August 16 in A.A. History

1939: [the 18th?] Dr. Robert “Bob” S. [right] and Sister Ignatia (née Bridget Della Mary Gavin) [left] facilitated the first admission of an alcoholic to St. Thomas Hospital [below right, c. 1940] in Akron, Ohio, using Dr. Bob’s diagnostic guise of “acute gastritis.” At the time, alcoholism was viewed as a disease, leading hospitals to generally deny admission to alcoholics under a policy of “not treating drunks.” Sister Ignatia later vividly recalled a day when she had come…

… to the [hospital’s] Chapel for prayer shortly after five one morning, only to be met by the night supervisor, who told me in unmistakable terms that the next time I admitted a D.T. [delirium tremens case] to the hospital, I had better stay up all night and run around the corridors after him.

The first patient admitted was Walter B., “a notorious alcoholic and a regular consumer of paregoric.” His story, “The Back-Slider,” later appeared in the first edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, as did that of his non-alcoholic wife, Marie, whose story was titled “An Alcoholic’s Wife.”

This admission marked the beginning of the partnership between Dr. Bob and Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas, which became the first religious institution to welcome Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) and would eventually dedicate an entire wing to the treatment of alcoholism. Sister Ignatia later said, “I was pretty well governed by whatever Doctor said as to the length of the stay and type of treatment.” Dr. Bob, however, could never remember the hospital’s policy, nor did he ever ask. Before his death in 1950, he and Sister Ignatia had cared for 4,800 alcoholics. A similar arrangement was made by the New York City group with Knickerbocker Hospital, but not until 1945.

Initially, Sister Ignatia had no idea that Dr. Bob was a recovering alcoholic himself. He later disclosed his own past problems with alcohol and his recent recovery.

1987: A group of Russian alcoholics founded "Московские Начинающие" (Moscow Beginners), the first official Alcoholics Anonymous group in Russia [left: Moscow, 1987].

A.A. History—year, month & day unknown

1950s: [Early] Hector G. co-founded Argentina's first known Alcoholics Anonymous group in Buenos Aires alongside Arthur M. After struggling with alcoholism, Hector found hope through reading Alcoholics Anonymous and seeking help from a local doctor. He had written to the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City, which sent him A.A. literature in Spanish and asked permission to list him as a contact for Argentinian referrals. Arthur had been one of those referrals. By 1954, the group had grown to eight members.

A.A. History—month & day unknown

1955: The Group Secretary—a newsletter sent regularly to Alcoholics Anonymous groups from the Alcoholic Foundation’s New York City office since 1947—was renamed The General Service Bulletin. First published on 14 November 1940 as the A.A. Bulletin [right: 1st issue] , it had already been renamed The Group Secretary in September 1952. In May 1956, it would be consolidated with several other A.A. bulletins to form the A.A. Exchange Bulletin [far left: Vol. I, No. 1]. Finally, in December 1966, the A.A. Exchange Bulletin would become Box 4-5-9 [near left: 1966 Holiday issue].