August 22 in A.A. History

1945: The first Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) meeting in Scotland took place. This event was reported in an article [left], titled “Alcoholics Anon­ymous Comes to Scotland,” published in Scotland’s The Sunday Mail:

Six men who met in a Church vestry in Perth this week-end made Scottish history—when they formed the first Scots branch of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Most unorthodox movement in the world—it began in America—Alcoholics Anonymous has as its only members people who are addicted to alcohol.

They set out as drunkards to help cure one another, to the extent of being prepared at a moment’s notice to go out at any time of the day or night to help a “brother” in distress.

The two churches most likely to have hosted this meeting are St. Matthew’s (West Church) [far left] and St. John’s Kirk [right].

1985: Francis “Barry” L. Jr. [left: middle-aged Barry], 66, died at his home in Manhattan [far right: obituary]. He was buried [near right: gravestone] in Weather­ford, Texas, where he had grown up.

Barry earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English and Journalism from Texas Wesleyan College in Fort Worth, Texas, where he taught those subjects for two years in the early 1940s. He later completed his doctorate at Yale University.

In 1944, he relocated to New York City, where he got sober in 1945. He became one of the first openly gay members of Alcoholics Anonymous and played a crucial role in discussions about inclusivity within the organization, particularly concerning LGBTQ+ members, including early efforts in 1945 to establish special meetings for gay men.

Barry testified before the U.S. Congress and appeared on television to advocate for legislation addressing alcoholism. He authored Living Sober [far left, 1st ed. 1st prtg.] (1975) and the pamphlet “Do You Think You’re Different?” [near left, 1st ed. 1st prtg.] (1976), which included two stories by gay authors. He also co-authored Lois’s book, Lois Remembers [right: 1st ed. 1st prtg.], and worked as a staff writer at the General Service Office (GSO) of A.A., where he recorded and wrote many of the early General Service Conference final reports. He additionally worked on the staff of the A.A. Grapevine. Barry retired from GSO eighteen months before his death.

He became a trusted friend of Bill and Lois W., growing particularly close to Lois after Bill’s death in 1971. In 1978, Lois presented Barry a copy of the original multilith manuscript of the Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous [left: 1st page of Chapter 5, “How It Works"]. The following year, Barry signed a notarized letter gifting the manuscript to A.A. World Services, while retaining possession of it for the remainder of his life—a fact he discussed publicly shortly before his death in 1985.

His final major public appearance was at the 8th International Convention of Alcoholics Anonymous, celebrating the organization’s 50th anniversary in Montreal, Quebec, just a month before his death. 

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

1950s: [Late] In Dallas, Texas, Lester F. hired Merl—“a perfect lady”—to run the Dallas Central Office. According to Lester, she kept the place “real clean and orderly” during the time she worked there.