July 25 in A.A. History

1943: American Weekly published the third installment of a three-part series by Genevieve Parkhurst [left], titled “ALCOHOLISM—Laymen Join Science to Cure It.” The first two pages [right] spanned approximately 5 ft2: 32" × 22" [~½ m2: 81 × 56 cm]. The article continued across several additional pages and generated roughly 1,100 inquiries to the Alcoholic Foundation office in New York City.

1947: The U.S. House of Representatives District Committee published a conference report titled “Rehabilitation of chronic alcoholics in District of Columbia” to accompany H.R. 2659 (an “act to establish program for rehabilitation of alcoholics, promote temperance, and provide for medical and scientific treatment of persons found to be alcoholics by courts of District of Columbia, and for other purposes”). The bill was signed into law by President Harry S. Truman on 4 August. During the hearings on this bill, Julius S., a member of the Cosmopolitan Group in Washington, D.C., had testified.

A.A. History—month & day unknown

1944: The first New Jersey-based Intergroup was established in a modest space on the second floor of the Alanon Club [right, 1940s], at the corner of 7th Street and 7th Avenue in Roseville, New Jersey (formerly the Roseville Athletic Club). The office was sparsely furnished with a desk, a few chairs, and a telephone. Prior to this, New Jersey groups had been operating from the A.A. Clubhouse at 334½ W. 24th Street in Manhattan.

Henry “Hank” T. Tesch became the first full-time paid secretary of the New Jersey Intergroup office, serving from 1946 to 1949 [left: minutes of the special meeting at which Hank was elected]. The Intergroup requested a monthly contribution from groups of 50¢ per member, in line with the unwritten tradition of self-support among A.A. groups at that time. Despite some groups having thirty or more members, Intergroup typically received only $5–10 [~$95–190 in 2026] a month from each group. This amount was barely enough to keep the office running, but it set the important precedent that New Jersey A.A. groups would support their Intergroup office.

1944: [Late] The Manhattan Group relocated to what had been Knox Memorial Chapel [right] at 405 W. 41st St., where A.A. members converted the space into a clubhouse named the Cosmopolitan Club.

1945: The first permanent A.A. group in Richmond, Virginia, founded in 1941, held its first public meeting, which drew a large crowd.

1945: Theresa “Teddy” R., a recovering alcoholic, learned about the nineteen-bed alcoholic ward on the third floor of Knickerbocker Hospital [left] and felt a strong calling to work there. She persistently contacted the supervising nurse for three months until she secured the job. Dr. William D. Silkworth [right], in charge of the unit, praised Teddy as a “red-headed powerhouse.” From 1945 onwards, Teddy treated over 5,000 alcoholics, while Silkworth cared for approximately 7,000 patients, before his death from a heart attack at his Manhattan residence in 1951.