noted that the biweekly broadcasts on WWJ were

    … the first sustained air flight of the famed organization called “Alcoholics Anonymous”.… Detroit A.A.s give creditfor the broadcast project to 62-year-old William Edmund Scripps, big boss of the Detroit News and WWJ. He was so im­pressed by A.A.’s reformation of a drunkard friend that he decided to do what he could to boost the orga­nization’s Detroit membership (now nearly 400).

March 4 in A.A. History

In 1891, Lois Burnham was born to Dr. Clark and Matilda Spelman Burnham [right: all three] at 182 Clinton Street, in a spacious brownstone located in an affluent section of Brooklyn Heights, New York. At that time, Brooklyn was a separate city; it would become a borough of New York City in 1898.
    Lois was the eldest of six children, followed by Rogers, Barbara, Katherine (or Kitty), Lyman, and Matilda. Matilda, who was sickly after her difficult birth, died before her first birthday. Lois would struggle to understand why an innocent little baby had to die, and all her mother could say was that it was simply “God’s will.”
    Her father was a prominent physician, and a back room in the house served as his medical office. Her grandfather, Rev. Dr. Nathan Burnham, was a physician, lawyer, and minister in the Swedenborgian Church. Lois’s mother came from an old aristocratic family. The household employed a cook, a maid, and a man to tend to the fires, make repairs, and care for the horses and carriage.
    Every spring, the entire household followed Dr. Burnham’s patients to Vermont, living beside Dorset Pond (known now as Emerald Lake). As a youngster there, Lois was quite the tomboy. She loved fishing, swimming, sailing, climbing trees, catching frogs, and picking berries during long morning walks. It was at Emerald Lake that Bill Wilson and Lois first met, and where Bill began to woo her.

    The Burnhams’ summer cottage, which they called “the Camp” was near both Manchester and Manchester Center in Vermont, where many of Dr. Burham’s patients spent the summer. Robert Todd Lincoln, the son of Abraham Lincoln, and his family were social acquaintances of the Burnhams, spending their summers at Hildene, their estate in Manchester. Nearby Manchester Village represented “old” money. Dr. Burnham was a champion golfer and a founder, along with Lincoln, of the exclusive Ekwanok Country Club [left: Lincoln (3rd from left) playing at Ekwanok with William H. Taft (far left)] in Manchester, where he likely played with other notable figures such as former President William Howard Taft and Henry Ford.
    Lois’s father would ensure that all the children received the best education possible. Lois would begin her schooling with a new form of preschool education imported from Germany called “kindergarten.” She attended Friends School and Packer Collegiate (an all-girls school) for grades one through twelve, maturing into a brilliant and artistically talented woman. She would eventually become the wife of Bill Wilson and, along with her friend and neighbor Anne B., a co-founder of Al-Anon.

March 3 in A.A. History

In 1940, The Collegian, the “official publication of the student association of Daniel Baker College” in Brownwood, Texas, published an unsigned item, titled “Down With Demon Rum,” about Alcoholics Anonymous, that began

    If you've been troubled with pink elephants in the dormitories or your fraternity house, fret no more, gentle readers. Demon Rum is about to be catapulted from whence he came.
    ere in New York a group of sixty brave souls who once gazed with affection on the wine when it was red, have at long last come to know the villain for what he is. What is more, they have organized a club called Alcoholics Anonymous; and the other evening, they were dined, but not wined, by John D. Rockefeller, himself.

In 1941, Dale A. [left] from Seattle, Washington, read Jack Alexander’s article about Alcoholics Anonymous in the March 1 issue of The Saturday Evening Post and subsequently wrote to the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City. He is regarded by many as the founding father of Seattle A.A.

In 1947, Nell Wing [right, in 1945], fresh from a two-year tour in the Coast Guard, begins work at the Alcoholic Foundation, located at 415 Lexington Ave., New York City. She had stopped in New York on her way to Mexico, where she planned to pursue a career as a sculptress. Seeking a temporary job to earn a little travel money en route, she started as a typist, earning $32 a week [~$453 in 2025].
    She would remain at the Foundation for 36 years, serving as Bill Wilson’s secretary and later becoming A.A.’s first Archivist. Her relationship with Bill and Lois Wilson was more akin to that of a daughter than an employee.

In 1954, this month's issue of the LULAC (League of United Latin-American Citizens) News reported that

    Three members of the Montrose [Colorado] branch of Alcoholics Anonymous addressed the club [the Houston, Texas Jr. LULACs] on March 3, and gave an interesting explanation of the organization and function of A. A. The Juniors were very much impressed when they also spoke on the bad effects of abusive drinking especially among the youth of our nation. These speakers wound up their interesting talks with the answering of questions.

In 1963, approximately 350 people filled the Montreal Botanical Gardens Auditorium for the release of the new French edition of Alcoholics Anonymous (Les Alcooliques anonymes) [left: 3rd edition]. The first edition included eleven translated stories from the original English-language book; Appendix II, “Spiritual Experience;” eight stories from French-speaking members in stories from French-speaking members in Canada and Europe; the Twelve Traditions translated from Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions; and selected extracts from Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age.
    Joe C., one of the translators, presented a copy of the book to Eve M., a G.S.O. staff member, on behalf of A.A.’s only living co-founder, Bill W. The book was printed with financial support from A.A. World Services, Inc., and was also distributed in France, Italy, Belgium, and Switzerland.

March 2 in A.A. History

In 1941, a meeting was held in the office of the Cleveland Switchboard Co. to form a “Cuyahoga County A/A [sic] Committee.” The announcement card for the meeting stated:

    MOTION by B——, second by C—— - that a CLEARING HOUSE COMMITTEE be formed, and that it be composed of two (2) members from each and every A/A [sic] Group in Cuyahoga County. This Committee to have NO AUTHORITY to commit, involve or bind any one or all of the Groups in Cuyahoga County in any manner whatsoever without referring proposed ideas, plans or propositions to each individual Group for its acceptance or rejection.
    MOTION was carried.
    COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Kindly conform to this important rule.
                                        C[larence]. H. S——, Chairman [shown above right].

    Following the passage of this motion, another motion was made and passed to remove Clarence S. as Chairperson. Two days later, he wrote to Bill W., seeking help with this “revolution.” It appeared that the Cleveland members were still upset about the articles in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Clarence wrote: 

    They wanted to know how much the Plain Dealer pd. me. Why I didn’t put it in the kitty. Where did I get the authority etc. etc. etc. Not one kind thing said in my behalf. This from persons I had picked out of the gutter & worked on & gave unceasingly & unselfishly of fellowship & whatever I could. Experience then, the resentment & hatred has been there. They have gone out of their way on numerous occasions to embarrass me.

    These disgruntled members voted Clarence out of office, just as they had previously voted him out of A.A. during the original split of the Cleveland Group. They elected Bill H. as chairperson and wanted nothing further to do with Clarence.

In 1979, at Nancy O.’s urging, former Senator Harold E. Hughes appeared as a witness before the Senate Subcommittee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse—a committee he had once chaired. She wrote a book, With a Lot of Help from Our Friends, [left], about her work with Senator Hughes.

March 1 in A.A. History

In 1941, The Saturday Evening Post published Jack Alexander’s article, “Alcoholics Anonymous: Freed Slaves of Drink, Now They Free Others” [right and left: cover, selected pages], which created a national sensation. “Came then the deluge,” Bill W. wrote. Six thousand frantic appeals from alcoholics and their families flooded the Alcoholic Foundation office in New York City. Within a year, membership quadrupled from 2,000 to 8,000.

    Bill and Ruth Hock sifted through the mass of letters, laughing and crying in turn. It was clear they couldn’t handle the mail alone, and form letters wouldn’t suffice. Each letter required an understanding, personal reply. Anticipating a strong response, Lois W. had organized anyone who could type into squads and scheduled those who could not to answer phones.

    Even so, the response exceeded everyone’s wildest expectations. Within days, meeting attendance doubled, and within weeks, newcomers were being sent out on 12^th Step calls to other alcoholics. Ruth Hock and Margaret “Bobbie” B., along with Lois and her volunteers, worked day and night for five or six weeks to respond to all the mail.

    The magazine’s decision to feature A.A. would have been enough for editors across the country to find A.A. newsworthy, but the story went beyond mere reporting; it endorsed A.A.’s effectiveness. It is hard for us today to imagine the immense excitement this article generated among A.A. members.

Backstory: Jim B. [right] had just moved to Philadelphia and was trying to get a local bookstore to carry the Big Book. The bookstore’s manager was uninterested, but a woman named Helen Hammer overheard the conversation. She spoke up, sharing that she had sent the book to her alcoholic nephew in Los Angeles, who had sobered up instantly and remained sober for three months. However, the store manager remained unimpressed. When Mrs. Hammer learned of Jim’s attempt to start a group in Philadelphia, she introduced him to her husband, Dr. A. Weise Hammer.

    Dr. Hammer was a friend of Judge Curtis Bok^* [left, 1933], who had influence at The Saturday Evening Post. Dr. Hammer persuaded Bok to have The Post do a story on A.A. Bok urged the editors to assign Jack Alexander, an experienced, even cynical reporter, to write a feature story. Alexander was chosen because he had a reputation for being “hard-nosed.” He had just completed
a major story exposing the New Jersey rackets and prided himself on his cynicism.

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^* President judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Bok is often described as the owner of The Saturday Evening Post. He was not. The magazine was actually owned by Cyrus Curtis, who had purchased it in 1897. Curtis had founded the Curtis Publishing Company and remained president from 1891 to 1922.
    The confusion might stem from the fact that Bok was related to the Curtis family. Curtis Bok was the son of Edward Bok, who was a previous editor of The Saturday Evening Post, and Mary Louise Curtis, the daughter of Cyrus Curtis. Thus, Bok was the nephew of the owner (and both went by the same name).