June 6 in A.A. History

1940: The first Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) group in Virginia, met in Richmond [left, 1940s].
    Ted C., who had undergone treatment at Rockland State Hospital in Orangeburg, New York, was returning to Richmond when the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City asked him to be their local contact. One of his early referrals was C. McGhee B., Jr. [right], whom Ted successfully helped to get sober. Together, they founded the group, holding their initial meeting in McGhee’s apartment with ten attendees.
    However, as Bill Wilson later observed, the group’s members “believed in getting away from their wives and drinking only beer.” This mindset proved ineffective, resulting in the group falling apart almost immediately.

1961: Dr. Carl Gustav Jung [near right] died from circulatory problems at his home in Küsnacht, in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland [far right: Jung family gravestone]. He became a full professor of medical psychology at the University of Basel in 1943 but resigned the following year after suffering a heart attack, opting for a quieter, more private life. In 1952, he faced another health setback of unknown description.
    Despite these challenges, Jung continued to publish works until his death, with his final piece being “Approaching the Unconscious,” a contribution to Man and His Symbols [left: cover], which he wrote in early 1961 and was published posthumously in 1964.

1979: In New York City, Lois W., widow of Bill W., presented the 2,000,000th copy of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, to Joseph Califano, who was the U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare at the time [below: Dr. Jack Norris, Chair of the General Service Board, presiding over the presentation].

June in A.A. History—day unknown

1938: [Early?] Hank P. wrote 11 pages of general ideas and observations in pencil about the book that would eventually become Alcoholics Anonymous, specifically focusing on the chapter “There Is A Solution,” which was being written by Bill W.. Bill handwrote “Hank’s ideas” at the bottom of the first page [right]. Despite Hank’s attempts to influence Bill’s writing, these notes had minimal effect.
    Interestingly, Hank referred to their method of staying as “The Program,” marking the first recorded use of this term in any known written document.

1938: During his fourth hospitalization for alcoholism, Norman H. from Darien, Connecticut, admitted to his doctor that he considered himself “a thoroughly hopeless case,” despite his previous determination never to drink again after the first hospitalizations. On the second day, the doctor, who many have been Dr. Silkworth, said he knew a way for Norman to stop drinking for good. The following day, a man spoke about alcoholism and a spiritual way of life. Although Norman was impressed by the man’s seriousness, he found his message difficult to comprehend. The man talked about God, but Norman, who did not believe in a higher power, dismissed it as irrelevant. To him, war, illness, cruelty, stupidity, poverty, and greed could not originate from any intentional creation.
    On the fourth day, another visitor—a fellow alcoholic who had been sober for over three years, likely Fitz M. or Hank P.—shared his story. He spoke of how other men had found sobriety by recognizing a power greater than themselves and invited Norman to a meeting at Bill W.’s home in Brooklyn the following Tuesday.
    When Norman told his wife about this group, she worried he might be mentally unstable. However, after meeting the compassionate doctor who recommended it, she agreed he should try it. With little hope and fear of disappointment, they both attended their first meeting that Tuesday. Norman had never felt so inspired.
    This marked the beginning of a new life for him. Gradually, he began to change. In this process, he realized two significant steps: he acknowledged for the first time that all his previous beliefs might be wrong, and he made a conscious decision to attempt to believe.
    Norman's story, “Educated Agnostic,” was published in the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous.