1949:
Anne Ripley S. [right], 68, wife of Dr. Bob, died at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio. She was
cherished by the Akron members and by Bill and Lois W., and in her final
years, she suffered from severe cataracts that left her nearly blind. As an
act of love, Sister Ignatia performed a secret baptism for her before her
death. The July 1949 issue of the A.A. Grapevine featured a memorial
article by Bill, who described Anne as “quite literally, the mother of our
first group, "Akron Number One" and “in the full sense of the word she was
one of the founders of AA.” After her death, Anne’s remains were sent to
Cleveland for cremation before being buried in Akron
[left: gravestone].
1962: Henry Berton “Bert” Davis and his wife, Hazel, founded Harbor House, an addiction treatment center in Memphis, Tennessee.This center was the realization of a dream Bert had first conceived in 1955. Rooted primarily in the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous,
Harbor House also incorporated religious beliefs and philosophical
teachings. Bert, whose life was a continuous battle for sobriety, knew that
his active involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous was essential for maintaining
his own recovery. Consequently, Harbor House became his life’s work. The
center continues to operate today
[right: Harbor House, Feb 2023].
1998: This date marked the deadline for submitting personal stories for the
4th edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous
[left], for which A.A.W.S. received 1,222 submissions.
Anne Ripley S. [right], 68, wife of Dr. Bob, died at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio. She was
cherished by the Akron members and by Bill and Lois W., and in her final
years, she suffered from severe cataracts that left her nearly blind. As an
act of love, Sister Ignatia performed a secret baptism for her before her
death. The July 1949 issue of the A.A. Grapevine featured a memorial
article by Bill, who described Anne as “quite literally, the mother of our
first group, "Akron Number One" and “in the full sense of the word she was
one of the founders of AA.” After her death, Anne’s remains were sent to
Cleveland for cremation before being buried in Akron
[left: gravestone].1962: Henry Berton “Bert” Davis and his wife, Hazel, founded Harbor House, an addiction treatment center in Memphis, Tennessee.This center was the realization of a dream Bert had first conceived in 1955. Rooted primarily in the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous,
Harbor House also incorporated religious beliefs and philosophical
teachings. Bert, whose life was a continuous battle for sobriety, knew that
his active involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous was essential for maintaining
his own recovery. Consequently, Harbor House became his life’s work. The
center continues to operate today
[right: Harbor House, Feb 2023].
1998: This date marked the deadline for submitting personal stories for the
4th edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous
[left], for which A.A.W.S. received 1,222 submissions.
June in A.A. History—day unknown
1916: On June 3, President Wilson
[near right]
signed the National Defense Act, leading to the mobilization of all
National Guard units by June 18. This mobilization supported the Mexican
Expedition (originally the “Punitive Expedition, US Army”), led by Major
General John J. Pershing
[far right], had been ordered to retaliate against border incursions by Pancho
Villa
[left], a revolutionary leading a Mexican paramilitary group during the Mexican
Revolution (1910–20). Pershing’s primary objective was to capture Villa,
which he failed to do.Norwich University students, including Bill W., were required to serve as cadets, making them part of the Vermont National Guard. Called up as a cavalry squadron in the 1st Vermont Regiment, the cadets were sent to Fort Ethan Allen. However, they returned to Norwich shortly thereafter without ever getting near Mexico. Bill enjoyed the training and was discharged as a corporal on December 15. Despite the significant disruption to the academic year, he and his classmates were readmitted to Norwich.
1922: Lois W. experienced the first of her three ectopic pregnancies, a
condition where the ovum develops outside the uterus, in Lois’s case in a
fallopian tube
[left: uterus (blue arrows) and ectopic pregnancy in the left fallopian tube
(red arrows)]. In her memoir, Lois Remembers, Lois reflected on her
experience:
[left: uterus (blue arrows) and ectopic pregnancy in the left fallopian tube
(red arrows)]. In her memoir, Lois Remembers, Lois reflected on her
experience:That summer I became pregnant. It was the first of three ectopic pregnancies. My dad [surgeon Dr. Clark Burnham] recognized immediately what was the matter and put the matter and put me to bed in the old home on Clinton Street, where he could look after me. He knew that a healthy body such as mine can often recover naturally without an operation, even after the bursting of a [Fallopian] tube. This time, that is what happened.
