September A.A. History—day unknown

In 1939, Your Faith magazine [right: cover with red arrows pointing to the relevant article] published D. J. Defoe’s interview with Dr. Bob Smith (who is not named), which was titled “I Saw Religion Remake a Drunkard.”

	In 1939, prior to the September 30 publication of an article about A.A. in Liberty magazine, which would be A.A.’s first national publicity, Bill W. [left] wrote to Dr. Bob S. [right], “We are growing at an alarming rate, although I have no further fear of large numbers.”

    Bill’s concern arose from the recent sudden expansion to thirty groups and several hundred members in Cleveland, Ohio. This rapid growth demonstrated that the Fellowship could reach a significant size. A few weeks later, Bill wrote to Dr. Bob again:

    The press of newcomers and inquiries was so great that we have to swing more to the take-it-or-leave-it attitude, which curiously enough, produces better results than trying to be all things at all times at all places to all men.

In 1939, Mort J. [left], a resident of Denver, Colorado, bought a copy of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. Without even looking at it, he packed it in his suitcase and forgot about it. In November, after coming to in Palm Springs, California, following a weeks-long international spree, still shaking violently, he would find and begin to read it. He would never drink again and would eventually help reestablish A.A. in Los Angeles, California. 

September in A.A. History—day unknown

In 1935, Bill W. began working with Hank P. [right] who was from Teaneck, New Jersey. Hank would become Bill’s first or second 12th-step success in New York City, the other being Fitz M. This event also marks the roots of A.A. in New Jersey.

In 1936, James Dellie “J.D.” H. [left] got sober and became A.A. #10 [though other sources cite him as #8 or #17]. A native of Graves County, Kentucky, J.D. was a newspaper writer from Akron, Ohio, and was nicknamed “Abercombie” by Dr. Bob Smith for reasons that J.D. never understood. He later recalled being taken care of by “nine or ten who preceded me.” He remembers meeting Dr. Bob and hearing his…

    … screwball idea about the drink problem. He was a Vermonter and I was a Southerner, and to me, he had the professional Northern type of attitude—gruff and blunt. But later, after he told me his story, I knew it was just his manner of speaking.

    There is evidence that J.D. slipped after a few months but returned after approximately four months. He would go on to establish Indiana’s first A.A. group in Evansville on 23 April 1940, which became known as the Tri-State Group. Subsequently, with Doherty “Dohr” S. [right], he would help spread A.A. throughout the state.

	In 1938 , Frank Amos [left] arranged a meeting between Bill W. [near right] and Eugene Exman [far right] , a friend of Amos and the religious editor of Harper Brothers Publishers. Exman offered Bill a $1,500 advance [~$34,400 in 2025] on the royalties from the sales of the book that would become Alcoholics Anonymous.

    Upon hearing this, the Alcoholic Foundation Board of Trustees would urge acceptance, but Bill and Hank P. [left] wanted book ownership to remain within the Fellowship. At Exman's suggestion, Hank would persuade Bill that they should form “One Hundred Men Corp.,” which, when women began seeking sobriety in A.A., became “Works Publishing, Inc.,” later “Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing,” and eventually “Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.” (AAWS), the name that remains today. They planned to sell stock at a par value of $25 [~$570 in 2025]. Six hundred shares would be issued; Hank and Bill would each receive 200 shares, and the remaining 200 shares would be sold to others. Later, 30 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $100 [~$2,300 in 2025] would also be sold.

    Eventually, all of these shares would be bought back by the Alcoholic Foundation, with a loan from John D. Rockefeller [right]—except for Bill’s and Hank’s, which would essentially^* be relinquished without compensation. To appease the board, the author’s royalties, which would initially go to Bill, would instead go to the Alcoholic Foundation.

---

^*Hank insisted on getting back the Alcoholic Foundation furniture he believed had come from Honors Dealers, but for which Bill claimed they had already compensated him. They eventually gave Hank another $200 [~$4,600 in 2025].

September 21 in A.A. History

	In 1902, six-year-old Bill W. [left, c. 1902] wrote to his mother, Emily [right, c. 1905], who was away with his sister, Dorothy: Dear Mama,     School has begun and we are in the second reader. I have a brand new arithmetic. We have the same teacher that was here before. I have two new under teeth. They look just like little saws. Granpa and I went to Captain Thomases show. The Cap is a slick one. When are you and Dorothy coming home? I want to see you ever so much. I try to be a good boy. Grandpa says I am. I am learning to read and do numbers very fast.     From your little son Willie.     P.S. Kiss sister for me.

September 20 in A.A. History

	In 1939, the first A.A. meeting in the Chicago area took place at the home of Sylvia K. [left] on Central Street in Evanston, Illinois*. Eight people attended—four men and four women, including two non-alcoholics. This was also the first A.A. meeting in Illinois. *According to the 1940 U.S. Census, Sylvia was living in the Evanshire Hotel [right] at 860 Hinman Avenue, Evanston, Illinois.

September 19 in A.A. History

	In 1953, Paul S. [left] died in an automobile accident in Springfield Township, Ohio, southeast of Akron, Ohio [right: headstone]. Ironically, his brother Dick’s story in the first edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, is titled “The Car Smasher.” Paul got sober on 2 Jul 1936 (A.A. #10), and his story in the first edition is titled “Truth Freed Me!”

	In 1964, The Saturday Evening Post [left: cover] published the article “Alcoholics CAN Be Cured—Despite A.A” by Dr. Arthur H. Cain [right]. The lower left corner of the magazine cover featured a teaser that read, “Down with A.A.” The article said, in part,

    Unfortunately, A.A. has become a dogmatic cult whose chapters too often turn sobriety into slavery to A.A. Because of its narrow outlook Alcoholics Anonymous prevents thousands from ever being cured. Moreover A.A. has retarded scientific research into one of America’s most serious health problems.… Actually, there is no scientific evidence that alcoholism is an incurable, physical disease.… After all, sobriety in itself is not a way of life. It is simply the absence of intoxication. It is what one does with his sobriety and his life that is important.

In 2015, [±1 day] Bill W. was posthumously inducted into the Burr and Burton Academy Hall of Fame as the 2015 recipient of the Alumni Service Award, which recognizes “significant volunteer service to Burr and Burton and/or youth in the broader community” for those who “graduated 10 or more years ago.” The Hall of Fame was established in 2001, and in its 24 years, only 19 Alumni Service Awards [right: list of all recipients] have been given.

September 18 in A.A. History

In 1929, Nancy M.-O. [right, with sister Jean, c. 1933] was born in Kingston, Pennsylvania.
    In 2000, she would found the A.A. History Buffs group on Yahoo and relaunch it two years later as the A.A. History Lovers group, predecessors to today’s online AAHistoryLovers Google group and AA History Lovers Facebook group.

    Nancy would live a distinguished life. She would become a stage actor in Pasadena, California, performing alongside Dustin Hoffman. In 1951, she would become personal secretary to Mortimer Adler, PhD [left], who created the Chicago Great Books series, and would work for him until the mid-1950s. They would develop a friendship, and Nancy would receive what was effectively a superb graduate-level education in philosophy and the history of ideas.

    She would also serve as an aide to Senator Harold E. Hughes of Iowa, collaborating on alcohol and drug reform legislation. Later, she would write a book about this experience, With a Lot of Help from Our Friends: The Politics of Alcoholism [right: cover].

In 1946, Alcohólicos Anónimos was founded in Mexico. Days earlier, it had been announced in the pages of El Universal as a “dam against inveterate drunkenness.” The announcement included lines that, when translated into English, read,

	The humanitar­ian work that our honorary consul in Cleveland, Ohio, Mr. Ricardo (Dick) B. P—– [left], who decided to take advantage of his vacations in Mexico to found in our country a branch of the association “AA” (Alco­holics Anonymous), it seems that it will bear fruit, as it is preparing for next Wednesday the 18th of this year, at 7:00 p.m., an act in the “Teatrodel Pueblo” [right, 2009] (attached to Abelardo Rodríguez market) in which Mr. P—– himself will personally give data, reports, as well as guidance

    In 1940 Ricardo had gotten sober in Alcoholics Anonymous in Cleveland, Ohio, where he and his wife Helen had translated the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, into Spanish.

	In 1947, the Dallas Central Office of Texas held its first board meeting and officially opened for business. At that time, there were only two Alcoholics Anonymous groups in the metropolitan area. The Central Office was located in the Republic National Bank Building, renamed the Davis Building in 1954 [left, c. 1940], at 1309 Main St., Dallas, in a old, musty, somewhat cluttered office. Dick P., who had suffered physical effects of poisoning from drinking Jamaica Ginger (“Jake”) [right] during Prohibition, served as the director.

	In 1954, William “Bill” D. [left, with his wife, Henrietta], 63, died at Crile Veterans Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, as a result of a heart attack he suffered 11 months earlier [right: obituary]. His story, “Alcoholics Anonymous Number Three,” appears in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. He was buried at Greenlawn Memorial Park in Akron, Ohio. Henrietta would live for another 28 years and 3 days [below left: their headstones].

    Bill W. would say of Bill D.,

    That is, people say he died, but he really didn’t. His spirit and works are today alive in the hearts of uncounted AAs, and who can doubt that Bill already dwells in one of those many mansions in the great beyond.

September 17 in A.A. History

In 1934, Bill W. was admitted to Charles B. Towns Hospital [right] for the third time. His brother-in-law, Dr. Leonard V. Strong, once again paid for his stay. Dr. William D. Silkworth pronounced Bill hopeless and informed his wife, Lois, that Bill would likely need to be committed. After leaving the hospital, Bill felt broken and scared; he would stay sober for a brief period, driven primarily by his fear of drinking again. Eventually, he would find some work on Wall Street, which helped him regain some of his confidence.

	In 1968, at the 28th International Congress on Alcohol and Alcoholism in Washington, DC [right: “Alcohol under the Microscope,” The Windsor (Ontario) Star, 17 Sep 1968, p. 23], Dr. Jean Pierre von Wartburg [left, 1976] of the University of Bern, Switzerland, received the first E. M. Jellinek Memorial Fund Award for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of knowledge on alcohol and alcoholism. The award included a bronze bust of E. M. “Bunky” Jellinek [below right] and $1,000 [~$9,300 in 2025].
	Dr. Wartburg was honored for his research on the genetics and biochemistry of alcoholism. He had identified an abnormal form of the liver enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, which breaks down alcohol 5 to 6 times faster than the normal form. This variant was found in 20% of the Swiss population [left: “Liver Enzyme May Be Drinking Factor,” The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), 18 Sep 1968,  p. 41]     The congress was the largest gathering ever dedicated to the prevention and treatment of alcoholism. The Governor of Iowa, Harold E. Hughes [right], also delivered a speech at this convention in which he announced,     I was born an alcoholic. I never took a normal drink in my life. I realized in my late 20s that for me, to drink was to die. I could not drink and maintain sobriety.

In 1975. John “Jack” Alexander [right, c. 1946], 73, died. His obituary in the West Texas Register credited him as the newspaperman who made “Alcoholics Anonymous a major organization by the articles he wrote about its work.” He authored the article titled “Alcoholics Anonymous: Freed Slaves of Drink, Now They Free Others,” which appeared in the 1 March 1941 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. This article resulted in 6,000 inquiries to the New York City office of the Alcoholic Foundation over the following nine months.

    Jack also served as a Class A (non-alcoholic) Trustee of the Alcoholic Foundation from 1951 to 1956.

In 1952, Hector C. was admitted to a clinic in Buenos Aires, Argentina [left: location of Buenos Aires within Argentina], for a serious alcohol problem. There, he was treated by Dr. Roberto Pochat, an Argentine physician who had recently returned from the U.S., where he had completed a course on alcoholism at Yale University. He had also been in contact with many A.A. members, who explained the A.A. program to him in detail and had allowed him to attend many A.A. meetings.
    During Hector’s stay, Dr. Pochat encouraged him to read the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, along with several A.A. pamphlets, all in English.

September 16 in A.A. History

		In 1894, Bill W.’s parents, Emily Griffith [far left, c. 1905] and Gilman W. [near left], were married.

In 1905, while living at 42 Chestnut Ave. [right, recent] in Rutland, Vermont, 9-year-old Bill W.’s father, Gilman, took him for a late-night buggy ride [below left: artistic portrayal] after a bitter argument with his wife, Emily.

     As Bill later recalled, his father said to him, “You’ll take care of her, won’t you, Billy? You’ll be good to your mother and to little Dotty [his sister, Dorothy] too.” Then he answered his own question, “Sure you will. Sure. You’re okay, Billy.” As his father raised a jug to his lips and took a long, slow drink, Bill knew that the explanation he was waiting for would not be given.

    The next morning, Dorothy told him that their father had left them. Until that point, Bill’s mother had been away from home for extended periods. Gilman went to western Canada, and Bill did not see him again for nine years. Emily sent word to her father, Fayette Griffith, in East Dorset, Vermont, to come to Rutland and pick up Bill and Dorothy [above right: c. 1905]. Emily stayed in Rutland for a while to make arrangements.

In 1912, entering his senior year at Burr and Burton Seminary [left] in Manchester, Vermont, Bill W. was the class president, a star football player, the pitcher and captain of the baseball team, and the first violinist in the school orchestra.

In 1923, Bill W. returned to Brooklyn Law School [right: Brooklyn Eagle Building, which housed the law school, 1923]. All of his classes were third-year courses, except for Equity, a second-year course that he had failed in February. When he retook the course, he passed. 

September 15 in A.A. History

In 1855, the future Dr. Clark Burnham was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a middle child among ten of Rev. Dr. Nathan Clark Burnham, Jr. [right, c. 1888] and Mary Arrison Burnham. His father practiced law, medicine, and religion, serving as an ordained minister in the Swedenborgian Church. Lois Burnham, who would become Mrs. Bill W. in 1918, would be Clark’s eldest child.

In 1940, a sober Cmdr. Junius Lee C. [left] arrived at the Naval Air Station (NAS) in Jacksonville, Florida, to organize the first Aviation Training Schools there. The NAS was set to be commissioned on October 15. Cmdr. C. would become a key player in the establishment of Alcoholics Anonymous in Florida.

In 1978, Father Mychal Fallon J. (born Robert Emmett J. on 11 May 1933) [right] got sober. He would die in the attack on the World Trade Center on 11 Sep 2001, while serving as a chaplain for the New York City Fire Department. Although he was not the first to die, he would officially be designated as Victim 0001 because his body was the first to be recovered and taken to the medical examiner.

In 2001, on the 23rd anniversary of his sobriety, a funeral Mass for Father Mychal Fallon Judge, born Robert Emmett Judge on 11 May 1933, was celebrated by Cardinal Edward Egan, the Archbishop of New York, at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Manhattan. Father Mychal had died in the World Trade Center attack just four days earlier. The Mass was attended by 3,000 people, including former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. President Clinton said that Judge’s death was a “special loss” and urged, “We should lift his life up as an example of what has to prevail. We have to be more like Father Mike than the people who killed him” [left: FDNY Memorial to Judge at Engine 1, Ladder 24 in Manhattan].

September 14 in A.A. History

In 1943, an unnamed A.A. member in Chicago wrote the text for “Out of the Fog” [right: cover], which is still available as a pamphlet from the Chicago General Service Office. It begins:

    Thirteen months ago I was in an interesting position. No, Murgatroyd, I wasn’t an expectant mother. Had I been, I would have know what to do. I’d merely have written a piece for True Confessions Magazine and thereby earned the necessary $50.00.
    This interesting and delicate position of mine, however, was at least pregnant with chaotic confusion. Mine was mainly a confusion in terms—and that, by a carefully arranged coincidence, enables me to drag in a cute saying by my younger son, Jerrold, better known as Jaybo. He was 6 years old at the time and consequently pure of mind, but I have confidence in your ability to enrich the story with the dirtiest possible construction on his remark.

In 1954, [John] Mark Whalon [left, delivering mail], 70, Bill W.’s oldest, closest, and only local friend, died. As Bill was being born, nine-year-old Mark was among a crowd of neighborhood boys gathered on the porch to listen to Emily’s screams, evidence of the strangeness of the adult world.

    He had worked as a mailman in rural Vermont driving 24 miles a day to deliver mail to 80 homes, six days a week.He wrote two books. Rural Peace, published in 1933, is a collection of poems reflecting on the carefree moments, hardships, stark realities, and difficult truths of daily life in East Dorset. Rural Free Delivery: Recollections of a Rural Mailman [right], published in 1942, is an autobiography detailing his experiences growing up and living in East Dorset.