September 1 in A.A. History

1898: Edward Patrick “Ed” Dowling [left: at far right, with siblings, c. 1907] was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He would become a Jesuit priest and important spiritual advisor to Bill W.

1918: Major Frederick Ernest B. [near right, 1919] wote a letter [below right] to Dr. Henry Milton Whelpley, the dean of the St. Louis College of Pharmacy and editor of Meyer Brothers Druggist magazine, enclosing a questionnaire for Whelpley to complete. The War Department wanted to know the military status of all chemists. This letter was written on Chemical Warfare Service letterhead and indicated that Frederick was the Chief of Personnel there. Presumably he sent the same request to chemists throughout the U.S.

1939: “Earl T―― and the Earlytimers” met^* in Evanston, Illinois, forming the first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in the Chicago area. This meeting took place in the apartment of Earl [left] and his wife, Katie,^† at 1324 Central Street [right]. Eight people attended^‡: Earl, Katie, Dick R., Ken A., Sadie I., Sylvia K. [left], George M., and a non-alcoholic, Grace Cultice [right], who would later become the secretary of the group and be known as “The Angel of Chicago A.A.”

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^*One source notes that the meeting occurred on “a Tuesday night in September,” suggesting the 5th, 12th, 19th, or 26th, while others indicate the 13th, 20th, or 21st.

^†Some sources claim the meeting was held “at Sylvia Kauffman’s apartment on Central Street.”

^‡There are discrepancies regarding attendance; one source states there were “six brand-new A.A.s and three non-alcoholic spouses,” while another reports that “eight people were present, four men and four women, two of whom were non-alcoholics.”

1954: Bill W. began dictating “the story of myself and the story of AA from true recollection only” to Ed Bierstadt at the Hotel Bedford [right], 118 E. 40th St. in Manhattan. Bill also said,

[I]t is my purpose to start in with childhood recollections bearing upon my background and ancestry and the events of that time as they related primarily to my personality structure and the defects in it, which no doubt laid the groundwork for my alcoholism.…

I have always been intensely averse to anything autobiographical being done in print. Indeed, I have always been very much against a biography of any sort, due to our studied policy of playing the founding of this movement down, for as people in it know, this is a society which can function peculiarly well without too much sanction from the top. Of course, I realize that someday biographies may be written, and there is no legal means of preventing them. Therefore the early part of this narrative is intended to set the record somewhere near straight, and for this immediate purpose I will just try to hit a few highlights in the sketch to follow.

A transcript of this recording led to the publication of Bill W.: My First 40 Years [far left: 3rd edition] by Hazelden in 2000. The first printing consisted of only 2,500 copies, making it somewhat rare. It also served as the foundation for the first section of Robert Thomsen’s Bill W. [near left: 1st edition], first published in 1975.

September in A.A. History—day unknown

1885: Robert S. [left, as a young man] (the future Dr. Bob) entered Summer Street Elementary School [right: former school?] in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, just two blocks from his home at Central and Summer Sts.

1894: Robert S. entered St. Johnsbury Academy [near right, c. 1908], located about 0.3 miles [~480 meters] from his childhood home.

1894: Bill W.’s parents, Emily Griffith [far left, c. 1905] and Gilman W. [near leftt], were married.