Good morning.  I have heard for many years
now that the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous
is the second most sold book of all time,
second only to the Bible.  If this was true,
I would think that this status may have
changed by now because of the popularity of
the Harry Potter books & mega-selling authors
like Eckhart Tolle.  Does anyone have any
statistical proof or articles about whether
it was true that the Big Book was or is the
second most sold book of all time?  Thanks
& God bless.

      Just Love,
      Barefoot Bill

Does anybody know the exact font name of the
font used on the Cover and Dust cover jackets
on the 1st & 2nd Edition Big Book?

The closest I could get was Apricot Ligature 1
but there were small differences.

Thanks for any help.

Dan R

Hi,

I believe it would be of interest to know
that the first AA group in Europe -IRELAND-
was started in 1946, followed by London in
1947 and then on the Continent in 1948
in Christ Church in Frankfurt, Germany,
Munich, Germany and Bremen Germany.

The first AA meeting held in Paris France
was in 1948. Bill and Lois visited the group
on their visit to Europe in 1950.

I thought you might be interested to hear
about early meetings in Europe.

Yours in AA,
Dolores CER Archives

This I Know

I know not by what methods rare,
But this I know - God answers prayer.
I know that He has given His Word,
Which tells me prayer is always heard -
That will be amswered, soon or late,
And so I pray and calmly wait.

I know not if the blessing sought,
Will come in just the way I thought -
But leave my prayers with Him alone,
Whose Will is wiser than my own -
Assured that He will grant my quest,
Or send some answer far more blest.

- - - -

Eddie Cushing
A very early member of the "Hole-In-The-Ground",
one of the first AA groups in Los Angeles,
California.  He studied for the priesthood,
was thrown out of the seminary, and became a
comedian.  Over the years he wrote a lot of
AA poetry.

The West Baltimore Group has a list of
biographies of Big Book story authors:
<http://www.a-1associates.com/westbalto/HISTORY_PAGE/Authors.htm>

SIlkworth.net has a pretty decent listing:
http://silkworth.net/aabiography/storyauthors.html

AA Bibliography has another:
http://www.aabibliography.com/big_book_stories1.html

Barefoot's world has a historical list of
folks mentioned in the BB that's real
interesting:
http://www.barefootsworld.net/aapeople.html

The West Baltimore Group has a similar list:
http://www.a-1associates.com/westbalto/PEOPLES%20&%20PLACES/NamesAAhist.htm

The West Baltimore Group also has a list of who what based on the 3rd
edition:
http://www.a-1associates.com/westbalto/HISTORY_PAGE/BBWhoWhat.htm

Larry Holbrook
Email@...
(410) 802-3099

- - - -

From: "rick tompkins" <ricktompkins@...>
(ricktompkins at comcast.net)

It does not disappoint me that anonymity is
protected for the authors of the new personal
stories inserted in the 4th Edition. A few
have taken to the Speaker Circuit for AA
conference weekends, and usually simply state
their first name and last name initial.

The names and biographies of authors (now
deceased) whose stories appeared in earlier
editions are available in many places (see
above).

But the new authors whose stories were included
in the Fourth Edition don't qualify, and they
just might object to anyone breaking their
anonymity.

Remember, it's AA principles that are more
important than AA personalities.

Rick, Illinois

- - - -

Thanks also to:

DOROTHY BENSON <dd11983@...>

"jm48301" <jm48301@...>

James Bliss <james.bliss@...>

The following was updated in the posted
document.

In the fall of 1935, a little band of
recovering drunks had formed and began
attending Oxford Group meetings in Brooklyn
at Bill & Lois's house at 182 Clinton
Street. These meetings included Bill and
his wife Lois, Hank and his wife Kathleen,
and John Mayo. Hank (The Unbeliever), and
Fitz (Our Southern Friend) had their stories
included in the first edition of the Big
Book. Pass it On indicates that there were
other attendees at these Tuesday night
meetings including Ebby Thatcher who had
moved in with the Wilson's, Shep Cornell,
Freddie B (The Chemistry Professor) Brooke
B. (from Calvary House) and Alec (The Finn)
who had also moved in with the Wilson's.

In later years, Jerseyites Bill Ruddell and
his wife Kathleen, Herb Debevoise and his wife
Margaret from South Orange and Ernest McKenzie
from Westwood would also attend the Tuesday
night meetings. At the close of 1935, there
were two growing bands of sober alcoholics
within the Oxford Groups. The Akron contingent
consisting of Dr. Bob, Bill Dotson and third
recruit named Phil Smith. The New York
contingent consisted of Bill Wilson, Hank
Parkhurst and Fitz Mayo. Other members in both
contingents had not yet achieved sobriety or
were continuously slipping.

- - - -

>
> From "John Barton" <jax760@...>
> (jax760 at yahoo.com)
>
> AA in South Orange, New Jersey (1 of 3)
>
> The History of Alcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous
> in South Orange, New Jersey
>
> Section 1 (of 3)


In the fall of 1935, a little band of recovering drunks had formed
and began attending Oxford Group meetings in Brooklyn at Bill &
Lois's house at 182 Clinton Street. These meetings included Bill and
his wife Lois, Hank and his wife Kathleen, Fitz Mayo, Bill R. and his
wife Kathleen, and two other New Jerseyites,  Herb Debevoise and his
wife Margaret from South Orange and Ernest McKenzie from Westwood.
Hank (The Unbeliever) and Fitz (Our Southern Friend) had their
stories included in the first edition of the Big Book. Pass it On
indicates that there were other attendees at these Tuesday night
meetings including Ebby Thatcher who had moved in with the Wilson's,
Shep Cornell, Freddie B (The Chemistry Professor) Brooke B. (from
Calvary House) and Alec who had also moved in with the Wilson's.

At the close of 1935, there were two growing bands of sober
alcoholics within the Oxford Groups. The Akron contingent consisting
of Dr. Bob, Bill Dotson and third recruit named Phil Smith. The New
York contingent consisted of Bill Wilson, Hank Parkhurst and Fitz
Mayo. Other members in both contingents had not yet achieved sobriety
or were continuously slipping.

  At the close of 1935 there were three New Jersey members of A.A.,
Hank Parkhurst of Teaneck, Herb Debevoise of South Orange, and Ernest
McKenzie of Westwood. 

>

AA’s First Meeting on the West Coast
(Adapted from C.N.C.A History, prepared by the CNCA Archives Committee,
September 1984)

The book Alcoholics Anonymous first appeared in April 1939.   The handful of
recovered drunks who had put it together in Akron, New York, Cleveland and
Chicago, in an effort to make their program available to every alcoholic who
wanted to get well, still needed a way to distribute it.   One of their number
in
New York, a newly sober Irishman by the name of Morgan, said he knew the
the nationally known radio commentator, Gabriel Heatter very well.   He
contacted Heatter and sure enough the national broadcast was planned.

The other AAs were delighted, but they were also concerned.   The date for
the program was a week away and there was a fear that Morgan, following an old
pattern, might get drunk the day of the show.   That would be a calamity!   The
solution?   They very gently told Morgan that he would have to be locked up
until the night of the broadcast.   But where?   Then it was recalled that one
of their more prosperous newcomers had a membership in the Downtown Athletic
Club.   As AA’s founder, Bill W. put it, “Grumbling loudly, Morgan was
conducted into captivity.   For several days we took turns staying with him
around
the clock, never letting him out of our sight.”

Thus it was that in April of 1939,   Gabriel Heatter aired the following
story as part of his show “We the People”.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------

              HEATTER

The man beside me now has had one of the most gripping and dramatic
experiences I’ve ever heard.   I’m not going to tell you his name.   And
when you hear
what he has to say I think you will understand why.   But after checking the
facts the Listeners Committee of We the People decided to grant him time
because they feel that if one person is helped by hearing his story, then WE THE
PEOPLE will have done a real service.   All right, sir.

ANONYMOUS

Six months ago I got out of an insane asylum.   I’d been sent there because I
was drinking myself to death.   But the doctors said they could do nothing
for me.   And only four years ago I was making $20,000 a year.   I was married
to a swell girl and had a young son.   But I worked hard and like many of my
friends - I used to drink to relax.   Only they knew when to stop.   I didn’t.
And pretty soon I drank myself out of my job.   I promised my wife I’d
straighten out.   But I couldn’t.   Finally she took the baby and left me.

The Next year was like a nightmare.   I was penniless.   I went out on the
streets - panhandled money for liquor.   Every time I sobered up - I swore not
to touch another drop.

But if I went a few hours without a drink - I’d begin to cry like a baby, and
tremble all over.   One day after I left the asylum I met a friend of mine.
He took me to the home of one of his friends.  A bunch of men were sitting
around, smoking cigars, telling jokes - having a great time.   But I noticed
they weren’t drinking.   When Tom told me they’d all been in the same boat I
was
- I couldn’t believe him.   But he said. “See that fellow? He’s a doctor.
Drank himself out of his practice.  Then he straightened out.   Now he’s head
of a big hospital.”   Another big strapping fellow was a grocery clerk.
Another the vice-president of a big corporation.   They got together five years
ago.   Called themselves Alcoholics Anonymous.   And they’d worked out a
method
of recovery.   One of their most important secrets was helping the other
fellow.   Once they began to follow it the method proved successful and helped
others get on their feet - they found they could stay away from liquor.

Gradually - those men helped me back to life.   I stopped drinking.   Found
courage to face life again.   Today I’ve got a job - and I’m going to climb
back to success.

Recently we wrote a book called “Alcoholics Anonymous”.   Working on that
book made me realize how much other people had suffered - how they had gone
through the same thing I did.   That’s why I wanted to come on this program.  
I
wanted to tell people who are going through that torment - if they sincerely
want to - they can come back.   Take their place in society once again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------

Among the many listeners to that show across the country was a woman, Mrs.
Gordon Oram, a non-alcoholic, who ran a boarding house at 51 Potomac street in
San Francisco.

Mrs. Oram had a boarder, a salesman, named Ted C.   She liked him, but was
concerned about him.   He had been in and out of state hospitals and jails
because of his drinking.   He considered himself one of the “worst
alcoholics” in
California.

After hearing the Heatter radio program Mrs. Oram wrote to the New York
office of Alcoholics Anonymous and obtained a copy of the book, Alcoholics
Anonymous   for Ted.   Others in the Bay Area had also heard the program or read
an
article, “Alcoholics and God”, in the Liberty Magazine September 30, 1939
issue
   and they too had contacted AA’s New York office.

So it happened, that when an AA member from New York, Ray W., came to San
Francisco for a sales training course in November of that year he brought with
him a list of those who had made inquiries.   Among them was Mrs. Oram’s
boarder, Ted.

From his room in the Clift Hotel on Geary Street, Ray called those on his
list.   He finally arranged for some of them to meet with him in his room on
Tuesday, November 21, 1939 -- a beautiful evening much like today

It was there that the first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous on the West Coast
was held.   Aside from Ray and Ted, there were two others present, Don B. and
Dave L. and the meeting lasted about two hours.

Ray then turned his local contacts over to the three local men and the four
of them   began to contact the people on the list.   Aside from San Francisco,
some of the contacts were from the East Bay, specifically Berkeley, Oakland
and Alameda.
Ray reported back to New York on that first meeting:



The Clift
SAN FRANCISCO

                               Nov. 23-’39

Works Publishing Co.
17 Williams St.
Newark, N.J.
Miss R. Hock, Sec’y -

Dear Miss Hock -

      You probably think I am an awful piker for not having acknowledged your
letters sooner.
      As a matter of fact I have seen quite a number of individuals whose
names you sent - some of them several times.   I wont go into detail here except
to say that I had three (3) of the best “bets” - Ted C   , Dave L   , and
Don
B   for several hours with the result that they are going to start a group
here and start in by taking care of all the others who wrote you.   Dave had his
secretary make carbons of the lists you sent and I started them in by having
them make some “dates” with some of our prospects over the phone from my
room.
   I talked to them first then turned the phone over to the boys here.
Things look better than I would have hoped for.
      You know, I had the misguded idea that I had been busy at other times in
my life, but until I made this trip I didn’t know what it was to be busy.
They have been “on my neck” day and night.   You will hear from some of them
and I will give you all the dope when I get back.

(At this point Ray spent two paragaphs on other matters)

      Will be back Tuesday and give you a ring.
                          Best regards to everyone
                               Ray W


As Ray mentioned, it had become clear that they would need to form an AA
group in San Francisco, where they all could meet regularly.   Mrs. Oram offered
her kitchen as a meeting place. So shortly before Chistmas, 1939, the first AA
group, the “San Francisco Group” began meeting in Mrs. Oram’s kitchen, and
later in various members’ homes.   In October of 1940 they found a more or
less
permanent site for their meetings in the Telegraph Hill Community House at
1736 Stockton Street in North Beach.

Gabriel Heatter had said that if just one person were helped by hearing the
story he aired on the radio, it would be of real service.   Well, many more
than one person were helped as a result of that broadcast and what followed it.
Today, 60 years after that first meeting, there are over 600 AA groups in San
Francisco alone, many thousands more in California and other parts of the
west.

Can anyone provide substantiation for group
start dates as follows:

Arkansas: Little Rock (April 19, 1940)
Virginia: Richmond (June 6, 1940)
California: San Francisco (1940)?
Ohio: Dayton (July 8,1940)
Ohio: Toledo (Sept 1940)

Thanks in advance for any help provided.

John B

Hi Bailey -

The source is "AA Comes of Age" pg 195.

  - Arthur

-----Original Message-----
From: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Baileygc23@...
Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 8:30 PM
To: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] Bill W.'s royalties from the Big Book

Thanks for that information, Arthur. I thought
Bill W was making money off the book from the
start.

How authentic do you think was the story of
Father Dowling talking Bill W into taking
royalties?

- - - -

In a message dated 10/22/2008 1:42:17 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
ArtSheehan@... writes:

... Bill  W assigned all author's
royalties from the Big Book to the Alcoholic
Foundation around September 1938. On April 22,
1940, Bill W and Hank P  gave up their stock
in Works Publishing Co with a written
stipulation  that Dr Bob and Anne would receive
10% royalties on the Big Book for life.  Bill
did not start receiving royalties from Big
Book sales until after the US entered World
War II in December 1941.

Cheers
Arthur



------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links

As per the Church's Vestry the first meeting
of the Morristown group was held on Wednesday
November 27 (the day before Thanksgiving) 1940,
and sometime after, it was moved to Sundays.

Kindest Regards, Stephen A. Gentile

- - - -

To: AAHistoryLovers@...: jax760@...: Wed, 22 Oct 2008
19:20:29 -0700Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] Re: Oldest AA meeting place:
Morristown, New Jersey

According to documents in the GSO archives (copies in NJ archives) Dr Malcolm T.
wrote to the Foundation office on 3/18/41 requesting to start a meeting in
Morristown, New Jersey. Ruth Hock put him in touch with Bill Ruddell. Group is
listed in June 1941 correspondence from Ruth Hock with 10 members, Mark D. was
the contact. Meeting would appear to have started sometime between 3/18/41 and
6/41.  Best Regards  John B- - - ---- On Fri, 10/10/08, Stephen Gentile
<sagentile@...> wrote:Church of the Redeemer 26 South Street Morristown
New Jersey November 1940 as per archived Redeemer Pamphlet from the
church.Sunday night speaker meeting2nd oldest meeting in New Jersey, oldest in
same location.Kindest Regards, Steve G.

Where can I find a list of the authors of
the stories in the 4th edition of Alcoholics
Anonymous?

Patricia

I have been trying to find out why SMT's 30
Golden Recordings, were pressed by Artists
Records for SMT Guild at PO Box 313 Indiana-
polis 6, Indiana and sold for $45.00 thru
April 30,1976 and also pressed by RCA in
Feb 1964 for $46.95 to a PO Box 1194
Indianapolis 6, Indiana.

Naturally, the only RCA pressing that I don't
have is entitled "Sense of Humor."

Glenn C.,our esteemed Moderator, spoke at the
NAW (National Archives Workshop) on Father
Ralph Pfau and the Golden Books. His talk
(handout of 7 pages) was a short outline of
Father John Doe's life and work.

[FULL TEXT of Glenn C.'s talk at:
http://hindsfoot.org/pflou1.html
http://hindsfoot.org/PfLou2.html
http://hindsfoot.org/PfLou3.html
Given in Clarksville, Indiana (across the
Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky) on
September 29, 2001.]

He mentions Father Ralph's Golden books and
his three other books called "Sobriety and
Beyond,"Sobriety Without End" and "Prodigal
Shepherd."

Does anyone  know why there were 2 companies
pressing these excellent talks? I recently
read another book by the  Father titled
"Contact with God" and not too much is
reported on this book. It was published in
1959 by SMT (Society of Matt Talbot) at the
Box 1194 address. It is 93 pages covered in
blue velvet. Each page is a different story
or topic  dealing with Alcoholism/Recovery.

I know at least one of you knows the answer.

ODAAT
Shakey Mike Gwirtz
Hardcore Group of  AA

**************

From <glennccc@...>
(glennccc at sbcglobal.net)

Mike,

Several years ago, Frank Nyikos and I did a
long interview in Indianapolis with one of
Father Ralph's nieces.

The SMT Guild (Society of Matt Talbot) was
simply Father Ralph.

(Just as "Coll-Webb Co., Publishers" was just
Ed Webster, who wrote the Little Red Book, and
his fellow AA member Barry Collins.)

- - - -

From the talk at the NAW:

"Chaplain of the Good Shepherd Convent in
Indianapolis from 1950 till his death in 1967."

"Ralph finally found a truly ideal base of
operations there in Indianapolis, where he
could continue his speaking and writing, and
his spiritual retreats, with a support staff
and no outside distractions. In the Spring of
1950, he moved into the Good Shepherd Convent
in Indianapolis. His ostensible title was
chaplain, which meant that he was supposed to
say masses for the nuns and hear confessions,
but they allowed him to travel as much as he
wanted to. Mother Austin, the mother superior,
assigned three of the Magdalen nuns (who were
cloistered and could not leave the convent
grounds) to become his secretaries, file clerks,
printers, and shipping clerks. She gave him a
three-room suite: one was a large office for
general purposes, another served as the printing
room, and the smallest served as Ralph’s private
office during the day and his bedroom at night."

- - - -

Ralph's niece said that he had some of the
Golden Books printed at St. Meinrad Archabbey
in southern Indiana, but I got the impression
from her that he had used more than one printing
facility over the years. I would presume that
each time he looked at the piles of books,
pamphlets, and phonograph records piled up in
his rooms at the convent, and decided that he
needed to restock one or more items, he looked
around for the cheapest price and the best
deal. But the last of the three nuns who were
his helpers died several years ago, so I am
not sure who we could ask. I have so far been
unable to locate any collection of his papers.
I don't know where they went. The Indianapolis
diocesan archives has only a relatively few
items pertaining to him, and no collections
of correspondence.

- - - -

I am not a collector, so I have never gone
through trying to tabulate these things. But
the pre-Hazelden printings of the Golden Books
which I have in my possession all give the P.O.
Box 313 address, over a wide range of different
dates: 1973, 1974, 1975, and even 1989, 1991,
and 1994.

The largest collection I have seen of Father
Ralph's works is in the archives at the
Indianapolis intergroup office. Perhaps
someone there can give us more information
(including the issue of the two different
post office box numbers).

And in general, I am sure that there are
lots of people who know a whole lot more
than I do about the things you want to
find out.

- - - -

Another of Father Ralph's nieces took over
distributing the books and pamphlets and so
on after his death in 1967, but she eventu-
ally grew too old to handle it, and made
arrangements for Hazelden to take over the
printing and distribution of her uncle's works.

Hazelden has the phonograph recordings still
available, but as tape cassettes instead of
phonograph disks.

- - - -

I saw a copy of "Contact with God" once in
an archivist's collection, and tried to get
him to let me make a photocopy of the book,
but to no avail. I would deeply appreciate
anyone who could obtain a photocopy of it
for me to use in my research. Again, I'm
not a collector. A readable photocopy works
just fine for my purposes.

Indiana Glenn

P.S. Mike, there's a good photo of me, hard
at work moderating this group, at the top
of this webpage, for any who are interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Jones

Hi Guys,

My name is David, and I'm from the UK, some
of you know me well, others not so well.

I'm attempting to start a new meeting here in
Manchester in the UK, and was thinking of doing
it along the lines of the Tablemate discussions
(the "Detroit Pamphlet" or "Washington D.C.
Pamphlet").

Has anyone had any experience of a meeting of
this type. If so how was it received? What are
the pros/cons? What are you thoughts?

I invite and respect your opinions on this.

God bless

Dave

<jonesd926@...>
(jonesd926 at aol.com)

Recently at Dr Bob's childhood home in St
Johnsbury, Vermont, we were able to get
souvenirs of the house as they were doing
remodeling. I took some wood and a couple of
old blacksmithed nails. A tree that was over
200 years old was being chopped down on the
property and we took some of the tree also.

Years ago the Founders Foundation in Akron
asked for contributions for the preservation
of the Dr. Bob home. Cards with pictures of
Dr Bob and Anne were sent out by Ray G , the
Archivist at Dr. Bob's house. A  piece of the
porch was sent out to those who contributed.
Does anyone know how  many pieces of wood
were sent out?

YIS
Shakey Mike
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

P.S. A joke amongst the group of us who went
there is that we can sell the wood from the
tree on E-Bay.

P.P.S.  I'm  glad that Dale didn't ask for a
piece of the toilet. But probably more puking
went on there than the linoleum.

- - - -

In a message dated 10/22/2008 1:20:02 P.M.
Eastern Daylight Time, forrestdalejackson@... writes:

I was good to see Dr. Bob's house again. The
last time I was there they  were tearing up the
floor in the kitchen to replace it. I asked
them  if I could have some of the old linoleum
flooring (cause that's where the  old drunks
puked) and they gave me some. Other visitors
to the house  at the same time got some pieces.
I hoped they saved some for their  archives
because my piece is in the Alabama Archives.

Dale

From "John Barton" <jax760@...>
(jax760 at yahoo.com)

AA in South Orange, New Jersey (3 of 3)

The History of Alcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous
in South Orange, New Jersey

Section 3 (of 3)

Shortly after, probably in late June or early July, the New Jersey Group of
Alcoholics Anonymous began meeting at the South Orange home of Herb Debevoise on
Hartford Road. At this time, the group was beginning to grow and had about 15
members.

During 1939, A.A Groups would also start in Detroit, Chicago and Washington D.C.
The New York group began meeting upstairs in the shop owned by Bert Taylor in
Manhattan. In Akron, they continued to meet at the home of T. Henry and Clarace
Williams as the Oxford Group. The Cleveland meeting was being held at the home
of Abby Goldrick.
In early September, Hank Parkhurst had returned to drinking. Bill’s first
sponsee, the great promoter of the Big Book and the founder of A.A. in New
Jersey would never again return to A.A and enjoy sobriety. Hank would nurse
resentment against Bill for the rest of his life and cause division within the
A.A. ranks in the months to come.

At the end of the summer of 1939, Bill and Lois moved in with Bob and Mag
Valentine. Their farmhouse was located in Bog Hollow near Monsey, NY. Bob was a
member of the New Jersey Group with six months sobriety at the time.

On October 22, 1939 the first ever public meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous was
held at the South Orange Community Center. A newcomer with just five months of
sobriety, Gordon MacDougall, along with Herb Debevoise had arranged the public
meeting space to accommodate the growing New Jersey Group who now had between
twenty and twenty-five members attending its meetings. This meeting was held on
Sunday evening at 5:30 PM and marked the start of regular Sunday night meetings.
This could be considered the actual anniversary date of the South Orange Sunday
Night Group that currently meets at 111 Irvington Ave. It was this group, then
known as the New Jersey Group, that would become the “mother group” for all of
New Jersey.

On January 1, 1940 the group produced a membership roster that is housed in the
GSO archives. The survey was probably conducted in preperation for the
Rockefeller dinner held in February. The member list shows forty-one names, but
indicates seven are no longer group members. Of the active members, there are
several pioneers of A.A. and five people with between one and three years of
continuous sobriety. Another nineteen members have between three months and one
year and six are working on ninety days.

The group claims an overall success rate of 73% with 46% getting and staying
sober on the first try. These were consistent with the fellowship’s report to
the Rockefellers and the press. A.A. would continue to use the 50-25-25% figures
quoted in the foreword to the second edition of the Big Book for many years to
come. The membership of the New Jersey Group represented more than twenty-three
towns including, South Orange, East Orange, Orange, West Orange, Bogota, Jersey
City, Caldwell, Newark, Montclair, Upper Montclair, Irvington, Glen Ridge,
Bloomfield, Westwood, Millburn, Verona, Plainfield, Ridgewood, Hoboken,
Hackettstown and Roselle and two upstate New York towns.

Two of the newcomers with less than one year, Gordon MacDougall and Helen
Penhale would become active in group affairs and later appeared in one of the
photographs in the Jack Alexander article of the Saturday Evening Post, March 1,
1941. Both would hold trusted servant positions in the early years of the group.
Lois’s diary, indicates that she and Bill attended the South Orange meeting on
February 18, 1940 and then spent the night at the MacDougall’s East Orange home.
As the membership in New Jersey grew many changes occurred. The New Jersey Group
actually became a legal business entity with its incorporation in 1941. It was
then  legally know as A.A of New Jersey, Inc. This is of course prior to the
traditions being written and the incorporation of the NJ Group was done to allow
it to conduct real estate transactions, purchase property, sign leases and
contracts, etc. Activities somewhat incompatible with today’s A.A. traditions

In 1941, the New Jersey Group began to give birth to its children. The first
group to come out of South Orange was the Bloomfield Group via a tiny meeting on
Washington Street in Newark. Next came Morristown followed by groups in Camden,
Englewood and Fairlawn. The South Orange group also began holding a Tuesday
Luncheon meeting at the Howard Johnson’s in East Orange.

The New Jersey Group held an anniversary dinner on March 14, 1942 at the Hotel
Suburban, 141 South Harrison Street in East Orange, NJ. The featured speaker was
none other than Bill Wilson and the cost was a very pricey $2.50.

By 1943, there were growing groups in Newark and Montclair, and in 1944 the
Newark/Roseville group in association with dozens of A.A. members from local
groups formed a corporation called the Alanon Association and purchased a
building owned by the Roseville Athletic Association (Roseville A.A.) There was
no need to change the name on the building! This is the beloved Alanon Club that
we have today on 7th Avenue in Newark.

Growing A.A. in New Jersey led to the formation of New Jersey Intergroup which
had its first offices at the Alanon Club. The Intergroup Committee of A.A. of
New Jersey, Inc became official at a meeting held in May 1945 when the Articles
of Association were adopted by the delegates representing sixteen A.A. groups in
New Jersey. The first Intergroup office was some space set aside on the 2nd
floor of the club. It was a small office provided rent free by the club. The
only furnishings were a small desk, a few chairs and a telephone. The secretary
of Intergroup became a full time employee receiving $35.00 per week. Keeping
with the tradition that groups should be self-supporting, Intergroup requested a
monthly contribution of $.50 per member per month. Even though many groups
numbered over thirty members, Intergroup received only $5 – $10 monthly from the
groups.

Intergroup originally held meetings twice a month, then switched to a monthly
meeting being held on the first Monday of each month. New Groups in New Jersey
would be asked to join and participate in the monthly meeting. Intergroup was
responsible for booking the speaker commitments for the various institutions
such as Lyons, Greystone and the Essex County Penal Institute. Intergroup
published a booklet listing the different meetings available in New Jersey. The
meeting book today still looks very much like the original except of course in
the number of meetings.

In April of 1948, the Intergroup office was moved to bigger quarters at 944
Broad Street in Newark. Future moves of the office included Clinton Street and
Maplewood, New Jersey.

In October of 1948, a pamphlet entitled “Facts about Intergroup” was written
which described the formation of an Intergroup Committee and sold for $.10. The
draft for this pamphlet was sent to the Alcoholic Foundation and the response
was favorable that this type of system within A.A. was workable. The pamphlet
was circulated by the Alcoholic Foundation to different parts of the world and
served as a guide for the formation of other Central Offices and Intergroups.
The Intergroup Committee can be considered the original central office concept
within A.A.*

*Note: The above narrative was taken from a document titled Early History of
Intergroup which was found in the New Jersey Archives. It was written during the
time period when Intergroup was located in Maplewood. At the time it was
written, the early history of A.A. was not sufficiently documented. The first
Central Office of A.A. was actually formed in Cleveland in August of 1941 by
Clarence Snyder and Abby Goldrick in response to Cleveland’s explosive growth.

Sources:
1. The Bible ASV
2. A Narrative Timeline of AA History 2007 – Arthur S.
3. Father Bill Wigmore – Austin Texas
4. Alcoholics Anonymous 2nd Edition - AAWS
5. Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age - AAWS
6. Pass it On - AAWS
7. Not God – Ernest Kurtz
8. Nancy Olsen
9. How it Worked – Mitchell K
10. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions – AAWS
11. The Varieties of Religious Experience – William James
12. History of the Big Book – Don B.
13. Lois Remembers
14. Various Postings on AA History Lovers Group – Yahoo
15. Various writings of Bill W. AA Grapevine.
 

From "John Barton" <jax760@...>
(jax760 at yahoo.com)

AA in South Orange, New Jersey (2 of 3)

The History of Alcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous
in South Orange, New Jersey

Section 2 (of 3)

During an early Fall meeting of the trustees, Frank Amos popped up with the idea
that one of his friends—Gene Exman—one of the religious editors of Harpers
Magazine, might be interested in the book project. (Bill went to meet Exman, who
was quite pleased with what Bill had written and said he could probably get an
advance of $1,500 "If it could help things along." This would be deducted from
the sale of the books when finished. Bill was uneasy with the thought that an
outsider might end up in control of the group’s major asset. He reported the
offer to the trustees and they were very happy, but they could not understand
Bill’s conclusion and dismay. They pointed out authors very seldom publish their
own works, a well-known fact. The meeting ended with no conclusion. Hank
Parkhurst asked Bill, "Why do we bother with those trustees, they have not
raised a cent and they are not going to, either. Let’s put this proposed book on
a business basis and form a stock company. We’ll sell shares to our own folks."
Still, the trustees were skeptical, so Bill went back to see Exman who agreed
the membership should print its own book. The New York Group and Dr. Bob agreed
but the rest of the Akron Group was skeptical.

Hank worked out a prospectus for the new publishing company, which they called
"The 100 Men Corporation." They would offer 600 shares for sale at $25 par value
[$25 for each share]. Hank went down to a stationary store, bought blank stock
certificates, typed in his full name, followed by the title "President." The
name of the publishing company was "Works Publishing Co.," but the corporation
was not registered until several years later. Hank and Bill were each to keep
200 shares for their work on the book, the balance of the 200 shares would be
sold for $25 per share. This would raise the $5,000 needed to publish the book.
Hank button-holed every member in New York, persuading and brow beating them
one-by-one, while Bill followed him around trying to smooth things over, but
with all their expertise they still could not sell the certificates.

Then Hank had another idea: Why not get a magazine to do an article about the
book and the group? Dr. Silkworth was renting a house from the publisher-owner
of the Reader’s Digest, a Mr. Williams. Every month Dr. Silkworth sent his rent
to Mr. Walters, who was president of the magazine – which had a circulation of
12 million readers at that time. So Bill and Hank prevailed upon Dr. Silkworth
to send copies of the first two chapters of the Big Book to Walters with a
recommendation of the new organization and its founders. That is how they got in
touch with Kenneth Payne, the managing editor of the Reader’s Digest. So Bill
and Hank sped off to see Payne, who seemed quite interested -- and assured them
the magazine would want to run an article when the book was ready to hit the
streets.

Now they had some real ammunition to drum up support for the book, something to
really sink their teeth into. Now the former doubters began to sign up—but
nearly everyone was broke, so they offered the stock on the installment plan, $5
a month for five months. Most could only afford a single share. When the
trustees were informed of the good luck, they signed up, too. Dr. Silkworth and
Dr. Tiebout pitched in, and a few of Bill’s Wall Street friends chipped in a
little. Charles Towns loaned them $2,500. But he would not buy stock, he wanted
a note for security! Eventually, the 200 shares were sold. Finally, the
subscribers felt they would eventually get their money back, so everyone got
behind the deal. Bill began writing the remainder of the book, making notes on
legal pads, and dictating to Ruth Hock in the little office room 601 at 17
William Street.

With the writing of the Chapter to the Agnostic and How it Works the fight in
New York was on. Bill favored writing a spiritual book that was filled with
references to God. Hank Parkhurst led the fight along with another new comer
named Jimmy Burwell, to keep the book psychological in nature and no religion.
Fitz and the Akron members also favored a spiritual book. The fight almost broke
up the little fledging fellowship and Bill eventually compromised including such
expressions as “higher power” and God “as we understood him” in the book.
Several of the steps were re-written in the process. The original version of the
Twelve Steps is shown below:

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become
unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that God could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our wills and our lives over to the care and
direction of God.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of
our wrongs.
6. Were entirely willing that God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly on our knees asked Him to remove these shortcomings - holding back
nothing.
8. Made a complete list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make
amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so
would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly
admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our contact with God,
praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual experience as the result of this course of action, we
tried to carry this message to others, especially alcoholics, and to practice
these principles in all our affairs.

In January of 1939 the first draft of the Big Book was complete. Four hundred
multilith copies were produced and distributed to the shareholders and
interested parties for review. One of those to review the book was reportedly
the “Chief Psychiatrist of NJ”  “Dr. Howard” from Montclair, New Jersey who
suggested softening the tone of the book to make it appear more suggestive. Dr.
“Howard” is considered to be an alias and may have actually been Dr. Marcus A.
Curry, Chief at the NJ State Asylum for the Insane at Greystone Park during the
years 1936-40.

In April of 1939 the Big Book is published with the name “Alcoholics Anonymous”
Bill had credited a New York member (and psychiatric patient) Joe W with the
name.

On April 26, 1939 Bill and Lois were evicted from their home at 182 Clinton
Street in Brooklyn. They moved in with Hank and Kathleen Parkhurst who were now
living in Montclair, New Jersey.

On April 29, 1939 New Jersey member Morgan Ryan of Glen Ridge (former
advertising man, asylum patient and friend of Gabriel Heatter) appeared on
Heatter’s 9:00 PM radio program “We the People.” He told his story and made a
pitch for the newly published Big Book. Morgan had been sequestered at the
downtown Athletic Club for a number of days to ensure his sobriety remained
intact for the program.

On May 11, 1939 the first meeting of “Alcoholics Anonymous” using the name
“Alcoholics Anonymous” was held in Cleveland.  The group had been forced to
split from the Akron Oxford Group due to its Catholic members having trouble
within their churches regarding attendance at Oxford Group meetings. Although
non-denominational, the Oxford Group had its roots in Classical Liberal
Protestantism.

On May 14, 1939, a Sunday afternoon, the very first meeting of what was to
become the New Jersey Group of Alcoholics Anonymous took place in the home of
Hank and Kathleen in Montclair. Meetings that had been formerly held in Brooklyn
were held in New Jersey for the next 5 or 6 weeks. The meetings began at 4:00
and went most of the night. They rotated speakers for the first portion
according to Jim Burwell who was probably living at Hank and Kathleen's home as
well at that time. These were dinner meetings with Herb Debevoise from South
Orange  paying for a "big spread". The wives always attended these along with
their spouse's. At the May 14th, meeting they voted in the Bill and Lois Home
replacement fund and each pledged different amounts of which none of them paid
more than a few months. They wrote up a document with this information which is
in the GSO archives. (Bill and Lois were doing an errand when they voted this
Home Replacement Fund in - they arrived shortly thereafter and Lois wrote in her
diary that they were thrilled.) Marty Mann was still a Blythewood Sanitarium
patient and she took the train to the meeting from CT. to NJ.

In the early summer of 1939 there was a falling out between Bill and Hank. Hank
wanted to leave his wife and marry Ruth Hock, the secretary from Honor Dealers.
She refused his proposal and Hank felt that Bill had interfered. In late June
Hank and Kathleen would split up. Hank moved to East Orange, Bill and Lois left
to stay at the Bungalow owned by Horace Crystal (a New York member) in Green
Pond, New Jersey. Green Pond was in the remote wilderness and Lois loved it. Her
diary entries from that time, many of which are in Lois Remembers, are the
longest and happiest of that first 5 year period.
 
 
 

From "John Barton" <jax760@...>
(jax760 at yahoo.com)

AA in South Orange, New Jersey (1 of 3)

The History of Alcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous
in South Orange, New Jersey

Section 1 (of 3)

In order to study the history of Alcoholics Anonymous in South Orange, New
Jersey, it might be a good idea to go back briefly and look at the history of
A.A. as a whole. Actually, it might be fun to go back and put together the
pieces of the puzzle before A.A. began. Just as you and I have parents,
grandparents and great grandparents, for whom had it not been we never would
have been born, the same is true of A.A. Prior to the meeting of the New York
Stock broker and the Akron Physician on Mother’s day, May 12, 1935, many events
had to take place in order to set the stage for that historic occasion.
In Part I, we looked at the history of alcohol and alcoholism. We saw the rise
of alcoholic drinking and the temperance movement instituted by the
Washingtonians. We learned something of the rescue missions and the
groundbreaking work of William James. Lastly, we learned  of a Lutheran Minister
by the name of Frank Buchman, who had started a “First Century Christian
Fellowship” which was to play a major role in the Social Phenomenon which was to
become Alcoholics Anonymous.
In Part II, we learned that the Oxford Group and their life changing program of
recovery had sobered, Rowland Hazard and Ebby Thatcher who brought the message
of recovery to Bill Wilson. Bill had a sudden spiritual experience in Towns
Hospital and never drank again. In May of 1935, Bill brought the message of
recovery to Dr. Robert Smith and in June of 1935 the first group of recovering
alcoholics had formed in Akron, Ohio, though no one knew it at the time.

In August of 1935 Bill Wilson left Akron and returned to New York. Not long
after Bill found his first New York prospect at Town’s Hospital. Most historians
date it as September when Bill first began working with Henry P Parkhurst. Henry
(Hank) had been an executive with the Standard Oil Co. and was fired for his
drinking. Hank was to become Bill’s first New York “sponsee” and was from
Teaneck, New Jersey.

New Jersey A.A. can trace its roots to this event.

In October of 1935, Bill got his second recruit from Town’s hospital, Fitz Mayo.

In the fall of 1935, a little band of recovering drunks had formed and began
attending Oxford Group meetings in Brooklyn at Bill & Lois’s house at 182
Clinton Street. These meetings included Bill and his wife Lois, Hank and his
wife Kathleen, Fitz Mayo, Bill R. and his wife Kathleen, and two other New
Jerseyites,  Herb Debevoise and his wife Margaret from South Orange and Ernest
McKenzie from Westwood. Hank (The Unbeliever) and Fitz (Our Southern Friend) had
their stories included in the first edition of the Big Book. Pass it On
indicates that there were other attendees at these Tuesday night meetings
including Ebby Thatcher who had moved in with the Wilson’s, Shep Cornell,
Freddie B (The Chemistry Professor) Brooke B. (from Calvary House) and Alec who
had also moved in with the Wilson’s.
At the close of 1935, there were two growing bands of sober alcoholics within
the Oxford Groups. The Akron contingent consisting of Dr. Bob, Bill Dotson and
third recruit named Phil Smith. The New York contingent consisted of Bill
Wilson, Hank Parkhurst and Fitz Mayo. Other members in both contingents had not
yet achieved sobriety or were continuously slipping.

At the close of 1935 there were three New Jersey members of A.A., Hank Parkhurst
of Teaneck, Herb Debevoise of South Orange, and Ernest McKenzie of Westwood. 

Moving forward to 1937, on February 13th  the Alcoholic Squadron of the New York
Oxford Group held a meeting in New Jersey at Hank Parkhurst’s Teaneck home. It
was the first time the group of drunks met here in New Jersey to conduct an
Oxford Group meeting. Hank and Kathleen would later move (during 1937) to
Montclair, New Jersey
In 1937, New Jersey added additional members to its ranks. In February Bill
Ruddell of Hackettstown joined the growing band of nameless drunks. Bill’s story
appeared in the first edition of the book Alcoholics Anonymous (A Business Man’s
Recovery). In March of 37 Florence Rankin joined the growing band of recovering
drunks and was the first woman to achieve any sobriety time. Florence hailed
from Westfield, New Jersey. Florence’s story appeared in the first edition of
the “big book” (A Feminine Victory). In July of 37, Paul Kellogg of Roselle
achieved sobriety.

In August of 1937, the New York alcoholics split from the Oxford Group. Bill and
Lois were frequently criticized by OG members for concentrating too much on
reforming drunks rather than carrying on Oxford Group work. The alcoholics in
New York also had difficulty complying with some of the Oxford Group principles
such as the Four Absolutes and receiving “guidance” from other group members.
The group in Akron would continue its affiliation with the Oxford Group until
late in 1939.

In October of 1937, Bill returned to Akron on a business trip. Visiting with Dr
Bob one afternoon they “counted noses” of the alcoholics staying sober in both
New York and Akron. They realized that some forty, formerly medically hopeless
alcoholics were recovering as the result of the life changing program
undertaken. More than half of these cases had more than one year of continuous
sobriety. Bill and Bob realized they need to make this program of recovery
available to as many alcoholics as possible. They convince the Akron contingent
to support the idea of building hospitals to rehabilitate alcoholics, hiring
paid missionaries to carry on the life changing work in conjunction with the
hospitals, and to write a book outlining the life changing program.

Bill returns to New York and receives an enthusiastic response to the ideas he
had proposed in Akron. Bill and Hank begin trying to raise funds for the book
project. They have little success over the next two months and Bill is quite
dejected.

In December of 1937, Bill visits his brother-in-law Dr. Leonard Strong. Leonard
calls an old friend, Willard Richardson who is the manager of John D.
Rockefellers philanthropies. Bill meets Richardson who is interested in the work
being done by the recovering alcoholics and arranges for second meeting held in
January which included Bill W, Dr Bob, Hank P, Fitz M, Paul Stanley and Ned P (a
new man). Other attendees were Dr Silkworth, Richardson, Frank Amos, A LeRoy
Chipman and Albert Scott.

In January of 1938, Hank Parkhurst opened an office in Newark New Jersey located
at 9-11 Hill Street. Hank later moved the office to 17 William Street. The
office was "the headquarters for a rapidly failing business," according to
Bill.  The "rapidly failing business" was Honor Dealers, which Hank had
conceived, according to one source, as a way of getting back at Standard Oil,
which had fired him. His plan was to provide selected gasoline stations with the
opportunity to buy gasoline, oil, and automobile parts on a cooperative basis.
Hank hired a secretary, Ruth Hock and Bill Wilson was hired to be a salesman for
the company. Ruth remembered very little gasoline business being conducted
there. A lot of people dropped in to discuss their drinking problems, and on
more than one occasion she observed Bill and Hank kneeling in prayer by the side
of Hank's desk with one of these visitors, an Oxford Group custom when seeking
God's guidance. It was here in the offices of Honor Dealers that the book
Alcoholics Anonymous was to be written.

In February, Willard Richardson asked Frank Amos to visit Akron and make a
report on the Fellowship. Amos wrote a very favorable and glowing report that
Richardson sent to John D Rockefeller Jr. urging a donation of $5,000 a year for
1 or possibly 2 years (the equivalent of $71,4290 a year in today’s dollars).
Rockefeller replied to Richardson that it was contrary to the policy of his
philanthropies to fully fund a charitable enterprise unless it was decided to
carry it indefinitely. Rockefeller declined to make a donation for the second
year but did provide $5,000 to be held in a fund in the Riverside Church
treasury. Much of the fund was used to immediately assist Dr Bob by paying off
the mortgage to his home. The remainder was used to provide Bill and Dr Bob, who
were both in very difficult financial straits with $120 a month ($1,667 a month
today) so that they could continue to dedicate themselves full time to the
Fellowship.

March marked the beginning of the writing of the Big Book at Hank’s office
(Honor Dealers, 9-11 Hill St in Newark, NJ). Bill W wrote, edited and rewrote
manuscripts at home on legal pads then dictated chapters to Ruth Hock (nicknamed
“Dutch” - short for “Duchess” who was then the Honor Dealers Secretary). Bill W
wrote to Dr Bob that he had dictated two chapters of the proposed book” (There
Is a Solution and Bill’s Story).

Additional chapters were written in the new offices at 17 William Street.

By Spring of 1938, Bill was being pressured to write promotional material for
the book project. Also at this time it became evident that the group needed a
foundation, so a young attorney named John Wood, a friend of Frank Amos, was
hired. The name "The Alcoholic Foundation" was chosen to leave open all sorts of
possibilities for future endeavors. Members of the first board of trustees were
Dick Richardson, Frank Amos, John Wood, Bill Ruddell, and Dr. Bob. Ruddell of
Hackettstown, got drunk a few months later and was replaced by another New
Jersey member, Harry Brick. Harry, from Montclair, New Jersey was “Fred”, 
partner in the well known accounting firm in chapter three of the big book.
Harry’s story ( A Different Slant) also appeared in the first edition of the big
book. Harry too, later got drunk and had to be removed from the board. It seems
like the early pioneers from New Jersey would have their troubles in maintaining
sobriety.
 
 
 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Any info and pictures on Gordon McDougal would
be appreciated.

My email address is:

<juan.aa98@...>
(juan.aa98 at yahoo.com)

This is a little known Akron, Ohio, pamphlet
from the 1940s that was found in the Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma, archives.  It had the same
shape and size as the four 1940 pamphlets
(“A Guide to the 12 Steps of AA”, “A Manual
for AA”, “AA Second Reader”, and “AA Spiritual
Milestones”) that Akron Intergroup still sells
today.

Across the top of every page it has “WHAT
OTHERS THINK” and included in this pamphlet
are excerpts from talks given by Dr. Bob, Dr.
Silkworth, Clarence Snyder, Bill Wilson,
possibly Marty Mann, and many early newspaper
articles.  Very cool!

           Just Love,
	   Barefoot Bill

- - - -

“What Others Think of Alcoholics Anonymous”
Published in Akron
by the
FRIDAY FORUM LUNCHEON CLUB
of the
AKRON A.A. GROUPS

PRICE TEN CENTS


A.A. on the Job
A word of praise is in order for the contribution which alcoholics
Anonymous, Inc., is making to the war effort.
	 Conservative efforts show that Akron district men whose habits have been
improved through this remarkable organization are putting in at least
536,000 man hours of productive work a year.
	 Members believe that if they were still addicted to constant overindulgence
in alcohol, at least 40 per cent of this time would be entirely lost while
the remainder would be less useful.
	 Thus, a double purpose is served by the help-one-another principle of
Alcoholics Anonymous – health and happiness are being restored to members
and the war effort is being materially aided.

Editorial
Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal
Feb. 14, 1944


What Others Think of A.A.
You are reading this pamphlet because, somewhat reluctantly, you are
becoming convinced that you or someone you know, may be an alcoholic.  You
are faced with the necessity of doing something constructive about this
condition.  Some person, no doubt a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, has
talked to you.  He has explained our program in part and has interpreted it
in terms of what it has done for him.
	 He is enthused, naturally so, because he has profited mentally, physically,
socially and financially, by applying our principles to his own life.  He
feels that you need the program or he wouldn’t be wasting his time and yours
by telling you these things.  He knows, too, that if you need it, you can
profit just as he has profited.
	 However, if you are an alcoholic you have the typical alcoholic’s doubts
about yourself and about the sincerity of purpose of anyone trying to help
you.  In your book “It just doesn’t add up.”
	 You may say to yourself: “Sure, this fellow thinks this program is great,
because he’s a member.  He’s trying to sell me a bill of goods.  But what do
other people think about A.A.?  I’ve never even heard about A.A. until now.
What’s it all about?”
	 With this thought in mind, we have collected and reprinted the following
editorial opinions, news clippings from newspaper files and comments from
people in all walks of life.  Much has been written by Alcoholics Anonymous
members about our program.  But these are opinions of non-alcoholics about
the works and workings of this group.
	 In some cases, articles have been cut down to conserve space.  In no way,
however, has the text been altered.


Anonymously, They Help
Sometimes drunks are jovial and hilarious; sometimes they are depressed and
morose.  Whatever their state of mind, they would seen unlikely persons to
enter wholeheartedly into a help-one-another movement, especially if it
meant giving up alcohol completely.
	 Yet this is exactly what has happened within the growing ranks of
Alcoholics Anonymous within the last five years.  One “rummy” has helped
another – and in so doing has helped himself – until literally hundreds of
lives have been reclaimed from the ravages of liquor.
	 These men and women weren’t just social drinkers, who sometimes took one
too many and woke up the next morning with a slitting headache and foggy
memory.  They were true alcoholics – to whom liquor once seemed more
essential than food or air.  Many of them knew and regretted their weakness,
but it possessed them like a disease.
	 They found a new life, based on the premise that they have a responsibility
to help others in the same plight.  A few have slipped, but the proportion
that have so far been able to put liquor out of their lives is far greater
than has ever been attained by any other method.
	 Other Akronites can’t exactly pride in something with which they had no
connection, but it is worthy of note that the movement was born in this city
and that two of its three founders were prominent Akron persons.  In five
years (A.A. is seven and one-half years old at this printing), the
organization has become nationwide in scope.  Its success is a testimonial
to the innate desire of all men and women to help one another.

Reprinted from the
Akron Beacon Journal
Oct. 7, 1941


“Alcoholics Anonymous” Co-Founder Tells of Breaking 35-Year Drunk
By A.D. Le Monte
	 Gratefully sober, and about as cheerful as any group that ever gathered in
Youngstown, local members of Alcoholics Anonymous met Sunday night to hear
one of the co-founders of the movement speak.
	 In the room were nearly 100 well-dressed, clear-eyed, determined men who
once were kings of the bottle and masters of building a hangover.  With them
were about 50 wives and sisters – who had put up with them in the old days
and helped them on their way to recovery – and myself, one of the few
non-Alcoholics ever to attend a meeting.
	 My passport Sunday night consisted of an impossible memory for names and an
uncanny ability to forget a face 17 seconds after I’ve seen it.  Under those
conditions I met former heavy drinkers who now are militantly ready to prove
that happiness, peace of mind and a working religion are adequate
substitutes for alcoholism.
	 Alcoholics Anonymous has captured the attention of psychiatrists and
physicians to the extent that many large hospitals and clinics now offer
free beds to prospective converts.

Not Offered as a Cure
	 Not a cure, it is offered only to drunks who honestly want to quit
drinking.  It is successful only when the “patient” can accept the fact that
there is a divine power ready to help him, and is willing to continually
sell the method to himself by selling it to others.
	 There’s nothing holier-than-thou about the organization, and there’s no
preaching.  Neither do the members condemn drinking.  They merely accept the
fact that while some men can drink, liquor is poison to others and must not
be touched.
	 The speaker told how he ended 35 years of steady drinking after trying
various methods that included hospital and sanitariums.  Ardent reading of
the Bible and an earnest desire to stay sober also failed.  He still got
drunk every night.  Then he met the other founder-to-be, who had been sober
for four months and had learned that the way to convince himself was to
convince some other drunk.  They began working on a third alcoholic and this
practical cure for drunkenness was born.

Begin with Prayer
	 Members of Alcoholics Anonymous begin the day with a prayer for strength
and a short period of Bible reading.  They find the basic messages they need
in the Sermon on the Mount, in Corinthians and the Book of James.
	 “But that is not enough,” the speaker said, “for you cannot honestly accept
what you read without also putting it into practice, and that means you must
help someone else.”
	 Local members, some of them ex-can gangers, others business and
professional men, have experienced probably every form of drunkenness.  Some
were alcoholics for as long as 45 years, others for a comparatively short
time.  Some lost their jobs and families; one man said that he was drunk
every day for years and never lost a job or got into any trouble.
	 Several stay sober by praying each morning for the strength to stay away
from liquor for the next 24 hours.
	 “We don’t worry about yesterday or tomorrow,” one said.  “We just
concentrate on today.”

Reprinted from the
Youngstown, O., Vindicator


Article Worth Reading
Editor Beacon Journal:
	 I hope all Sunday readers of the Beacon Journal read the article in the
November 23 editorial section entitled “I Am An Alcoholic.”  The article is
well and interestingly written and very illuminating as to the technique
employed by Alcoholics Anonymous in winning converts to their cause.
	 This article should provoke thought and interest among friends and families
of alcoholics, among physicians and psychiatrists, judges, social workers,
ministers and clergy, employers and among alcoholics themselves.
	 Alcoholism is definitely a disease with many persons.  Incarceration is no
solution or cure.  Even medical and institutional care fail to keep the
alcoholic sober when he is set adrift again by himself.  That’s the
different and wonderful thing about A.A. – it does provide an abiding
anchorage, a new courage and hope – yes, a new world is opened up to the
individual and a new individual is born into this new world.

THOMAS M. POWERS,
Municipal Judge

An Open Letter to the Editor
Of The Beacon Journal, Nov. 27, 1941


Alcoholics Anonymous Lauded by McFarland
By Dr. W. W. McFarland

Alcoholics Anonymous!  A group of individuals who are sponsoring and
accomplishing a wonderful task of rehabilitation among others who have
fallen by the wayside.
	 Chronic alcoholism in its various stages is a mental disease characterized
by lack of will power, inspired by a desire to forget unpleasant things,
terminated in a mental breakdown.
	 Long continued excessive use of alcohol, eventually results in a complete
mental and physical collapse.  Constitutional damage progressively
increases, and the chronic alcoholic finally becomes a family or community
charge.
	 Is there a cure for this disease?  Possibly yes, if taken before the
physical and mental collapse is complete and before the individual has lost
his mental ability to sincerely co-operate in his own rehabilitation.

Will Power Vital
	 Will power, the desire to get well is the most powerful personal factor in
promoting recovery from many illnesses, and in no other disease is will
power more important than in recovery from chronic alcoholism.
	 Medicine, nursing, hospitalization, all serve a useful purpose in the
treatment of alcoholism, but if the individual’s will to recover is weak or
lacking, all supplementary help is of little value.
	 And so we arrive at Alcoholics Anonymous, a group of men and women
organized for the charitable purpose of aiding unfortunate alcoholics to
strengthen and regain that failing but essential factor for complete
recovery – will power.  That they have accomplished wonders in but little
over a year is substantially proven by their own records attested to by
medical groups in New York City and elsewhere.

Co-Operation Is Needed
	 Working anonymously and without material funds, Alcoholics Anonymous have
built up a membership of over 5,000 recovered individuals, all ex-alcoholics
and all sincerely co-operating in an effort to rehabilitate their
unfortunate brethren.
	 What can we do for the Pittsburgh branch of Alcoholics Anonymous?  Can’t we
give them local hospitalization in institutions equipped to handle
alcoholics?  Each individual will be recommended by the local group, and
certified as still retaining that essential factor for complete recovery –
inherent will power.
	 Will Pittsburgh co-operate?  Will the citizens of this community lend a
helping hand to those who are attempting, under the name of Alcoholics
Anonymous to restore men and women to useful lives?

Reprinted from the
Pittsburgh, Pa., Sun-Telegraph


A.A. Homerun
	 One of the things that makes baseball so intriguing is the way a man can be
transformed from a hero to a bum overnight or vice versa.
	 But there’s more than just that in the case of Rollie Hemsley, fired by the
Cincinnati Reds on Friday and the hero of the New York Yankees’ double
victory on Sunday.
	 Hemsley was one of the best catchers and hardest drinkers in the American
League.  He would have been out of baseball long ago, if it hadn’t been for
Alcoholics Anonymous, the organization which believes that the best way for
a chronic alcoholic to cure himself is by helping others.
	 It was right here in Akron that Hemsley got a grip on himself and extended
his baseball life by several years.  But age crept up; he hadn’t batted well
this year with the Cincinnati Reds, so he was given his unconditional
release.
	 Did that cause him to go on an alcoholic bender?  No.  He may have been
flabbergasted but at least he was sober when Manager Joe McCarthy, in dire
need of a catcher, reached him by telephone to offer him a chance with the
Yankees.  Off to New York he flew, to catch two full games and lead the
batting for his new teammates on Sunday.
	 Maybe clean living isn’t always rewarded but it’s plain enough to be seen
that Hemsley would not now be on the New York Yankees’ roster and headed for
a slice of World Series money if he were still up to his old tricks.  Score
another homerun for Alcoholics Anonymous!

An Editorial, July 21, 1942
Akron Beacon Journal


Alcoholics Anonymous
By Regine Kurlander
	 Several months ago, there appeared in this column a piece attempting to
interpret and explain the woman’s sector of the Cleveland group of
Alcoholics Anonymous.  In that story I told of lost people who had found
themselves … of men and women, not hard drinkers in the usual sense of the
word, but actual dupes of the fruitful grape and grain.  And I tried to set
forth the difference between the former and those for whom alcohol is a
poison creating a compulsive neurosis (and subsequent allergy) that drags
them into degradation, illness, insanity and death.

Faith
	 Here, too, it was stated, that this nation-wide group, now numbering nearly
7,000, were never so foolish as to imagine they had the strength and the
power to achieve miracles alone.  But that they had, with directness and
simplicity, reached for divine guidance with one hand (proclaiming that
intention) while stretching the other hand to their equally unfortunate
brothers and sisters.
	 Last Wednesday night, here in Manhattan I attended the first annual dinner
of the New York group of Alcoholics Anonymous.  Here, among members of the
New York press (invited for the first time by the A.A.’s) together with
about 450 ex-alcoholics, accompanied by their wives and husbands, victims of
alcohol once removed, I heard Father Vincent Donovan (vigorous brother of
vigorous “Wild Bill”) magnificently extol the A.A. movement from the
standpoint of religion.
	 I also heard Dr. L. R. Silman of the psychiatric department of Columbia
University praise it in the name os science and humanity, and wistfully
suggest A.A. permit its ideology to be spread over a non-alcoholic world as
well.  And I listened to Dr. W. D. Silkworth, physician in a sanitarium for
dipsomaniacs, maintain the A. A. principle is the first in the entire
history of alcohol’s Machiavellian grip on humanity, that has exercised it,
even in passing.

Taken from the column,
“THIS – AND GLAMOUR, TOO”,
Cleveland Plain Dealer, Saturday, June 20, 1942


	 “What Makes An Alcoholic An Alcoholic?” was the question discussed by a
prominent New York businesswoman at an open meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous
Thursday night in United church.  The answer, according to the speaker, lies
in the old adage, “one man’s meat is another man’s poison.”
	 “Alcoholics,” the speaker said, “are not confined to ‘stumble bums’ but all
alcoholics share one thing in common: an allergy to alcohol.  Alcoholism,
therefore, should be treated as a disease rather than as a moral offense.”
	 Among non-members present were Mayor Jasper McLevy, Dr. Fred Hoskins, of
United church, the Rev. A. Lester M. Worthey, of Christ church, and
representatives of the personnel offices of several was plants.
	 The work being done throughout the country by Alcoholics Anonymous has been
approved and encouraged by medical men and psychologists.  Additional
recognition was given the organization recently in the form of an invitation
to participate in a study of alcoholism made at Yale University.  The
Bridgeport address of the organization is P.O. Box 1006.

Bridgeport (Conn.) Post
September 24, 1943


All Things Considered
By Howard Vincent O’Brien

	 The publishers of “The Lost Weekend,” a book by Charles Jackson, call it
“one of the great pieces of modern writing.”  So sure are they of its
success that their first printing was 20,000 copies – ten times the normal.
	 I am sure they are right, I think it will go into more than one printing
and will be widely discussed.
	 It is not a pleasant book.  It is, in fact, one of the most horrible books
I ever read – and its horror is not the synthetic sort.  It is as real and
as terrifying as the clinical report on a patient in an asylum.  Indeed,
that is precisely what it is – the story of five days in the life of an
alcoholic.

Lost Weekend
	 It is a hideous story, as it must be; for the life of an alcoholic is a
hideous thing.  I cannot imagine anybody who is not an alcoholic or is not
interested in some alcoholic, reading it for amusement.  On the other hand,
I cannot imagine anyone who has experienced alcoholism, personally or as a
spectator, pulling it down once he has started to read it.
	 Alcoholism is one of the most widespread of diseases.  It attacks the most
gifted and charming people, and is no respector of race, creed, color, age,
sex, or social standing.  It is a mystery form which hardly the outer veil
has been lifted.
	 No alcoholic, apparently, has ever been helped by threats or moralizing or
“treatment.”  The most successful attack on alcoholism, so far as I know, is
that of “Alcoholics Anonymous” – an informal organization of alcoholics, one
of whose tenets is that nobody can understand an alcoholic but another
alcoholic.
	 The fundamental thesis of “Alcoholics Anonymous” is that a man can save
himself only by saving others.  And therein is the paradox of alcoholism:
the alcoholic is what he is because his soul is turned in upon itself.

Irony
	 If you think the problem of the alcoholic is a simple one – that all you
need say to free him of his incubus is: “snap out of it” – then read the
grim pages of “The Lost Weekend” – and weep!
	 You will dream no more of scolding the alcoholic back to normalcy; for you
will have a picture that you can’t forget of the torture that the alcoholic
inflicts upon himself.
	 What fools, at best, we human beings are!  Here we are, busy at the task of
mutual extermination; but not too busy to be planning a warless world.  And
as we face hopefully up to the mystery of war, confident that it can be
abolished, we have on our own doorsteps the equally great mystery of
alcohol – with hardly a glimmer of an idea what to do about it.
	 Well, the first step toward the solution of a problem is to state it, and
this “The Lost Weekend” does – with unshrinking ruthlessness, with a
fidelity to fact that will stun anyone who has not seen these things
himself.

Chicago Daily News,
February 16, 1944.


A Dramatic Success

No organization in America has made more dramatic success in dealing with
victims of the drink than Alcoholics Anonymous, a society that has no formal
membership, no regular dues, no by-laws, and no dogmatic creed except the
“twelve steps to recovery.”  The unsalaried head of the movement is known as
“Bill” to the more than 10,000 men and women who are affiliated in the fight
for freedom from alcohol.  Only the other day “Bill” announced that more
than 5,000 “ex-drunks” had been given back to the nation as sober men, and
employed in one way or another in the war effort.
	 For every one of these liberated individuals we are profoundly grateful.
But we cannot refrain from observing that for every sober worker Alcoholics
Anonymous has added to the roll of the nation’s workers, the liquor traffic
has subtracted an uncounted number.  The labor loss due to the use of liquor
constitutes a damning indictment of the traffic wherever the true facts are
brought to light.

Christian Advocate,
July 1, 1943

Progress Through A.A.

	 …Many of our patients are making splendid progress in readjusting their
lives on a non-alcoholic basis through association with a group of
ex-alcoholics known as “Alcoholics Anonymous.”  They stress the spiritual
values of life and offer to each other a fellowship of sympathetic
understanding and helpfulness which we believe to be sound and worthy of the
highest praise…
	 One of our patients in particular who was a heavy drinker for twenty years
and finally found himself upon the brink of destruction is now accomplishing
a wonderful “come back” to a normal, happy and successful life through his
association with “Alcoholics Anonymous.”  He has taken up an early hobby,
long neglected through alcoholic indulgence, of collecting a scrapbook of
inspirational gems in literature…We have reprinted it for the use of our
convalescing patients.

Reprinted from literature of the Samaritan Treatment, nationally known
treatment for alcoholics.


An Open Meeting

	 For the first time invited guests were admitted yesterday to a joint
meeting of the 39 Cleveland area groups of Alcoholics Anonymous, remarkable
fellowship which is credited with restoring to useful and happy lives
thousands of admitted victims of extreme alcoholism.
	 Object of the gathering was to give friends of A.A. members a chance to
gain a better understanding of the fellowship’s work.
	 To even the keenest observer it would have been nearly impossible to
distinguish among the 800 persons who assembled in the ballroom of Hotel
Cleveland those who were former two-quart-a-day imbibers and those who were
merely guests.

At Ease in A.A.
	 Perhaps the only tipoff was that the A.A. members knew each other and
greeted each other enthusiastically and were completely at ease, while the
nonmembers stood silently by apparently somewhat uncomfortable.
	 The meeting opened with the chairman, who in deference to the fellowship’s
principle of anonymity shall be nameless in this story, describing A.A’s
work and aims.
	 :Our growth,” he explained, “has been phenomenal, and this has resulted in
misconceptions in many minds.
	 “We ask you to remember this: We can help only those who sincerely and
honestly want help.
	 “We cannot hold as members men and women who do not accept without
reservation, our simple program for living.  We are not uplifters or
reformers.  We do not try to sell A.A.
	 “The individual, plus a power greater than himself, can become a successful
member.  We understand him; we can encourage and help him.
	 Outsiders Amazed
“Most outsiders are amazed when we tell them that it is possible to stop
drinking entirely and enjoy life.  Nevertheless, that is a fact.  And we are
having a swell time.”
	 The principle speaker was the man who formed the first A.A. group in
Cleveland five years ago.  There are today more than 1,600 members in this
area.
	 This speaker assured the guests that A.A. had no desire to reform the
world, that it was not “prohibitionist” or against social drinking by
persons who could do such drinking without becoming alcoholics.
	 Alcoholism he described as “a disease that takes away the finer things of
life,” and he explained: “We are interested only in persons who have
definite alcoholic problems and wish to overcome them.”
	 The A.A. program, he went on, is based on spiritual principles, and new
members are told that they “must put a dependence in God.”  The program
includes 12 steps, the first three of which are for the development of
intellectual humility, the next six for self-analysis or “housecleaning” of
the personality and the last three for the maintenance of a state of mind
leading to “dryness” of thought.
	 Cleveland area members include representatives of nearly all professions.

Cleveland Plain Dealer,
March 3, 1944.


Sports Writer’s View
By BILL CUNNINGHAM

	 Not as a suppliant, thank God, but out of reportorial curiosity I attended
the other night a meeting of that unique brotherhood and sisterhood known as
Alcoholics Anonymous.  My previous relations with it had been entirely
second hand.  They began two or three years ago when I wrote that, at the
time, seemed to be the eerie story of the enlistment in the cold water army
of Rollie Hemsley, the Cleveland catcher, and, until then one of baseball’s
leading Admirals of the Red, a gent who swacked it down raw and unmarried,
and then went looking for action, cops and managers preferred…
	 (Editors note: Cunningham here tells at length how Hemsley was sobered up
in an Akron hospital and remained sober through Alcoholics Anonymous.)
	 …the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous was here the other night and I decided
to go hear him speak…Instead of “jittery neurotics” there were probably a
hundred of as nice looking and important looking people as you could gather
together in any town.  There were several intensely interested looking
clergymen in their cloth.  I recognized a couple of the town’s leading
doctors.  They were obviously there for information, some possibly as
endorsers, or “next friends,” as the organization calls them, a category in
which they apparently have placed me.
	 The founder, we’ll call him Bill, was a tall, easy-to-take sort of fellow
with a good sense of humor and an easy way of talking.  He told the story of
the founding of the movement, which was really the story of his life, and
how liquor had him down and out in 1934.  He used such terms as “we drunks”
and “we alcoholics” and the audience, including many of the women, would
smile and nod their acceptance of the fraternal classification, the
experience he was describing, and the point he was making…
	 …The basic theory seems to be that nobody but an ex-drunk can really help a
drunk.  Teetotalers, or people who haven’t been in the depths themselves,
can’t really appeal to an alcoholic, but if a man goes to one and says,
“Listen, no matter how low you are, how you are suffering, I was once lower
and suffered even more; I pulled myself out of it and so can you,” there is
a solid taking-off point.
	 All they ask is that a man admit he is otherwise licked, that he wants
help, and that he believes or even will try to believe in God, or at least
in some power, however vaguely conceived, that is bigger and stronger than
himself.  He’s got to have something to reach for and to hook to.  They
rationalize his problems, help him straighten out his maladjustments find
him a new interest to replace the bottle, and that new interest in many
cases is working on other drunks in the same shape that he was…
	 This doesn’t apply naturally to those who can take it or leave it alone,
but to those who can’t take it and can’t leave it alone.

Boston Post,
February 28, 1943.


And the Ladies

	 NEW YORK, March 18 – We have to face the unpleasant fact that drinking to
excess has increased among us women lately – due, probably, to the almost
unbearable stress of the times and because so many are lonely or worried
about their men at the wars, or often both.  As is the case with men, most
of the girls can control their elbow bending, but there is the fatal and
tragic few who became in time what are technically called chronic
alcoholics, but often labeled problem drinkers.
	 You have probably heard of the remarkable crowd of men and women who call
themselves Alcoholics Anonymous – people who have managed to haul themselves
out of the alcoholic swamp by main strength and spiritual horsepower.  The
latter is the keynote of their salvation – an inner strength and belief that
has nothing to do with formal creed.
	 First feminine member of the local A.A. club has just appealed to all women
rum victims to get together with their home town groups.  One of the secrets
of the considerable A.A. success lies in frequent meetings.
	 Though I am practically a teetotaler, I have been to one of these
get-togethers.  The men and women play cards, talk, eat snacks, have a very
pleasant time, I needn’t say that they are what are usually called “nice
people,” for one of the great tragedies of liquor addiction is that it so
often claims the cleverest, the most intelligent, the most sensitive.  I
know one fine Washington girl who has been off the stuff about a year, and
goes to A.A. meetings there.  And you’d be surprised as I was at the
identity of many of the people trying to lick the old enemy in the capital.

By Alice Hughes in article syndicated by
King Features, March 19, 1944


Psychology Helps

	 CASE C-255: Henry D., aged 35, is a talented dentist.
	 “My wife is about to divorce me, however,” he spoke gloomily over the
telephone, “because I can’t let whiskey alone.  It is ruining my home as
well as my practice.  I used to think I could quit the drink habit if I
wanted to, but I guess I was wrong.  Dr. Crane, what would you recommend?”
	 DIAGNOSIS: I told Henry I would refer his case to our Chicago branch of the
society called “Alcoholics Anonymous,” made up of former drunkards from all
walks of life.
	 That same afternoon two men walked into Henry’s dental office and
introduced themselves.  One was a doctor and the other a lawyer.  They
belonged to “Alcoholics Anonymous.”  They bundled Henry into their auto and
headed for Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, where their weekly meeting was to
be held that night.
	 Henry had called his wife just before he left the office, but she upbraided
him for not coming home, alleging that he was simply going on another spree.
So he took some pamphlets home with him as evidence, and is now headed back
to normalcy and freedom from the drink habit.
	 “ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS” employs several sound psychological principles in
curing chronic drunkards.
	 First, it gets them to confess that they are helpless victims of alcohol.
As long as a man tries to kid himself along by saying he can always quit
liquor, as well as tobacco, whenever he wants to do so, he will rarely be
able to break the dominance of such bad habits.
	 But as soon as he openly admits that he is a slave to these chemical
agents, there is hope of helping him.  He is then told that chronic
alcoholism is a disease.
	 Moreover, he associates with others who have previously sunk to the depths
of degradation and poverty because of liquor.  They match his story with
their own autobiographies, for they have “testimonial” and “confessional”
periods at every meeting.
	 THESE ASSOCIATES keep telling him not to worry, for he’ll be cured.  This
is excellent positive suggestion and re-stimulates him to renewed courage.
As such, it is far superior to the criticism of the wife or family who tell
him “I knew you couldn’t quit.”
	 As soon as the victim is cured, then he is immediately made sponsor of some
other newcomer to the organization.  This responsibility for setting an
example to his protégé; thus helps inspire the cured members and keep him on
the right track.

-DR. GEORGE W. CRANE.

Hopkins Syndicate,
Published Nation-wide,
May 29, 1944.


DETACH AND MAIL THIS COUPON
For Copies of this Booklet

Those desiring additional copies of this booklet may obtain same at a cost
of ten cents per copy or eight cents per copy in lots of fifty or more.
Simply sign and mail the form below.  All copies will be sent postage
pre-paid in a plain envelope or package.  Make checks payable to the Friday
Forum Luncheon Club.

Post Office Box 932, Akron, Ohio

Gentlemen:
Enclosed find $_________.  Send me postage prepaid _____ copies of your
booklet, “What Others Thik of A.A.”

Name _______________________
Street ______________________
City _____________ State _____

Time Magazine June 14, 1999 cover states
100 Heroes and Icons of the 20th Century.

Bill Wilson is named as founder of Alcoholics
Anonymous.  Article written by Susan Cheever.

According to documents in the GSO archives
(copies in NJ archives) Dr Malcolm T. wrote
to the Foundation office on 3/18/41 requesting
to start a meeting in Morristown, New Jersey.
Ruth Hock put him in touch with Bill Ruddell. 
Group is listed in June 1941 correspondence
from Ruth Hock with 10 members, Mark D. was
the contact. Meeting would appear to have
started sometime between 3/18/41 and 6/41.
 
Best Regards
 
John B

- - - -

--- On Fri, 10/10/08, Stephen Gentile <sagentile@...> wrote:

Church of the Redeemer
26 South Street Morristown New Jersey

November 1940 as per archived Redeemer Pamphlet
from the church.

Sunday night speaker meeting
2nd oldest meeting in New Jersey, oldest in
same location.

Kindest Regards, Steve G.

Thanks for that information, Arthur. I thought
Bill W was making money off the book from the
start.

How authentic do you think was the story of
Father Dowling talking Bill W into taking
royalties?

- - - -

In a message dated 10/22/2008 1:42:17 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
ArtSheehan@... writes:

... Bill  W assigned all author's
royalties from the Big Book to the Alcoholic
Foundation around September 1938. On April 22,
1940, Bill W and Hank P  gave up their stock
in Works Publishing Co with a written
stipulation  that Dr Bob and Anne would receive
10% royalties on the Big Book for life.  Bill
did not start receiving royalties from Big
Book sales until after the US entered World
War II in December 1941.

Cheers
Arthur

In message 5286, I said that "Herb was a
slipper who had been around since 1935 (see
Pass it On p.162)."
 
- - - -

My mistake! I have found this to be incorrect.
Herb D came in according to a survey of the
New Jersey Group conducted on Jan 1, 1940
(Document in Jersey Archives) earlier in 39.
Survey said he had 9 months. I suspect this
is also wrong unfortunately as I have found
other errors on this survey i.e. lists Hank P
as having "5 years", unlikely since that
would pre-date Dr Bob.
    
For example many of the "Pioneer Lists" on
the internet ( see below) are in error. Under
1935 they show Bill R. Pass it On says "Bill
and his wife non-alcoholic Kathleen.... "This
is Bill Ruddell who came in Feb 1937. Documents
in the New Jersey Archives confirm Bill Ruddell
and his wife Kathleen in letters from Ruth
Hock. Herb D and Earnest M are both listed in
the 1940 survey as having 9 months. Although
as I said I do question this. These guys
attended the meetings at Clinton Street but
not in 35 as indicated on these Pioneer Lists.
I have a strong suspicion (but unconfirmed)
at this point that Earnest M is "Mac".
Earnest's last name is MacKenzie. Recall
Mac was found drunk in Bill's office when
A LeRoy Chipman from the Rockefeller founda-
tion visited on Vesey Street.Circa 1939/40.
   
I am trying to chase this down, but we should
not read anything into Pass it On page 162 to
indicate that the people who attended the
Tuesday meetings at 182 Clinton Street were
all attending in 1935. The meetings on Tuesday
went from Fall of 1935 until April of 1939.
Pass it On says Lois remembers so and so etc,
could have been that many names mentioned
attended in later years, as is definitely the
case with Bill R. I must admit that I too
originally read that page in Pass it On with
tunnel vision.
 
I hope more will be revealed.
 
God Bless
 
John B
 
- - - -

Pioneers of Alcoholics Anonymous – 1934 – 1939

All Below Achieved At Least Some Period of Sobriety.
Some who failed may have achieved permanent sobriety later.
Bolded Names Achieved Permanent Sobriety.


1934

Name

Location

Comment/Big Book Story


Dec 11

Bill Wilson

New York

Co-Founder of AA – Bill's Story


1935
 


Jun 10

Dr.Bob Smith

Akron

Co-Founder of AA – Dr. Bob's Nightmare


June

Eddie Reilly

Akron

Sobered in 1949


June

Dr. McK.

Akron

Failed to gain long term sobriety


June

Bill Dotson

Akron

Alcoholics Anonymous No.3 – 2nd Ed


July

Ernie Gailbraith

Akron

The Seven Month Slip – (An In-and-Outer Slipper)


Aug

Wes Wyman

Akron

Sobered in 1949


Sept

Hank Parkhurst

New York

The Unbeliever – 4 yrs. Sober
Drunk Sept 1939


Sept

Phil Smith

Akron
 


Oct

John Henry "Fitz" Mayo

New York

Our Southern Friend


1935

Freddie B.

New York

Failed to gain long term sobriety


1935

Brooke B.

New York

Failed to gain long term sobriety


1935

Bill R.              ERROR

New York

Failed to gain long term sobriety


1935

Ernest M.        ERROR

New York

Failed to gain long term sobriety


1935

Herb D.          ERROR

New York

Failed to gain long term sobriety


1935

Alec

New York

Failed to gain long term sobriety


1935

Russ R.

New York

Failed to gain long term sobriety


1935

Bill C.

New York

Failed to gain long term sobriety


1935

Victor                                       (Akron)

New York

Failed to gain long term sobriety


1935

Lil                                            (Akron)

New York

Failed to gain long term sobriety

In the early years of the Conference (parti-
cularly during the trial Conferences) the
Delegate election usually occurred last.

During November/December 1950, 50,000 copies
of a pamphlet titled "Your Third Legacy Will
You Accept It?" were distributed. It explained
the Conference plans and Assembly election
procedures and contained a "Temporary Charter
for the Conference" of "Twelve Suggested Prin-
ciples." Bill also wrote a December 1950
Grapevine article titled "Your Third Legacy."

The Alcoholic Foundation invited one Conference
delegate from each of the then 48 States and
from the Canadian Provinces. Seven states with
large AA populations were assigned additional
delegates.

Delegates were divided into two Panels so that
half would be elected and half would rotate in
odd and even numbered years. Panel 1 areas were
asked to form a temporary committee to organize
an election assembly no later than March 1951.
Bill W traveled across the country attending
over two dozen assemblies electing area commit-
tees and Conference Delegates.

In the earliest years of the Conference
Structure, area assemblies were held primarily
to elect new area officers and a new
Conference delegate. The 1950 Third Legacy
pamphlet offered guidelines for an election
assembly. You might find them amusing.

Each group could select one Group Repres-
entative to attend an assembly. Group
Representatives later (1954) came to be
called General Service Representatives or
GSRs. At the assembly, they placed an "A"
next to their name on the assembly regis-
tration form to indicate that they were
available to serve on the area committee.
This determined the pool of nominees for
elections. Nominations were not allowed from
the floor and all voting was by written
ballot.

The first item of assembly business was to
create an area map divided into districts.
This determined the number of Committeemen
to be elected - one for each district.
Committeemen later came to be called Committee
Members and then District Committee Members
or DCMs.

The entire assembly voted in the election of
Committeemen. Elections were by plurality and
ended when a nominee received at least 25% of
the total votes cast. The first three
Committeemen elected automatically became
the Area Chair, Area Treasurer And area
Secretary in that order.

The delegate election required a 2/3 majority
of the total votes cast. If a 2/3 majority
could not be obtained, the delegate was chosen
by lot from among all the Committeemen whether
they were standing for the delegate election
or not. Each area determined the number of
times to vote prior to settling the election
by lot. Needless to say, much has changed since
then.

Cheers
Arthur

So far as I know, the power to elect the
Delegate was given to the GSRs (and DCMs,
only then they were ARs) by the Conference
in 1954.

In Eastern PA (then called PA), the first
election was held in November 1954 for the
1955-56 term, on the property of Dick C., who
was elected Delegate.  The "State" then
elected an Alternate Delegate/Chairperson
(Ed H.), Secretary (Jo S.), and Treasurer
(Horace H.).  The first two Delegates had been
chosen by Bill W., on the recommendation of
Johnny L. of Philadelphia for the first
(George R. of Jenkintown) and Yev G. (formerly
of the Lehigh Valley) for the second (Aaron
Burr B. of Bethlehem).

My understanding from one of the six "Area
Representatives" (now called DCMs) at that
time was that the Delegate, in this case,
was elected first because the main point of
the Assembly was actually to elect a Delegate,
to exercise the franchise given by the 1954
Conference.  The most important business was
taken care of first. Note that both the
Alt Del/Chairperson and the Treasurer
subsequently became Delegates.

(My informant, the Area Representative for
what was then "Area 6" of "PA" -- made up of
what are now 17 separate districts within
Eastern PA and stretching from State College
to Pottsville and Elmira to Maryland -- is
still active in AA Service, Chet H. of
Hummelstown, DLD 4/4/1949.)

Two cents from Northern Illinois.

The chanting is infiltrating the meetings
here, some with just the "It works if you
work it sober" after the Lords prayer, hands
up and down and all. And some with the D. at
the end of how it works said out loud by all.
As well as "We think not" in response to the
question in the promises, are these extrava-
gant promises.

It all has made me a little nuts. It now has
given me opportunity to practice patience
and tolerance.

Gratefully, Bill

- - - -

From: "Val" <vfilipski@...>
(vfilipski at yahoo.com)

I live in Sarasota, Florida and go to 3-4
different meetings a week from open discussion
to closed step meetings and depending on who
is there, there maybe chanting at different
points with How it Works, 12 Traditions and
most frequently during the Promises.

Went to the 50th State convention a few years
ago and after one opening where even the steps
were said in unison, people were requested
to refrain.

I see it in a couple of meetings in Atlanta,
Georgia, and Chevy Chase, Maryland, too.

- - - -

From: Lynn Sawyer <sawyer7952@...>
(sawyer7952 at yahoo.com)

Here in Sacramento, California, at most
meetings I attend, the 'C. that God could and
would if He were sought' is repeated, as
well as the last words of Trad. 12,
'principles before personalities.'  We don't
read the Promises, or we'd prolly chant that,
too!

Lynn S., Sacramento, CA

- - - -

From: Cindy Miller <cm53@...>
(cm53 at earthlink.net)

...wanted to clarify about "chanting" in AA
meetings in Philadelphia. There is no
"chanting" here in west Philadelphia -- most
groups here don't read the Promises out of
context from the text that accompanies them
(I think GSO has asked the groups to be mindful
of this), and there had better not be any
nonsense during "How It Works"--the Old
Timers would shut that down immediately!

Still, one of the nicest closings I ever heard
of went, "will all who care to, join in with
us for the Lord's Prayer, followed by a simple
"Amen"....."

- - - -

From: "Theron B." <theronb49@...>
(theronb49 at gmail.com)

Haven't encountered this in Michigan yet.
The meetings I go to are primarily in the
middle lower peninsula. Occasionally someone
will call out "What's the point?", which also
happens to be the name of my home group,
incidentally.

Theron

- - - -

From: Eddie Abbott <wabbott1@...>
(wabbott1 at comcast.net)

My experience in the Houston area is as follows:

It is common for folks to chime in "God could
and would if he were sought" when someone is
reading How it Works.

Some meetings (and I've witnessed oldtimers
do this) chime in "What's The Point" in
between "we are not saints" and "the point
is....."

"Keep coming back, it works if you work it"
is said in unison at the end of the Lord's
Prayer (usually to close the meeting).

For me, it is important to understand and
realize that every group is different, made
up of people "who would normally not mix" and
I believe these variations are a good tool to
help us understand tolerance.  Of course if
it really is an issue, take a group conscience
and address it.

- - - -

From: Downtown Doggie <downtowndoggie@...>
(downtowndoggie at yahoo.com)

In my homegroup we have regular group
conscience meetings & we decided when at the
end of the Lord's Prayer, some people would
say "It works if you work it" & then drop
holding hands.  Our decision was that we did
not as a group want to continue to participate
so we do not say it & we immediately drop hands
with our neighbors.  They all eventually
stopped!  Now and again when a new person shows
up & says it they stand out & quickly realize
our group does not chant.

Could anyone please supplement Susan Cheever's
claims with source data for these claims:
the names of the institutions who inquired
about honorary degrees, and a more precise
description of the "overtures from the Nobel
Prize committee"?

ernie kurtz

- - - -

Message 5298 from Kyle <kodom2545@...>
(kodom2545 at yahoo.com)
>
> I heard on a tape that Bill Wilson was
> nominated for Time Man of the Year, and also
> that he was nominated for a Nobel Prize.
> The speaker said that he turned down both.
> Is there any historical record for this or
> is it just a legend?
>
> God Bless,
> Kyle
>
> - - - -
>
> >From the moderator:
>
> AAHistoryLovers message 1739 from Nancy Olson
> says that on April 30, 1960 Bill Wilson
> refused to be on the cover of Time Magazine.
>
> Susan Cheever, My Name Is Bill, says on
> p. 191 that:
>
> "By the time he wrote to Mark Whalon about
> turning down the Yale degree, Bill understood
> the principle of anonymity in a new way.
> Later he declined to be on the cover of Time
> magazine, even, as the editors suggested,
> with his back to the camera. He also turned
> down at least six other honorary degrees and
> a number of overtures from the Nobel Prize
> Committee."
>
> Glenn C. (South Bend, Indiana)

A past Delegate from Area 7 asked me to post
this question.  The delegate is always elected
first at the election assembly.  Has there
ever been a time when the election of the
delegate came last, after all the other area
officers were elected?  And does anybody know
why and when it was set up for the delegate
to be elected first?  Thanks for any info.

The Orange Papers is not quite the most
objective and impartial source for AA
information. Neither was Dr Bob's daughter
Sue.

The Orange Papers is an agenda-driven site
and things don't get on there unless they fit
the agenda.

Also, Sue W made no secret of her contempt
for Bill W. It was probably rather galling to
her that Bill's and Lois' heirs were receiving
royalties from the books Bill Wrote and she
wasn't. If you read her comments in "Children
of the Healer" about her daughter's suicide,
after murdering her granddaughter, they are
rather chilling, calculated and surreal.

The comment on the Big Book manuscript page
by Bill W, regarding Del T and his story,
says "Thought the book was a racket so
withdrew this."

By the way, Bill W assigned all author's
royalties from the Big Book to the Alcoholic
Foundation around September 1938. On April 22,
1940, Bill W and Hank P gave up their stock
in Works Publishing Co with a written
stipulation that Dr Bob and Anne would receive
10% royalties on the Big Book for life. Bill
did not start receiving royalties from Big
Book sales until after the US entered World
War II in December 1941.

Cheers
Arthur

Didn't Bill D, AA#3, refuse to have his
story in the 1st Ed because he thought that
money was being made off the big book sales?