June 7 in A.A. History

1925: On his way to Mass, 69-year-old Matt Talbot [left: restored photo] collapsed and died of heart failure on Granby Lane in Dublin, Ireland. A manual laborer who spent most of his life alone, Talbot might have gone unnoticed had it not been for the cords and chains found on his body after his death. He was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery [lower left] in Dublin on June 11. In 1972, his remains were moved to a tomb at Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Seán McDermott Street, Dublin [right: “Irish Tribunal Exhumes Body of Matt Talbot,” The Catholic Times, Columbus, Ohio, 11 Jul 1952, p. 3] . Although not formally recognized as a saint, he has been declared Venerable and is considered a patron of those struggling with alcoholism.
    While not directly associated with the history of Alcoholics Anonymous, Talbot’s story is significant and his name is familiar to many A.A. members. By the age of 28, he was considered a hopeless alcoholic, but “took the pledge” (renounced alcohol) and remained sober for the last 40 years of his life.

1933: James Hodges “Jim” R. got sober, more than 18 months before Bill W. Like Bill, he would stay sober for the rest of his life. Jim’s battle with binge drinking led him to The Keswick Colony of Mercy [left, 1920], a religious recovery mission in Whiting, New Jersey, where he would remain for 10+ months before returning home to Baltimore, Maryland. In 1940, he and Jim Burwell started Alcoholics Anonymous in Baltimore. However, when he first learned about and became involved with A.A. remains unclear.

1997: The Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal published the article “AA Meeting a Piece of History” [left], which discusses the upcoming Founders’ Day celebration.

June in A.A. History—day unknown

1938: [Late] Marty M. [right: at Blythewood, 4 July 1938] arrived at Blythewood Sanitarium in Greenwich, Connecticut, as a charity patient after spending several months at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. She walked in sober and described the difference between the two facilities as “like going from hell to heaven.” Carrying a suitcase of second-hand clothes, she brought with her all her worldly possessions. Marty herself reported

    Worst of all, I had lost my self-respect, confidence, courage and humanity They were far more important losses than material goods. Material possessions could be regained relatively easily, but emotional and spiritual losses take time and hard work.

1940: Stock certificates were issued to the 44 individuals who purchased shares in Works Publishing before May 1940. In April 1942, all of these certificates were sold back and returned to the Alcoholic Foundation [left: one of only two known to be in private hands, dated 20 June 1940].