October 31 in A.A. History

1939: John Henry Fitzhugh “Fitz” M. [near right] and Hardin C. [far right]—both previously designated as “loners”—started the Washington (DC) Group of A.A. at Hardin’s home. Within months, Ned F., Bill E., George S., and Steve M. joined them. [This date assumes the group began on a Tuesday, which became their regular meeting night; they may have met for the first time 1–3 days earlier.]

1945: Vernon E. Fabrick had his last drink. Born 22 April 1895, he would join the Pasadena (California) Group and die on 18 June 1964, with 18 years of sobriety [left: Vernon F.’s Big Book (leather cover, inside front cover) and letter of condolence from the AA Grapevine editor to his widow].

1951: The American Public Health Association presented the Lasker Award to Alcoholics Anonymous at its Annual Meeting, held at the San Francisco Opera House, for “meritorious service in the public health.” Each recipient received a statuette of the Winged Victory [right]. Originally, the award was intended for Bill W., but he asked that it be given to the Fellowship instead. The Lasker Foundation agreed, and when the Alcoholic Foundation Board polled Conference delegates by mail, the delegates also approved. The Foundation declined the accompanying $1,000 cash grant [~$13,000 in 2026].

1957: John Richard “Dick” S. [left] died in Stow, Ohio. He had gotten sober on 28 February 1937 and his story, “The Car Smasher,” appeared in the first edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. He later rewrote it as “He Had To Be Shown” for the second and third editions.

1958: Clancy I. [right] got sober. “I had to just get out of the rain and find a little rest,” Clancy said. “Somebody told me about a place drunks could go.” He walked 72 blocks to a small alcohol rehabilitation center. 

He would leave a lucrative career with a Beverly Hills marketing firm to become managing director of the Midnight Mission in downtown’s skid row, returning as a transformative leader to an institution that had once kicked him out for bad behavior. Under his hand, the soup kitchen and housing facilities would grow with programs to address the social needs of skid row.

1963: Rev. Dr. Samuel Moor Shoemaker [left], 69, died at Burnside, the family home in Green Spring Valley, Maryland, located 10 miles [~16 km] north of Baltimore. In his February 1967 A.A. Grapevine tribute titled “I Stand by the Door,” Bill W. remarked:

Dr. Sam Shoemaker was one of A.A.’s indispensables. Had it not been for his ministry to us in our early time, our Fellowship would not be in existence today.

1974: Sylvia K. S., 68, the first woman to achieve permanent long-term sobriety and author of “Keys to the Kingdom” in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions of Alcoholics Anonymous, died in Sarasota, Florida, possibly from emphysema. She was 35 years sober at the time. [Right: obituary from the 1 Nov 1974 Sarasota (FL) Journal, p. 4-A.]

October in A.A. History—day unknown

1985: Dartmouth College’s Alumni Magazine published Rex Roberts’ interview “Thomas V. Seessel ’59: ‘It’s okay to say “No”’” [left], highlighting Seessel’s new role as Executive Director of the National Council on Alcoholism (NCA), founded by Marty M. and Dr. E. M. Jellinek. In the interview, Roberts noted,

The NCA works closely with Alcoholics Anonymous, a separate but better known organization, which helps alcoholics recover through self-help fellowship. (This year marks the 50th anniversary of AA, co-founded by Dartmouth Alumnus Robert Holbrook S―― ’02.)

1988: The A.A. Grapevine, Inc. published The Language of the Heart [right: 1st printing, 1989], a collection, as the Introduction says, of “virtually every article written for the AA Grapevine by Bill W.”

1999: The D.I.A.log, the official newsletter of the Dallas (Texas) Intergroup Association [left: logo], published an interview with Searcy W. In this interview, he discussed his own recovery, Esther E.—whose story, “A Flower of the South,” appears in the 2nd and 3rd editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous—Bill W. and the Twelve Traditions, and Ebby T., who spent several years in Texas with Searcy.