November 12 in A.A. History

1918: Battery C, 66th Artillery, Coast Artillery Corps (C.A.C.), Bill W.’s unit, returned to its station at La Courtine, possibly from the St. Mihiel sector in France [left, 5 Jan 1919]. The day before, at the time of the Armistice, its condition had been described as “about ready to go on the line.” i.e., almost ready to deploy to battle.

1940: Paddy K. held the first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, at the Jacoby Club, thereby establishing a connection between A.A. and the club.

The Jacoby Club had been founded by Ernest Jacoby [right, 1913] in 1909; it broke away from the Emmanuel Movement in 1913 and incorporated separately. Its motto was “A club for men to help themselves by helping others.” There were no membership dues, and the only requirement for membership was “an expressed desire to lead an honorable life and a willingness to aid other men less fortunate.” The club attracted many alcoholics; however, Paddy’s group did not last, and the first permanent A.A. group in Boston was formed in March 1941.

Bill W. later remarked of Paddy,

[He] could never get sober himself and finally died of alcoholism. He was just too sick to make it. Slip followed slip, but he came back each time to carry A.A.’s message, at which he was amazingly successful

1941: The Fresno (California) Bee published an article on page 15 titled “Alcoholics Anonymous Forms Local Unit” [left]. The article reported that three “well known” local men

to whom the liquor drinking habit has become a problem have announced the formation of the Fresno Chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous, a nation wide organization established to aid alcoholics.

[A.A.]… is a volunteer non profit organization of former alcoholics who have banded together to help each other and to assist the ‘problem’ drinker in overcoming the liquor habit.

The article notes the publicity A.A. received in March from The Saturday Evening Post article, “The Drunkard’s Best Friend,” by Jack Alexander (without identifying the magazine, article, or author). It says that this small group is

… seeking additional members who have the guarantee that any contact with the group will remain a secret within the organization. To further protect any applicant for membership from notoriety the group has rented Box 101 in the Fresno Postoffice [sic] to which alcoholics desiring help or seeking to join… may write.…

Abiding by the rules of the national organization the local members stand ready to aid any alcoholic at any time of the day or night.

Confirmed drinkers have been invited to write a letter to the local group outlining their individual problems.

1958: Fred Coe [right], producer of the CBS Playhouse 90 teleplay “Days of Wine and Roses” (starring Cliff Robertson, Piper Laurie, and Bickford), wrote a short note to Leonard V. Harrison [left], Chairman of the Alcoholic Foundation Board:

A delayed but nonetheless abundant note of gratitude and sincere appreciation for the help and advice that your New York organization of Alcoholics Anonymous gave to our production of J. P. Miller’s story “The Days of Wine and Roses”—and a deep bow to Miss Eve Marsh [GSO staff and secretary of the 1958 General Service Conference], whose advice to the writer, director, and actors was so helpful.

"The Days of Wine and Roses" received the largest mail, telephone and telegram response of any program presented on PLAYHOUSE 90, and I feel that your association should certainly receive a large share of the praise.

November in A.A. History—day unknown

2005: The first Mongolian conference of the Eastern Region focused on the theme “From 2 Steps to 12 Steps.” The participants began to realize “we had to work with 12 steps,” a practice that was not widely adopted. Additionally, they were not adhering to the Twelve Traditions [left: Нэргүй архичид, Mongolian for “Alcoholics Anonymous”; right: Mongolian A.A. logo superimposed over the Mongolian flag].