AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18TH 2015

The Washingtonian movement was established in the 1840s by six alcoholics and reached some 600,000 in membership

It was mainly a religious movement designed to tackle members’ problems such as alcoholism

It was popular and successful until the movement involved itself in other issues such as prohibition, political reform and the abolition of slavery

Disagreements, infighting and controversies led to the complete extinction of the movement

The Washingtonian Temperance Society

The Oxford Group Movement A religious society formed by American Christian missionary Dr. Frank

Buchman. Some problem drinkers found sobriety through contact with

other members and by practising the Four Absolutes – absolute love,

absolute purity, absolute honesty and absolute unselfishness

Although members of the Oxford Groups helped each other with many

social and psychological problems including alcoholism, the focus of the

movement became fragmented as war loomed in Europe. Frank

Buchman was determined to bring the message of Christianity to Hitler

and Mussolini

The Oxford Group evolved into the Moral Re-armament Group and in

2001 was re-named ‘The Initiatives of Change’

‘Bill W.’ - Co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous

Raised in East Dorset, Vermont

Alcoholic grandfather

Problems over his father’s drinking

Father moved away – followed by his mother

Childhood sweetheart (Bertha Bamford) died suddenly during an operation

Bill W's High

School Picture

Bill’s birthplace – East Dorset, Vermont

Bill had many talents:

• Constructed 1st boomerang

in the USA

• Taught himself Morse code

and made a transmitter /

receiver

• Taught himself violin

• Studied law, engineering

and chemistry

• Spoke French

Bill’s birthplace – the Wilson House

1st World War – Bill W. joins the army

Bill took his first drink as a 2nd

lieutenant at the age of 22,

despite the knowledge of

problem drinking in his family

Feeling awkward at a social

event in New Bedford, Bill was

introduced to a ‘Bronx cocktail’

He instantly relaxed and

introduced himself to officers

and soldiers alike:

‘I had found the elixir of life’

1918 - Bill W. visits Winchester Cathedral during WW1

The name Thetcher gets Bill’s attention – it reminds him of his old school friend (Ebby Thacher)

The gravestone carries an ominous warning - and is later featured in Bill’s Story in the Big Book

• Returns from WW1 exhilarated by the opportunities in his life

to come.

• Studies law and engineering but attracted by the buzz of Wall

Street. Develops a new idea for stock speculating and sets off

on a tour of the East Coast. Travels with Lois on his

motorbike to assess investment opportunities for his backers.

• Very successful during the 1920s but spends more and more

time in the bars and speak-easies around Wall Street.

• Lois has several miscarriages and can’t have children.

• Bill hits difficulties with his drinking and starts to drink

alcoholically from 1928 onwards.

Bill’s drinking life (1918 – 1934)

• The Wall St. Crash in 1929 hits Bill hard – leaves him

$60,000 in debt. Bill seizes an opportunity in Canada but the

company fires him for his drinking.

• Returns to Wall St. with a damaged reputation so he signs a

pledge not to drink in return for a business contract. Brief

success followed by disaster when he takes a drink of Jersey

Lightening.

• Admitted to Towns hospital in New York and is treated four

times by Dr. William Silkworth.

Psychologist at Towns Hospital NYC specialising in alcoholism. Treated over 50,000 alcoholics.

Treated Bill 4 times and told him about the disease concept (the mental obsession combined with the physical allergy).

Bill thinks he has the answer – but returns to the bottle

• Bill leaves Towns Hospital in the summer of 1934 feeling that

his new-found knowledge (Dr. Silkworth’s theory about the

obsession of the mind and the physical allergy) could keep

him away from a drink.

• Still sober in November, Bill rewards himself with a trip to his

golf club on Staten Island. He gets talking to someone on the

bus and tells him how alcohol has brought years of torment to

him and to those around him.

• The bus breaks down so Bill and his companion have a bite

to eat in a local bar. Bill is still sober at the end of the meal

and the bus takes them to the golf club.

• Bill continues to drink ginger ale in the golf club but the

barman offers them both a drink in honour of the fallen

soldiers of World War 1 – it was Armistice Day 1934

• Bill feels compelled to take the drink – and plunges into

despair. Bill understands this later as insanity – an

inability to see the truth when it comes to alcohol

• Bill’s experience on Armistice day is emphasised in

chapter three (More about Alcoholism) by the description

of three people who, despite full knowledge of their

condition, find themselves defenceless against the first

drink

Bill thinks he has the answer – but returns to the bottle

The home of Bill & Lois Wilson

182 Clinton Street, Brooklyn Heights, NY

• Whilst Lois travelled into work

each day (at Macy’s department

store), Bill drank alone at 182

Clinton Street

• His final binge lasted a month –

from November 11th to

December 11th 1934

•His despair was interrupted by a

visit from an old friend

Ebby was a schoolboy friend of Bill’s and later became a drinking buddy

Ebby was institutionalised several times and was often banned from clubs, bars and even towns

Ebby faced jail for 6 months when he was caught shooting at pigeons in his backyard after several warnings about his drunkenness

Membership of the Oxford Groups

saved him from prison – a fellow

member vouched for him in court

and promised to look after him

Rowland Hazard was a prominent

businessman and former Rhode Island

State Senator. He suffered from

alcoholism. He sought help from the

famous Swiss psychologist Dr. Carl Jung

and underwent treatment for a year. He

then drank again and was bewildered by

the experience.

Jung pronounced Rowland a chronic

alcoholic and therefore hopeless and

beyond the reach of medicine as it was at

the time (a credible opinion, considering

Jung's unique role in the development of

psychoanalysis).

Rowland Hazard

1881 - 1945

Dr. Carl JungThe only hope Jung could offer was

for a life-changing "vital spiritual

experience" -- an experience which

Jung regarded as a phenomenon.

Rowland decided to develop his

spiritual life in the Oxford Groups

meetings in Vermont.

He decided to speak for Ebby in court and then to help him

spiritually. Rowland was convinced that Ebby could get sober if

he could accept spiritual principles. Ebby got sober and

travelled to New York to visit his old school friend Bill Wilson.

Whilst attending the meetings in

Shaftsbury VT, he heard about

the plight of Ebby Thacher.

Ebby visited Bill in late November 1934 as he’d heard that his friend was suffering. Bill was surprised to see his old drinking buddy sober.

Ebby refuses a drink offered by Bill and says ‘I’ve got religion.’ He explains his experiences in the Oxford Groups and tells Bill: ‘You can define your own concept of a Higher Power’

Bill W. entered Towns Hospital for the last time

on December 11th 1934. As he experienced

alcohol withdrawal and delirium tremens his

friend Ebby visited him and discussed the

Oxford Group ideas for recovery.

Bill then took a course of action (ie the steps)

which led to a spiritual awakening

‘If there be a God, let Him show Himself! Suddenly, my

room blazed with an indescribably white light. I was seized

with an ecstasy beyond description. In my mind I stood

upon a mountain, where a great wind blew. A wind, not of

air, but of spirit. It blew clean through me. Then came the

blazing thought – “You are a free man”. So this is the God of

the preachers!’.

Bill W. never took another drink.

Bill expressed deep remorse for his actions and for the

harm done to his wife, Lois. In desperation he prayed that

he would do anything, anything at all for help.

Bill’s Spiritual Experience

Co-founder of Al-Anon family groups

Born in Brooklyn Heights, NY –daughter of a prominent surgeon and gynaecologist

Met Bill in 1914 during a holiday in her family’s summer home at Emerald Lake – in East Dorset, Vermont

Bill & Lois married on January 24th 1918 in Brooklyn – just before Bill set sail for Europe with the army

Bill & Lois in 1918

Lois dreamed of having her

own home and a family.

She was unable to have

children and it was many

years before she was to

have her own home.

When Bill finally got sober he desperately tried to help drunks

in Brooklyn for 5 months and didn’t seem to succeed. Lois

noticed that Bill wasn’t concerned about drinking whilst he was

helping others. She reminded him of this: “but you haven’t had

a drink, Bill, so it has worked”.

Bill was 5 months sober and

decided to visit Akron on a

business trip. The business venture

failed and Bill faced a lonely

weekend in the Mayflower Hotel,

Akron.

The cosy hotel bar beckoned him

but Bill remembered Lois’s words.

Bill had remained sober by helping

another alcoholic.

Bill realised that he needed another drunk. He looked through the hotel church directory and found a strange name which caught his attention – Reverend Walter Tunks (Tunks is a word used in Bill’s home state of Vermont).

Bill called Rev. Tunks and received a list of people to call.After many failed calls he finally made contact with Henrietta Seiberling of the powerful family which owned the Goodyear tyre company.

AA’s most important telephone call

It’s the day before Mothers’ Day and

Dr. Bob has come home with a plant

for Anne. Both the plant and Dr. Bob

are ‘potted’. Bill’s visit is delayed

until the Sunday (Mothers’ Day) so

that Dr. Bob can sober up.

Henrietta Seiberling

responds to Bill’s call and

immediately thinks of her

Oxford Group friends

(Dr. Bob Smith and his

wife Anne). The Oxford

Group has prayed for

help for Dr. Bob and

Henrietta sees Bill’s call

as literally an answer to

these prayers.

The Gatehouse at the Seiberling estate in Akron

Dr. Robert Holbrook SmithBorn in St. Johnsbury, Vermont on

August 8th 1879, an “only child”

Heavy drinking student – famed for his

‘open throat’- being able to drink a bottle

of beer without moving any muscles in

his throat!

Missed a final exam due to the shakes –

had to repeat two terms

Specialised in rectal surgery at St.

Thomas’s hospital, Akron, Ohio

Suffered terribly from alcoholism until he

was 56

Member of Oxford Group

movement – they prayed for

his recovery

Co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous

Accomplished physician –drank alcoholically for over 30 years

Agreed to meet Bill for 15 minutes to please his wife –it was Mothers’ Day

Sceptical about Bill’s reasons for visiting –‘another crackpot attempt to sober me up’

Dr. Bob takes a liking to Bill – they’re both tall & lean people originating from Vermont.

Bill explains that he hasn’t visited Dr. Bob to help him –he has come for his own benefit. He has to talk to another alcoholic to stay sober.

The 15 minute meeting lasts 5 hours – Bill moves in and stays on for several months.

Dr. Bob goes to a medical convention in Atlantic City and drinks again.

Dr. Bob’s wife Anne and Bill are worried – they wait for hours for Dr. Bob’s return.

Dr. Bob returns home drunk and gets off the train at the wrong stop.

He has to sober up as he’s performing surgery the next day.

Bill W. meets Dr. Bob• Bill gives Dr. Bob a bottle of beer to calm his nerves. This was

the last drink that Dr. Bob ever took.

• He performs the surgery and then tours Akron and makes

amends to as many of his acquaintances as possible.

• Dr. Bob’s last drink was on June 10th, 1935 – the official

birthday of Alcoholics Anonymous. AA’s birthday signifies

nothing more than two sober drunks helping each other. This

simple formula has been working ever since – right across the

world.

• Bill W. had the desire to drink removed from him instantly. Dr.

Bob struggled with urges to drink for two years but never gave

in to them. This also reflects the differences experienced

in recovery from alcoholism in the AA fellowship today.

Dr. Bob and Anne Smith’s home

855 Ardmore Avenue, Akron, Ohio

Bill stays with Dr. Bob and

his wife Anne for 3 months

They have many things in

common and are

convinced that they can

carry a message to

suffering alcoholics

Dr. Bob practiced at St.

Thomas’s Hospital in

Akron. Staff at the

hospital were impressed

by Dr. Bob’s new-found

sobriety.

The hospital offered Dr. Bob and Bill W. the opportunity to talk with the patient (Bill D.). The patient was terrified as he was led to a private room (usually the sign of a terminal illness). Dr. Bob offered to treat him free of charge.

Staggered to hear Dr. Bob and Bill W. speak of their drinking, Bill D. identified with the message and never drank again.

Dr. Bob and his friend Sister Ignatiawent on to treat 5,000 patients in Akron’s hospital until Dr. Bob died sober in 1950. Sister Ignatiacontinued the work there for many years.

A new patient was admitted to

St. Thomas’ hospital who

suffered from alcoholism. He

was violent and attacked two

nurses.

Sister Ignatia convinced the managers of

St. Thomas’s Hospital that alcoholics

were sick and accident-prone and

persuaded them to allow suffering

alcoholics to “rest” in the hospital prior to

release.

Dr. Bob and Sister Ignatia treated Bill D.

(later to become AA #3) and nearly 5,000

other alcoholics free of charge. As

alcoholism wasn’t accepted by the AMA

as an illness until 1956, the patients had

to be admitted for ‘severe gastritis’.

Sister Ignatia gave each of her newly

released patients a Sacred Heart

medallion, which she asked them to

return before they took the first drink.

St. Thomas’s Hospital, Akron, Ohio

It is believed that

the medallions

inspired the

giving of sobriety

chips in many of

today’s meetings

When Sister Ignatia left the hospital for her next post, she was

saluted by rows of alcoholics who lined the streets . They were in

their cars with their headlights on as a farewell glow to the ‘Little

sister of AA’.

Alcoholics Anonymous – the early years

•Bill returned to Brooklyn in the summer of 1935 and started a

meeting at his home – ie a ‘home group’

•A few drunks attended and some moved in. One committed

suicide. Some sobered up and became prosperous. Bill W.

remained penniless but was offered a job at Towns Hospital in

NYC. The group persuaded him not to take the job (the first

group conscience)

•Bill noticed that the drunks needed to share their problems to

stay sober. The problems were forming a pattern, with

resentment being the key issue. Also, the need to ‘run the show’

was a common problem. Bill realised that they needed a

programme of their own – and had to split away from the

dominant force of the Oxford Groups.

Alcoholics Anonymous – the early years

•Bill developed the idea of a book but needed

finance

•His brother-in-law (Leonard Strong) put him in

touch with the Rockefeller Foundation. Dr. Bob

came from Akron to attend the meeting. They

asked for $50,000 and got $5,000. Rockefeller felt

that money would ruin such a splendid organisation

•Bill and his friends tried to raise finance so that

they could print the book by issuing share

certificates. The $25 shares wouldn’t sell until they

had a commitment from Readers Digest to publish

an article on AA

Bill was the main author of the Big book but his manuscript had to be approved by other members of AA

Care had to be taken not to endorse or offend any religion and the tone had to be about ‘suggestion’ rather than ‘direction’

Bill worried about writing Chapter 5 as it was so important to get it right

He was inspired one evening and scribbled out the steps in half an hour. He counted them and he was happy that there were 12 – it reminded him of the 12 apostles

• His friend Hank P. (an agnostic) contributed to the book with the chapter ‘To employers’ – the only chapter not written by Bill W.

• Interestingly, neither God nor spirituality are mentioned in this chapter.

In order to finance the printing of the First Edition Big Book, stock certificates

were sold to early AA members and others. Works Publishing, Inc. was the

original name of AA's publishing business. It was later changed to AA

Publishing and then Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. These

certificates were later purchased back so that AA could retain total ownership

of the book.

An early idea

for the book

cover!

Bill's desk at Wit's End, Stepping Stones, Bedford Hills, NY

Bill W.’s famous writing desk

• Works Publishing printed 5,000

copies but Readers Digest

withdrew their offer to publish an

article. The contributors to the Big

Book stories were given 28 copies

free of charge and 49 were given to

the shareholders. The rest were left

in storage.

The book wasn’t selling.

Then, in 1940, a reporter called Jack

Alexander started to investigate AA

and attended the New York and New

Jersey meetings with Bill W.

Jack Alexander’s article – The Saturday Evening Post

Jack Alexander’s article was

published by the Saturday Evening

Post on March 1st, 1941.

Enquiries and desperate pleas for

help flooded in from all over the USA.

Alcoholics Anonymous was finally

established as an American

institution.

Membership increased that year from

1,500 to over 8,000 alcoholics.

• Married for 23 years, Bill and Lois

had never owned their own

home;

• In 1941 they were lodging with

any friends they could find and

moved over 50 times;

• Lois stopped one day and

dropped her bags in Grand

Central station. She cried her

eyes out.

• A generous AA friend then sold a

house to them for $6,500.

Mrs. Griffith wanted no down payment and asked for

only $40 per month. Bill & Lois had a home at last.

Following the Jack Alexander article, Bill

spent 3 years answering letters from

groups across the USA. As many of the

questions were the same, Bill realised that

AA groups needed some help to run their

own affairs.

The Traditions were not rules or

commands but guidelines needed by AA

groups to protect their unity, autonomy

and anonymity. Most essential was a

common purpose and a refusal to be

distracted by outside issues.

Bill presented the 12 Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous to the AA

convention at Cleveland in 1950 and they were accepted into the fellowship.

Bill W. at Dr. Bob's grave

Dr. Bob dies – 15th November 1950

Dr. Bob gave his last message to the

fellowship at the Cleveland International

Convention on July 28th 1950

He stressed his famous ‘keep it simple’

message and defined AA as ‘love and

service’

Dr. Bob died with 15 years of sobriety at

the age of 71. He was the co-founder of

a fellowship which by then had helped

over 100,000 people.

Bill Wilson &

Ebby Thacher

Ebby Thacher dies - 1966

Ebby Thacher died sober in 1966 at

the age of 70

Although only 2 ½ years sober after

a life-time’s association with AA,

Ebby is owed a great debt of

gratitude by the fellowship for

passing the vital message of

spirituality to Bill W.

Bill W. dies at the age of 75Bill W. died from

emphysema on January

24th 1971 – his 53rd

wedding anniversary

He was 75 years old and

had been sober for 36

years

Co-founder of Alcoholics

Anonymous, Bill was

author of the Big Book

and many other

publications

Bill W. has been described as the greatest

social architect of the 20th century

Lois W. dies at the age of 97

Lois Wilson died on October 5th, 1988

– she was 97 years old.

As well as looking after Bill during his

drinking and then supporting his

efforts to get AA established, Lois

was a co-founder of Al Anon Family

Groups

Saluted by many as being one of

the most important women of the

20th century, Lois was awarded the

prestigious Humanitarian Award by

the National Council on Alcoholism

Alcoholics Anonymous is 80 years old!

AA celebrated its 80th anniversary at the

International Convention in Atlanta