September 4 in A.A. History

1897: John S. [left: as a young man] was born in Houlton, Maine, to Rev. Richard and Kate Bolton S.

In the mid-1930s, he became an oil tanker captain [right: "Socony Vacuum," an oil tanker from Captain Jack's era (1934–54)]. In 1946, he got sober in Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), where he was known as “Captain Jack.” He would play a crucial role in establishing the Loners Internationalists Meeting and its confidential bulletin, a meeting-in-print for “Loners,” “Homers,” “Internationalists,” “Port Contacts” (who serve as contacts for Internationalists visiting their port city), and “Loner Sponsors.” He and hundreds of Internationalists like him, who sailed the seven seas, would carry the A.A. message wherever they dropped anchor, significantly contributing to A.A.’s phenomenal worldwide growth.

September in A.A. History—day unknown

1936: William “Bill” V. [near right] got sober in Akron, Ohio. He was one of five men whom Sister Ignatia [far right] recalled coming to the hospital after suffering terrible accidents due to drinking, all five of whom later became A.A. members. His story, “A Ward of the Probate Court,” was published in the first edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. In 1954, he recalled his first impression of Dr. Bob S. [far left], which occurred while he was still in the hospital:

I just lay there and enjoyed the conversation. He’d come every day. He said, “Of myself I am nothing.” I try to have some humility such as I saw in him and Annie. Their doorlatch was always open, and there was always a large pot of coffee back there in their small kitchen [near left]. And it was really potent, as any will remember who enjoyed it.

1938: Alcoholic Foundation Trustee Frank Amos [far left] arranged a meeting between Bill W. [near right] and Eugene Exman [far right], a friend of Amos and the religious editor of Harper Brothers Publishers. Exman offered Bill a $1,500 advance [~$35,500 in 2026] on the royalties from the sales of the book that would become Alcoholics Anonymous.

Upon hearing this, the Alcoholic Foundation Board of Trustees would urge acceptance, but Bill and Hank P. [left] wanted book ownership to remain within the Fellowship. At Exman’s suggestion, Hank would persuade Bill that they should form “One Hundred Men Corp.,” which, when women began seeking sobriety in A.A., became “Works Publishing, Inc.,” later “Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing,” and eventually “Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.” (AAWS), the name that remains today. They planned to sell stock at a par value of $25 [~$590 in 2026]. Six hundred shares would be issued; Hank and Bill would each receive 200 shares, and the remaining 200 shares would be sold to others. Later, thirty shares of preferred stock with a par value of $100 [~$2,400 in 2026] would also be sold.

Eventually, all of these shares would be bought back by the Alcoholic Foundation, with a loan from John D. Rockefeller [right]—except for Bill’s and Hank’s, which would essentially^* be relinquished without compensation. To appease the board, the author’s royalties, which would initially go to Bill, would instead go to the Alcoholic Foundation.

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^*Hank insisted on getting back the Alcoholic Foundation furniture he believed had come from Honors Dealers, but for which Bill claimed they had already compensated him. They eventually gave Hank $200 [~$4,700 in 2026].

1939: Your Faith magazine [left: cover with red arrows pointing to the relevant article] published D. J. Defoe’s interview with Dr. Bob S. (who is not named), titled “I Saw Religion Remake a Drunkard.”