May 10 in A.A. History

1939: Clarence S. [right] announced at the regular Wednesday night meeting of the Oxford Group in Akron, Ohio, as he later recounted:

    … that this was the last time the Cleveland [Ohio] bunch was down as a contingent—that we were starting a group in Cleveland that would only be open to alcoholics and their families. Also that we were taking the name from the book Alcoholics Anonymous.
    The roof came off the house. “Clarence, you can’t do this!” someone said.
    “It’s done.”
    “We’ve got to talk about his!”
    “It’s too late,” I said.…
    I made the mistake of telling these people the address. 

    Newly sober Albert “Abby” G., [left] a patent attorney from Cleveland, was still in Akron City Hospital, but his wife, Grace, had offered their large home to host the new Cleveland meeting.

1946:  Searcy W. [right] took his last drink, and would remain sober for 57 years, until his death on 30 September 2003.

1962:  Dr. Frederick “Freddie” B. [left: artificially aged from 1923], 81, died in San Diego, California. He had been Bill W.’s first prospect, a man Bill had met just six days after his final discharge from Charles B. Towns Hospital.

1969: For Searcy W.’s 23rd anniversary, Bill W. gave him a signed copy of his paper promoting vitamin B-3 (niacin) therapy, inscribing it: “For / Searcy W. / 5/10/69 / Bill W.” [right: inscription].

May in A.A. History—day unknown

1940: Richmond “Rich” W. [left] took his last drink upon joining the newly formed Boston, Massachusetts, Alcoholics Anonymous group, beginning a lifelong period of sobriety. Rich had first gotten sober in 1939 through the Oxford Group, a time when no A.A. group yet existed in Boston. He had stayed sober for 2½ years before relapsing in 1941. After another 1½ years of drinking, he found permanent recovery with A.A.
    In 1948, after moving to Daytona Beach, Florida, Rich compiled and self-published Twenty-Four Hours a Day [near right: a later book cover] using a mimeograph machine [far right: two cut-and-pasted pages ready for mimeographing]. The book became wildly popular, making him the second best-selling A.A. author, surpassed only by Bill W.
    Rich would die on 25 Mar 1965, at the age of 72, with 22 years of continuous sobriety.