1937: Bill W.
[right, c. mid-late 1903s] lost his job at Quaw & Foley,*
and at that time, he was still owed one of his two weeks of vacation.†
Bill claimed he was let go due to the March 1937 market crash; indeed, the
market losses on 10 March 1937 are ranked as the second-worst day in U.S.
financial history. Following this, all aspects of the nation’s business
remained depressed for well over a year, with unemployment reaching about 18%.
Lois’s diary notes that Quaw & Foley was forced to let Bill go “because
they nearly failed.” This would be the last substantive job Bill ever held
outside of Alcoholics Anonymous.
[William Schaberg, in Writing the Big Book: The Creation of A.A., asserts at this point in the story (p. 24) that…
W―― was never happy with his ongoing lack of real employment and he would spend the rest of his life chasing the occasional job opportunities that came his way, while just as constantly trying to resign from the central leadership position that was always being forced back on him by the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.** In many ways, these two factors defined Bill W――'s life from this point forward: he never again held a job outside of A.A. and he was never able to completely let go of the reins that controlled A.A.
**Dipping into any of the folders containing W――’s voluminous thirty-five years of correspondence that are carefully preserved at Stepping Stones will provide ample support for both of these observations. However, it must be noted that Bill W――’s desire to hand over the leadership of A.A. to others was always tempered by a conflicting desire on his part to continue “running the show.” He was a complicated and fascinating man.]
1988: A memorial service for
Lois [below, near the end of her life], Bill W.’s widow, was held in Bedford Hills, New York. About fifty family
members and friends gathered for an informal Quaker-style service in the
living room of Stepping Stones, in front of a roaring fire in the stone
fireplace. During the service, Michael Alexander, Class A (non-alcoholic)
Trustee and chair of the General Service Board, spoke of her many talents and
facets: not only was she the leader and organizer of Al-Anon, but she was also
a writer, artist, poet, musician, highly sought-after speaker, lover of
nature, homemaker, tireless hostess, and devoted wife. “She was a remarkable
and great lady and we shall sorely miss her.”
1939: The first A.A. meeting
in Chicago, Illinois, proper was held.At the meeting held at Earl [left] and Katie T.’s apartment in Evanston, Illinois, the attendees discussed their obligation to make Alcoholics Anony-mous available to everyone in the Chicago area, which meant establishing a meeting place in the Loop (downtown).
The
historic location, A.A.’s first home in the city, was the top two floors of
the Medical and Dental Arts Building* [near right] at Lake and
Wabash. The first meeting there took place on a Tuesday night in October 1939
[i.e., the 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, or 31st]. As a bonus for their “mass
patronage” of the 65-cent [~$16 in 2026] table d’hôte† on the topside [below
right: top four floors], they were given the use of the lounge on
the floor below. It was convenient and congenial and much good would be done
there.
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