April 18 in A.A. History

1941: Lowell Clucas’s article, “A.A.’s Go to Work in Jacksonville” [left], appeared on page 11 of the Jacksonville (Florida) Journal after Tom S. spoke with the city editor earlier that month about the national Alcoholics Anonymous movement and its local activities. Clucas then forwarded inquiries generated by the article to Tom. The first responses came from Charlie P., Bruce H., and Hugh C., and these four established the Central Group of A.A., which met at 2747 Riverside Ave. [right] in Jacksonville. All four founders died sober.

Today in A.A. History—April 18–22

1956: At the 6th General Service Conference, held at the Commodore Hotel [right, c. 1940] in New York City, the Conference…

… unanimously approved of Bill’s new book [A.A. Comes of Age].

The Conference also approved a motion…

… asking Headquarters to designate Thanksgiving Week “A.A. Gratitude Week” and that this be noted in pre-Thanksgiving appeals for funds to help support worldwide services.

    In the final session, Bill W. proposed four principles “that might someday permeate all of A.A.’s services,” namely “Petition, Appeal, Participation, and Decision”—foreshadowing Concepts III, IV, and V.

Today in A.A. History—April 18–23

 

1966: At the 16th General Service Conference, held at the Hotel Roosevelt [left, 2008] in New York City, the ratio of Class B [alcoholic] trustees to Class A [non-alcoholic] trustees was revised to give Class Bs a ⅔ majority, rather than the previous simple majority. For 11 years, Bill W. had pursued this change, debating it at ten consecutive General Service Conferences. In a 1958 letter, Bill outlined why he believed it should be so:

1. the increased press of work with which A.A. has no business saddling the nonalcoholic members;…
2. the increasing importance of proper determination of the A.A. policy and its administration, which the nonalcoholics have, wrongly, I think, disclaimed all ability to handle;…
3. the need for wider representation geographically of alcoholic trustees; and…
4. it is unsound psychologically for a movement of the present size and maturity to take a childish and fearful view that a majority of alcoholics cannot be trusted to sit on our most important board…

1977: At the 27th General Service Conference, at the Statler Hilton Hotel [right] in New York City, the Conference approved Floor Action #3, which recommended that publication of a facsimile of the first edition of the Big Book should not be undertaken, as it would destroy the sentimental value of the actual first edition.

Today in A.A. History—April 18–24

1982: The 32nd General Service Conference was held at the Roosevelt Hotel [above left] in New York City. Advisory Actions included:

14. A draft of a pamphlet be developed for the homosexual alcoholic.

1993: The 43rd General Service Conference was held at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza [left] in New York City. Advisory Actions included:

2. The use of sobriety chips/medallions is a local matter and not one for the Conference take a position on.
3. It inappropriate for AAWS or the Grapevine, Inc., to produce or license sobriety chips/medallion
10. Contributions from conferences, conventions, and round-ups not be limited to any amount; only funds from A.A. members 
attending such events should be contributed to support A.A. services.
13. Rejected a proposed quarterly Spanish newsletter due to staffing needs and other costs.
17. Rejected request to rewrite the first three chapters of the Big Book.
18. Rejected facsimile of 1st edition Big Book as it would destroy the sentimental value of the real ones.
19. A.A.W.S. produce a pocket-sized version of the Big Book with Preface, all forewords, The Doctor’s Opinion, basic text, Dr. Bob’s Story and Appendices.
20. The A.A. history book project be deferred two years so a new team can look at it with fresh ideas.
23. The area delegate term not be extended to three years.
32. Some areas have incorporated linguistic districts within their structure, whose boundaries may be independent of the conventional district boundaries.
39. The chairperson of the GeneralService Board serve for no more than four consecutive years.

1999: The 48th General Service Conference was held at the Crowne Plaza Manhattan [right] in New York City. Advisory Actions included:

9. A.A. should accept discounts or subsidies which would be offered to any organization of similar size, i.e., hotel convention rates. When offered in partly or in total because we are A.A., it must be declined.
12. Publications Dept. has editorial responsibilities for the 4th edition Big Book: editorial “fine tuning” such as footnotes, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, updating, jacket materials, page numbers, etc.
14. A draft of a pamphlet directed to the Black/African American alcoholic be developed.

2004: The 54th General Service Conference was held at the Crowne Plaza Manhattan [above right] in New York City. Advisory Actions included:

1. Punctuation in “Doctor Bob’s Nightmare” in the 4th edition of the Big Book be restored to that of the 3rd.
14. A draft Spanish-language third edition Big Book, Alcohólicos Anónimos be developed, with pp. i–181 and Appendices undergo a total review to assure accuracy and consistency of style and tone.
18. Approved use of personal computers at Conferences (up to 24 spaces with power outlets available).
19. Denied request for a 2nd delegate area for Area 15 (S. Florida, Bahamas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Antigua).
21. Add “aa.org” to tagline on all radio PSAs: “Look us up. Check your phone book, newspaper or aa.org.”
22. Produce quarterly reports on web site: changes to, activity on, and summaries of requests/actions taken.

2010: The 60th General Service Conference was held at the Hilton Rye Town [left] in Rye Brook, New York.  Advisory Actions included:

1. The request to develop procedures for making Concept V appeals to the Conference be recommitted to the GSB, so they can addresses considerations raised by Conference delegates.
4. Replace the Advisory Action #33 below with: Publication Dept. work with Report and Charter Committee on the Final Report to ensure all Advisory Actions and Additional Committee Considerations are consistent in format, grammatically correct, and accurately reflect the actions of the Conference.
14. La Viña move toward parity with Grapevine, as perfect-bound, black-and-white, 68-page bimonthly.
17. Develop literature focusing on spirituality, including stories from atheists/agnostics who got sober in A.A.
18. In “Frequently Asked Questions about A.A.,” change the paragraph on closed meetings from “A closed meeting is limited to members of the local AA group or visiting members from other groups” to “A closed meeting is for A.A. members only, or for those who have a drinking problem and have a desire to stop drinking.”
24. Develop a plan for a G.S.C. inventory to be brought forward to the 2011 Conference.
30. The trustees’ P.I. Committee bring to the 2011 Conference P.I. Committee a draft policy on whether or not to show faces of actors portraying A.A. members or potential members in visual media.
33. Advisory Actions and Additional Committee Considerations be published exactly as approved by the Conference in the General Service Conference Final Report [rescinded by Floor Action #4 above].

2021: The 71st General Service Conference was held online [right: Class A Trustee and A.A. Grapevine chair Michele Grinberg speaking from “the floor”]. With the COVID-19 pan­demic continuing into its second year, the Conference coordinators had time to prepare for the likelihood of an online format. Among the recommendations made during the Conference were:

• Changing “men and women” in the Preamble to “people.”
• “A Fifth Edition of… Alcoholics Anonymous, be developed;…” “A Fourth Edition of… Alcohólicos Anónimos, be developed…”
• Revise Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions: on p. 117, replace “opposite sex” with “partner;”on p. 66, replace, “No one wants to be angry enough to murder, lustful enough to rape, gluttonous enough to ruin his health” with “No one wants to commit the deadly sins of anger, lust or gluttony.”
• On p. 12 of “Questions and Answers on Sponsorship,” change “… be of the same sex” to “… be avoided whenever a romantic entanglement might arise between sponsor and sponsee.”
• A draft version of the Big Book be translated into plain and simple language.
• Develop a process for polling the General Service Conference between annual meetings, enabling online discussion and debate, broader participation, and greater efficiency.
• Implement a 3-year trial of an Equitable Distribution of Workload Process for the 72nd Conference.
• U.S./Canada recognize online groups and encourage their participation, superseding a 1997 Advisory Action designating online groups as “International Correspondence Meetings.” Form a GSB committee to explore possibilities for participation of online groups in the U.S./Canada dervice structure.”
• Add guardianship of the Twelve Concepts to the Purpose statement of the Current Conference Charter, which already names the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions.