September 7 in A.A. History

1939: Lois W. [near right] noted in her diary that Hank [P.] [far right] remained drunk.

1954: Alcoholics Anonymous in the U.K. reprinted the U.S./Canada first edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, marking the first such reprint outside the U.S. [left: U.K. Big Book 1st edition, 1st printing without dust jacket; below right: copyright page]. They would later do the same with the U.S./Canada second edition. The release of the third and fourth editions in the U.K. would coincide with their release in the U.S./Canada. All four U.K. versions contained the same stories as the U.S./Canada editions, although there was initial consideration of including uniquely British stories.

September in A.A. History—day unknown

1941: The first Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) group in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was held at the Biltmore Hotel [right, 1952].

A.A. in Oklahoma began with two men drying out at Oklahoma City’s Coyne Campbell Hospital [left, 1952], which was run by Dr. Coyne Campbell. This small, two-story facility on Walnut Street, located on the seedy east side of town, treated mental and nervous disorders. 

While there, they read Jack Alexander’s article, “Alcoholics Anonymous: Freed Slaves of Drink, Now They Free Others,” from the March 1941 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.

Upon their release, they—or perhaps one of their wives—sent a penny postcard to the Alcoholic Foundation office in New York City inquiring about meetings in Oklahoma. The office replied that there were no meetings yet, but someone would contact them. That someone turned out to be Johnny P., the candy salesman who founded A.A. in Kansas City, Missouri, and to whom the New York office forwarded their request.

On his next trip to Oklahoma, Johnny brought the message of A.A. to the two men. They then contacted others and held the first meeting of the Oklahoma City Group. By the end of the year, the group would have 11 members and be growing steadily. By 1942, they would reach 25 members; by 1944, 60.

1941: A month after the first Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) group in Colorado began in Denver on 19 August with 11 attendees, the group had grown to 16 members and moved to the Cosmopolitan Hotel [right, c. 1940].

Two factions threatened to split the group over whether newcomers should be required to follow rigid rules before joining. The dispute was resolved when Sarah McP. moved to Washington, D.C., and Venard F., who had played a key role in bringing A.A. to Denver, resigned as a group leader. However, this conflict led directly to the formation of a Denver Central Committee, which included Hugh McA., Art D., Ernie R., and Harold O.

1942: A small group of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) members in Hartford, Connecticut, who had been meeting in various homes, began holding a buffet supper meeting at the Blue Plate Restaurant in West Hartford [left: interior, recent]. Mr. and Mrs. Gengas, the restaurant owners, became intrigued by their unusual patrons and offered a banquet room as a regular meeting place on Monday nights. As a result, the original Hartford group became known as the Blue Plate Group.

1943: Bill W. [right, 1941] spoke at the first public meeting of the Blue Plate Group, the first A.A. group in Hartford, Connecticut, held to celebrate its first anniversary.

1944: Barely 11 months after its beginning, Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) in Iowa held its first State Convention at the swank Hotel Fort Des Moines [left, 1940s–50s] in Des Moines, Iowa. After a day of workshops, a buffet lunch, and afternoon tea for the wives, 150 people from all over Iowa and from Minneapolis, Minnesota; Chicago, Illinois; Omaha, Nebraska; and St. Paul, Minnesota attended the banquet. The convention was praised in the newspapers and on the radio.