September 18 in A.A. History

1929: Nancy C. M. (sometimes identified as Nancy M.-O. since acquiring the name O. during a brief marriage) [right, with sister Jean, c. 1933] was born in Kingston, Pennsylvania.

In 2000, she would found the A.A. History Buffs group on Yahoo, and then relaunch it two years later as the A.A. History Lovers group. These are predecessors to today’s online AAHistoryLovers Google group and AA History Lovers Facebook group.

Nancy would live a distinguished life. She would become a stage actor in Pasadena, California, performing alongside Dustin Hoffman. In 1951, she would become personal secretary to Mortimer Adler, PhD [left, late 1970s–late 1980s] who, with Robert M. Hutchins, created the Chicago Great Books of the Western World series, and would work for him until the mid‑1950s. They would develop a friendship, and Nancy would receive what was effectively a superb graduate‑level education in philosophy and the history of ideas. She would also serve as an aide to Senator Harold E. Hughes of Iowa [near right: Nancy with the Senator, from the cover of her book, mid 1970s], collaborating on alcohol and drug reform legislation. Later, she would write a book about this experience, With a Lot of Help from Our Friends: The Politics of Alcoholism [below, far right: cover], published by iUniverse in 2003.

1946: Alcohólicos Anónimos was founded in Mexico. Days earlier, it had been announced in the pages of El Universal as a “dam against inveterate drunkenness.” The announcement included lines that, when translated into English, read:

The humanitarian work that our honorary consul in Cleveland, Ohio, Mr. Ricardo (Dick) B. Perez [left], who decided to take advantage of his vacations in Mexico to found in our country a branch of the association “AA” (Alcoholics Anonymous), it seems that it will bear fruit, as it is preparing for next Wednesday the 18th of this year, at 7:00 p.m., an act in the “Teatro del Pueblo” [right: facade, 2009] (attached to Abelardo Rodríguez market) in which Mr. Perez himself will personally give data, reports, as well as guidance.

In 1940, Ricardo had gotten sober in Alcoholics Anonymous in Cleveland, Ohio, where he and his wife, Helen, had translated the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, into Spanish.

1947: The Dallas Central Office of Texas held its first board meeting and officially opened for business. At that time, there were only two Alcoholics Anonymous groups in the metropolitan area. The Central Office was located in the Davis Building [left] at 1309 Main St., Dallas, in an old, musty, somewhat cluttered office. Dick P., who had suffered physical effects of poisoning from drinking Jamaica Ginger (“Jake”) [right] during Prohibition, served as the director.

1954: William “Bill” D. [left, with Helen B.], 63, died [right: obituary from unknown newspaper] at Crile Veterans Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, as a result of a heart attack he suffered 11 months earlier. His story, “Alcoholics Anonymous Number Three,” appears in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. He was buried at Greenlawn Memorial Park in Akron, Ohio. Henrietta would live for another 28 years and 3 days [left: their headstones].

Bill W. would say of Bill D.,

That is, people say he died, but he really didn’t. His spirit and works are today alive in the hearts of uncounted AAs, and who can doubt that Bill already dwells in one of those many mansions in the great beyond.