April 25 in A.A. History

1913: Burr and Burton Seminary staged A Midsummer-Night’s [sic] Dream at the Union Opera House, then situated on the second floor of what is now Factory Point Place on Main Street in Manchester Center, Vermont. The production’s playbill [right] lists several cast members whose names will be familiar to students of A.A. history:

Theseus, the Duke of Athens	William W—– [still deeply depressed over Bertha Bamford’s death]
Demetrius (In love with Hermia)	John Jackson [Constable who, in 1934, brought Ebby before Judge Graves when he drunkenly shot at pigeons]
Bottom, a Weaver	Edwin T—– [Ebby]
Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons	Esther Graves [Judge Graves’ daughter, Cebra’s sister]
Helena, (In love with Demetrius)	Dorothy W—– [Bill’s sister, would marry Dr. Leonard Strong]

1939: Morgan R. [left], a former advertising executive, asylum patient, and friend of the host, appeared for 3 minutes on Gabriel Heatter’s 9 pm radio show, We the People, in New York City. During his segment, Ryan shared his personal story and pitched the book Alcoholics Anonymous. Heatter commented that if even one person was helped by the story, it would be a real service.
    In the days leading up to the broadcast, Morgan had been confined to a room to ensure his sobriety for the show. Concurrently, Bill W. and Hank P. raised $500 [~$11,900 in 2026] to send 20,000 postcards to doctors east of the Mississippi River, announcing the upcoming broadcast. Despite these efforts, the promotion yielded only 12 responses, with just 2 of them being book orders [near right: postcard; far right: enclosed order form].

2010: The Hallmark Hall of Fame premiered When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois W―― Story on CBS. Starring Winona Ryder and Barry Pepper as Lois and Bill, the film was based on William G. Borchert’s book of the same name [far left: book cover; near left: video capture].

Today in A.A. History—April 25–29

1962: The 12th General Service Conference was held at the Roosevelt Hotel [right: marquee and entrance] in New York City. Advisory Actions, all unanimous, included:

• Recommends that the report on Long Range translation needs be adopted as follows: [9 specific points of criteria].
• Accepts the recommended budget as presented by the Finance and Budgetary Committee of the General Service Board.
• An Internationalist be selected by their group to attend the Annual meeting of the General Service Conference as an Observer without vote, starting in 1963.