September 12 in A.A. History

1912: Henry Berton “Bert” D. was born in Clark, Arkansas. In 1962, he would found Harbor House, a treatment center in Memphis, Tennessee.

1941: Robert Shaw, 70, died of a heart attack [far left: obituary; near left: grave] in his car in the driveway of his home [right], 253 West Penn Street, Long Beach, New York. A friend of Willard Richardson, he joined the Alcoholic Foundation Board of Trustees in December 1939 as its third Chairman, becoming the first Class A Trustee to hold that position.

He had been born in Chicago, Illinois, where he and his father, William Walden Shaw, had founded the Dake Bakery Company. This bakery was one of 40 acquired by Adolphus Green in 1890 to form the American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company. In 1898, this company merged with William H. Moore’s New York Biscuit Company and John Gottlieb Zeller’s Richmond Steam Bakery to create the National Biscuit Company, which later became known as Nabisco. Shaw retired in 1914 while still in his 40s.

1942: U.S. Assistant Surgeon General Dr. Lawrence Kolb [left] spoke at a dinner honoring Bill W. and Dr. Bob S. The following month, Bill would inscribe Kolb’s copy of Alcoholics Anonymous with the words, “To Dr. Lawrence Kolb / In grateful appreciation of his friendship / Bill W――” [right]. At the 10th General Service Conference in 1960, Bill would express his thoughts about Kolb:
Old Fitz Mayo, one of the early AA’s and I visited the Surgeon General of the United States in the third year of this society and told him of our beginnings. He was a gentle man, Dr. Lawrence Kolb, and has since become a great friend of AA. He said,

“I wish you well. Even the sobriety of a few is almost a miracle. The government knows that this is one of the greatest health problems but we have considered the recovery of alcoholics so impossible that we have given up and have instead concluded that rehabilitation of narcotic addicts would be the easier job to tackle."

1946: A dispute arose over a funding solicitation from the National Council for Education on Alcoholism (NCEA), written by Marty M. [left, 1940s]. It was printed on NCEA letterhead, which included the names of the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), Dr. Bob S. and Bill W.

Marty had founded the NCEA with the support of the two co-founders. In her role at the NCEA, she regularly broke her anonymity. Initially, Bill believed this was acceptable, and Marty spoke extensively about A.A. during her continual lectures across the country. This occurred before the publication of the Traditions. Even so, to many A.A. members, the inclusion of the co-founders’ names on NCEA letterhead implied a connection between A.A. and NCEA. In response, the Alcoholic Foundation published both a letter and an article in the October A.A. Grapevine denying any affiliation between Alcoholics Anonymous and the NCEA [right]. This incident contributed to the widespread belief that “total non-affiliation was the only solution” to A.A.’s relationship with other organizations.

September in A.A. History—day unknown

1970: [Early] Bill W. [left, at General Service Conference in April 1970] became completely bedridden.

1974: Bob Pearson [right] was hired as the General Manager (GM) of the General Service Office (GSO); he served in that role until October 1984. He got sober in New York City in 1961. His story, “A.A. Taught Him to Handle Sobriety,” appears in the 3rd and 4th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. Bob served on the General Service Board as a Class B (alcoholic) Trustee from 1968 to 1974 and continued working at GSO until 1986. After retiring, he contributed to A.A. in many ways, including writing a history of the Fellowship that covered the period from the publication of Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age in 1957 through A.A.’s 50th [51st?] year in 1985, but also included additional early history. Unfortunately, this manuscript never led to a published history, but it is available online.