October 9 in A.A. History

1937: [Bill W. typically referred to this event as occurring “in late fall” and that it also included trips to Cleveland and Detroit to look for work. Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers states that it was in November, while others date it to 1936.] While Sterling P. and his wife drove separately to Akron, Ohio, Bill [near right] and Kathleen R. from Hackettstown, New Jersey, picked up Bill and Lois W. [far right, c. mid-late 1930s] in Brooklyn at noon to travel to Akron. The four of them stopped for the night in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

Today in A.A. History—October 9–11

1969: The first World Service Meeting (WSM) took place in the East Room [left] of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, attended by 27 delegates from 16 countries [right: WSM banner, country flags] :

	Australia	Belgium	Canada	Costa Rica	Colombia	England
	Finland	France	Germany	Guatemala	Holland	Mexico
	New Zealand	Norway	South Africa	United States

The theme of the WSM was “Our Common Welfare.”

October in A.A. History—day unknown

1939: [Early?] Sterling C. and Harlan N., both from Little Rock, Arkansas—possibly together—read Morris Markey’s article “Alcoholics and God” in Liberty magazine, which would lead to them starting first “mail-order” group, in which no one had gone to one of the existing groups to be “sponsored” by an “old-timer” into the Fellowship.

Sterling, an excellent insurance agent with a serious drinking problem, had been trying to get and stay sober for years. During this time, he lost several jobs due to his drinking. In 1938 [or perhaps 1935], he secured a new job at the Foster Cochran agency and made a deal with his boss: he would be automatically fired if he got drunk on the job. Things went well for a while, but then the cravings returned. Sterling confided in his boss about these cravings and his fear of drinking again. His boss advised him to take a few days off “to find himself.” Sterling ended up in New Orleans, where he spoke with an Episcopal priest who recommended reading Richard C. Peabody’s The Common Sense of Drinking and praying for relief. Following the plan outlined in Peabody’s book, Sterling began to turn his life around.

Back in Little Rock, Sterling was able to stay sober. People began to notice that he was becoming a different person. Eventually, a furniture dealer informed Sterling that he had a wonderful salesman, Harlan N., whom he was about to fire due to his inability to stay sober on the job. He asked Sterling to help Harlan. For six months, Sterling met daily with Harlan, trying to help him get and stay sober. Then they read Markey’s article in Liberty.

After reading the article, they wrote to the Alcoholics Foundation’s national office in New York City for a copy of the newly published Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. It was sent C.O.D. (cash on delivery), and when it arrived, conflicting accounts emerged regarding what happened next. One account says that it came to Harlan, who was out on a bender, while another says that neither Sterling nor Harlan had the money to cover the cost. In any case, the book was returned. It is also unclear how Sterling eventually obtained his copy of the Big Book; one account says he wrote again for it, while another suggests he convinced his boss at the insurance company to order it for him. The latter account adds that the Foundation’s New York office asked why an insurance company wanted their book, and it took some time to clarify the situation.

Despite these challenges, Sterling eventually got his Big Book. In May 1940, Sterling, Harlan, and Bud G. founded Little Rock’s Central Group [right, date unknown], the first Alcoholics Anonymous group west of the Mississippi River.