July in A.A. History (day unknown)

In 1922, Lois W. experienced her second ectopic pregnancy, where a fertilized egg develops outside the uterus—in her case, in a fallopian tube. The first had occurred just a month before in her other fallopian tube, and her father, Dr. Clark Burnham [left], had treated her at home.

    This time, he promptly sent her to the Skene Sanitarium [right], where he was on staff. A colleague performed the surgery, and Lois then went to her family's camp on Emerald Lake in Vermont to recover under her father's care. Unfortunately, her condition worsened instead of improving. Despite feeling increasingly unwell, she missed home and pretended to be getting better until Dr. Burnham “let” her go home.

    Once home, her husband Bill kept her in bed for several weeks. Concerned about her deteriorating health, he consulted Dr. Leonard Strong [left], his brother-in-law, who realized that a cyst had formed on what remained of her ovary. Lois returned to the surgeon who had operated on her, but he only conducted a “cursory examination” and prescribed a laxative for what he assumed was constipation. Knowing better, Bill contacted Dr. Burnham, who quickly took a train back from Vermont and readmitted Lois to the Skene Sanitarium. There, the cyst was removed, and she began to recover rapidly.
    Lois would suffer a third and final ectopic pregnancy the following May.
 

In 1934, Ebby T. was approached in Manchester, Vermont, by his friends Cebra G., a lawyer, and F. Sheppard “Shep” Cornell, a stockbroker from New York City. Both were members of the Oxford Group and had previously been heavy drinkers, and specifically drinking buddies with Ebby. They had stopped drinking and were now sober. They told Ebby about the existence of the Oxford Group in Vermont, but he wasn’t quite ready to give up alcohol.
 

In 1934, Bill W. was admitted to Charles B. Towns Hospital [left] for the second time, again paid for by Dr. Leonard V. Strong, his sister’s husband. During this stay, Bill met Dr. Silkworth [right] for the first time. The doctor explained the concepts of obsession and allergy related to alcoholism.

However, shortly after his release, Bill started drinking again. At this point, he was unemployable, over $50,000 in debt [~$1.2 million in 2025], suicidal, and drinking around the clock.