Alcoholics Anonymous History
How to Find It – Where to Learn It
with
Dick B.
© 2012 Anonymous. All
rights reserved
(A thorough, accurate, comprehensive, complete summary of
the many elements comprising the Alcoholics Anonymous History picture from the
1850’s through publication of the original 1939 edition of Alcoholics Anonymous.)
This account intends to focus readers on accurate,
comprehensive Alcoholics Anonymous History—particularly as it extends from the
pre-A.A. Christian roots of the 1850’s to the period just after Bill Wilson
published his First Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1939. It will lay out
the history in various chunks that can be examined and studied as time permits
and that should prove useful to the recovery community.
[Preliminary Draft November 22, 2012]
The final draft will contain full bibliographic references
and publication data soon
Let’s Begin with Alcoholics Anonymous General Services
Conference-Approved Literature
I began my own search for Alcoholics Anonymous History by
reading all the available, accurate, relevant literature published by A.A.
itself. I still get grounded there and recommend looking at A.A. literature
first—instead of speculating on what A.A. is or isn’t. Once that is done, the
reader can fill in the holes, straighten out the distortions, and find out what
most in the recovery community have simply not heard.
And the recommended books, in the order of the publication,
are:
Alcoholics Anonymous,
1st ed., Works Publishing Company, 1939 (non-approved).
“RHS” The A.A.
Grapevine issue dedicated to the memory of the Co-Founder of Alcoholics
Anonymous, DR. BOB, 1951.
Alcoholics Anonymous,
2d ed., 1956.
Alcoholics Anonymous
Comes of Age, 1957.
The Co-Founders of
Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches Their Last Major Talks
(Pamphlet P-53), 1972, 1975.
Alcoholics Anonymous,
3rd ed., 1976.
DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers, 1980.
“Pass It On,”
1984.
The Language of the
Heart: Bill W.’s Grapevine Writings, 1988.
Alcoholics Anonymous,
4th ed., 2001.
Experience, Strength,
and Hope
Next, Look at Reliable Alcoholics Anonymous History Books
and Other Literature that Can Be Helpful
Piece by piece, manuscript by manuscript, research trip by
research trip, archive by archive, library by library, interview by interview,
Alcoholics Anonymous History—in its full form, and in a form that is
comprehensive, accurate, and able to be used and applied in recovery
today—emerged from and is reported in the following Alcoholics Anonymous
History literature:
Alcoholics Anonymous:
The Original 1939 Edition, Introduction by Dick B., Dover
Publications, 2011.
AA of Akron Pamphlets, n.d., – Available at Akron Intergroup
Office (revised several times)
Wally P., But for the
Grace of God, 1995, 30-46.
A Guide to the Twelve
Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous
A Manual for
Alcoholics Anonymous
Second Reader for
Alcoholics Anonymous
Spiritual Milestones
in Alcoholics Anonymous
Autobiographies of Bill Wilson:
Bill W.: My First 40
Years
Chapter 1 “Bill’s Story,” Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 2001, 1-16.
The many manuscripts by Bill that I found at Stepping
Stones, most of which are
discussed in Dick B., Turning
Point: A History of Early A.A.’s Spiritual
Roots and Successes, 1997.
Biographies of Bill W.:
Dick B., The
Conversion of Bill W., 2006.
Susan Cheever, My Name
is Bill W., 2004.
Francis Hartigan, Bill
W., A Biography. . . , 2000.
Matthew Raphael, Bill
W. and Mr. Wilson, 2000.
Tom White, Bill W.: A
Different Kind of Hero, 2003.
Nan Robertson, Getting
Better Inside Alcoholics Anonymous, 1988.
Robert Thomsen, Bill W.,
1975
Biographies of Dr. Bob
RHS, 1951.
The Co-Founders of
Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches, P-53.
“Doctor Bob’s Nightmare,” Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 171-181.
DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers, 1980.
Dick B. and Ken B.,
The Dick B. Christian
Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010.
Dr. Bob of Alcoholics
Anonymous,
Dick B.,
The Akron Genesis of
Alcoholics Anonymous, 1998.
Dr. Bob and His
Library, 1998.
“Alcoholics Anonymous and Dr. Bob,”
http://mauihistorian.blogspot.com/
“16 Specific Practices Associated with the Original Akron
A.A. "Christian
Fellowship" Program,”
http://internationalchristianrecoverycoaliti.blogspot.com
“Honest With Yourself,
Pray. Alcoholics Anonymous Advise,” The Tidings,
Page 17,
Friday, March 26, 1948.
D. J. Defoe, "I
Saw Religion Remake a Drunkard" in Your Faith (September
1939), 84-88. (Your Faith is "a McFadden Publication")--Dr.
Bob is called "Dr. X" in this article.
http://www.silkworth.net/aahistory/drbob/drbob_interview_fm_0939.html
Biographical on A.A. Number Three, Bill D.
Dick B. and Ken B., The
Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010.
“Alcoholics Anonymous Number Three,” Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 182-192
“Pass It On,”
356-357.
“Bill Dotson: A.A
Number Three’s Recovery by the Power of God”
http://MauiHistorian.Blogspot.com
“Bill Dotson – AA’s
Number Three”
http://silkworth.net/aahistory/print/bdotson2.html
“Bill Dotson: A.A.
Number 3”
http://www.barefootsworld.net/aabilld-aa3.html
Alcoholics Anonymous,
4th ed., 2001,
Biographical on Rowland Hazard
[Rowland had been told by Dr. Carl Jung that he had the mind
of a chronic alcoholic but could possibly be cured by a conversion. Rowland
returned to America, became associated with the Oxford Group, studied with Rev.
Sam Shoemaker, and became active in Shoemaker’s Calvary Church. Rowland had
been impressed by the simplicity of the early Christian teachings as advocated
by the Oxford Group. Rowland made a decision for Jesus Christ. Rowland and two
other Oxford Group friends (Cebra Graves and Shep Cornell) had decided to
witness to Ebby Thacher and told Ebby many Oxford Group principles and
practices. Ebby, an old drinking friend of Bill Wilson’s who had become a “real
alcoholic” recalled that two of Rowland’s Oxford Group friends(an old friend of
Bill Wilson’s and a “real alcoholic”)
had told Ebby “things they had gotten out of the Oxford Group based on
the life of Christ, biblical times.” Ebby said: “It was what I had been taught
as a child and what I inwardly believed,
but had lain aside” The men had suggested that Ebby call on God and try prayer.
Rowland and the two others lodged Ebby in Shoemaker’s Calvary Mission.
Occasionally, a religious writer—either disdainful of, or unfamiliar with, A.A.
facts and origins will say: “Alcoholics Anonymous does not use the words sin or
conversion” See Linda Mercadante, Victims
& Sinners, 1996, 70. Or, as she does on 91: :God does not ask any more
than simple acknowledgement of divine existence.” The reader should look at
A.A.’s Third Step prayer—“May I do Thy will always” and A.A.’s Seventh Step
prayer—“Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen.”
Then spend a moment with Exodus 15:26, Exodus 20:1-17—the Ten Commandments;
Matthew 22:36-40—the two Great Commandments; and James 2:8-11; and read all of
Hebrews 11:6 ]
T. Willard
Hunter, ‘IT STARTED RIGHT THERE,” 2006
Bill C.
and Jay S., Kitchen Table A.A.
Sponsorship Workshop, Carlsbad, 2007
Jay
Stinnett, “Why Our Lives Were Saved,” A.A.
Spiritual History Workshop,
Reykjovik, Iceland, March 11, 2007.
“Pass It On,” 1984.
Mel B.,
Ebby: The Man Who Sponsored Bill W.,
1998.
Dick B., The Conversion of Bill W.
Bill W. My First 40
Years
Alcoholics Anonymous
Comes of Age
Biographical on William D. Silkworth, M.D.
[Silkworth’s name itself may not be well known to most AAs.
But they certainly know of the “Doctor’s Opinion” written by Silkworth as an
introduction to their Big Book. And they probably have grasped the fact that
Silkworth established in Bill Wilson’ thinking that alcoholism was a disease—an
allergy of the body kicked into gear by an obsession of the mind. But, as
Silkworth’s biographer observed after he had researched Silkworth’s life and
papers, Silkworth has not been given credit for the role he played in
convincing Bill and others that they could be cured of their alcoholism by the
“Great Physician,” Jesus Christ. And that solution—long since tossed aside
before the Big Book was published--became the foundation of Bill’s conviction
that “conversion” was the answer to alcoholism and that it was manifested by a
“spiritual experience.” “Divine Aid,” Bill was still calling it in his address
at the Shrine Auditorium in 1948 with Dr. Bob on the stage with him as well.
The information about the Great Physician and cure was conveyed to Bill on his
third hospitalization when he was given a virtual death sentence promise if
Bill did not quit drinking immediately. The specifics of Silkworth’s advice on
alcoholism was confirmed by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.]
Dale Mitchel, Silkworth: The
Little Doctor Who Loved Drunks
Dick B., The
Conversion of Bill W.
Dick B. and Ken B., The
Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010
Bill W., My First 40
Years, 2001
Norman Vincent Peale, The
Positive Power of Jesus Christ
Biographical on Edwin Throckmorton Thacher, “Ebby,” Bill’s
Sponsor
[While Ebby was in Calvary Mission, he went to the altar and
made a decision for Jesus Christ. He then visited Bill as he himself had been
visited by Rowland Hazard, Cebra Graves, and Shep Cornell. Ebby told Bill he
had “found religion,” and that he had tried prayer—something he specifically
recommended to Bill Wilson. Bill specifically concluded that Ebby had been
“reborn.” But taking no chances, Bill went to Shoemaker’s Calvary Church,
listened to Ebby’s testimony, and then decided that if the Great Physician had
helped Ebby, he (Bill) could probably receive the same help. Armed with
Silkworth’s advice and Ebby’s eye-witness testimony, Bill went to Calvary
Mission himself. He went to the altar. He made his own decision for Jesus
Christ. He quickly wrote, “For sure, I had been born again.” And then, still
drunk and still despondent, Bill made his way to Towns Hospital where he
decided to call on the Great Physician and had the experience—which Silkworth
called a conversion experience—and sensed the presence of God in his room. And
never drank again.]
T. Willard Hunter, “IT
STARTED RIGHT THERE.” 2006
Bill W., My First 40
Years,
Dale Mitchel, Silkworth:
The Little Doctor Who Loved Drunks.
Mel B. Ebby: The Man
Who Sponsored Bill W., 1998
“Pass It On.”
Alcoholics Anonymous
Comes of Age
Richard M. Dubiel, The
Road to Fellowship, 2004. [Rowland Hazard] “must have
had some sort of influence on early A.A.’s who knew about
him, whether at first or second hand. . . it is clear that behind Ebby Thatcher
[sic], the messenger who brought the message of salvation to Bill Wilson in the
kitchen of Bill’s apartment in November 1934, lay the figure of Rowland Hazard
III, the mysterious messenger behind the messenger.” 79-80.
Dick B., The
Conversion of Bill W
Dick B. and Ken B., The
Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed..
Biographical on Dr. Bob’s Wife, Anne Ripley Smith
Dick B., Anne Smith’s
Journal, 1933-1939, 3rd ed., 1998
Dick B., The Akron
Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous, 2d ed., 1998
Bob Smith and Sue Smith Windows, Children of the Healer, 1992
Charlotte Hunter, Billye Jones, Joan Zieger, Women Pioneers in 12 Step
Recovery, 1999
Biography on Bill W.’s Wife
Lois Remembers,
1979.
William Borchert, When
Love is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story
Biography on Henrietta Buckler Seiberling
Dick B., Henrietta B.
Seiberling: Ohio’s Lady with a Cause
Charlotte Hunter, Billye Jones, Joan Zieger, Women Pioneers
Dick B., The Akron
Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous, 2d, ed,
Biography of T. Henry and Clarace Williams
Dick B., The Akron
Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous, 2d ed.
Biographical on Dr. Frank N.D. Buchman, Founder of the
Oxford Group
Garth Lean, Frank
Buchman: A Life, 1985
Frank Buchman, Remaking
the World, 1961
H. W. “Bunny” Austin,
Frank Buchman as I Knew Him, 1975
Peter Howard,
That Man Frank Buchman, 1946
The World Rebuilt: The true story of Frank
Buchman. . . , 1951
Frank Buchman’s Secret, 1961
R.C. Mowat, The
Message of Frank Buchman, n.d.
T. Willard Hunter, World
Changing Through Life Changing, 1977
Alan Thornhill, The
Significance of the Life of Frank Buchman, 1952
Biographical on Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr
Dick B.,
New Light on Alcoholism:
God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A., 2d ed.
Good Morning!: Quiet
Time, Morning Watch, Meditation, and Early A.A.
Irving Harris,
The Breeze of the Spirit, 1978.
“S.M. S.—Man of God for Our Time,” Faith
at Work, 1964.
Norman Vincent Peale, “The
Unforgettable Sam Shoemaker,” Faith at Work,
1964.
Louis W. Pitt, “New
Life, New Reality: A Brief Picture of S.M.S.’s Influence,
Faith at
Work, 1950
Sherwood S. Day, “Always
Ready, S.M.S. as a Friend, Calvary Evangel, 1950.
Helen Smith Shoemaker, I
Stand by the Door, 1967
Bill Wilson, “I Stand
by the Door,” The A.A. Grapevine, 1967
“Ten of America’s Greatest Preachers,” Newsweek, 1955,
“Calvary Mission,
“ Pamphlet, NY Calvary Episcopal Church, n.d.
John Potter Cuyler,
Jr., Calvary Church in Action, 1934.
Samuel M Shoemaker, Jr.
So
I Stand by the Door and Other Verses, Pittsburgh, Calvary
Rectory.1958
My Life Work and My Will, Pamphlet, 1930
“A First Century Christian
Fellowship,” Churchman, 1928
Calvary Church Yesterday and Today,
1936.
“How to Find God,” The Calvary Evangel, 1957.
Get Changed; Get Together; Get Going: A
History of the Pittsburgh
Experiment, n.d.
Biographical on Clarence H Snyder
Three Clarence Snyder Sponsee Old-timers and Their Wives,
Comp & ed. by
Dick B., Our A.A.
Legacy to the Faith Community: A Twelve-Step Guide
For Those Who Want to
Believe, 2005
DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers, 1980.
Alcoholics Anonymous
Comes of Age
Clarence Snyder,
Going
through the Steps, 2d ed., 1985
My Higher Power-The Light Bulb, 1985
Mitchell K., How It
Worked: The Story of Clarence H Snyder and the Early Days
of Alcoholics Anonymous in Cleveland, 1997.
Dick B., That Amazing
Grace, 1996.
Biographical on Sister Ignatia
[Though author Mary Darrah endeavors to select an earlier
date for the A.A.-Ignatia connection, it is clear that Ignatia came on the A.A.
scene about mid-August 1935. And her contributions were with Dr. Bob at St.
Thomas Hospital from that point on. Her book makes clear that Father John C.
Ford, S.J. had—like Father Dowling, S.J.—had a real part in editing Bill
Wilson’s Twelve Steps and Twelve
Traditions and his Alcoholics
Anonymous Comes of Age—both published in the 1950’s]
Mary Darrah, Sister
Ignatia, 1992, 13, 25-26, 33-37.
DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers, 1980
Biographical on Father Ed Dowling, S.J.
[Though Dowling did not meet Bill until the winter of 1940,
he became a friend and sponsor to Bill, and edited Bill Wilson’s Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions]
Robert Fitzgerald, S.J., The
Soul of Sponsorship, 1995. See 55-66, 89]
“Pass It On,” 1980,
240-243, 281-282, 354, 371, 387.
Central Bulletin,
Volumes I – III, Cleveland Central Committee, Dec. 1942-Dec. 1945
Nell Wing, Grateful to
Have Been There, 1992.
Stewart C., A
Reference Guide to the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, 1986.
Bill Pittman and Dick B., Courage to Change: The Christian Roots of the Twelve Step
Movement, 1994
Bill Pittman, AA The
Way It Began. 1988
How to Study and Apply the Historical Elements Today
Dick B.,
Utilizing Early AA.’s
Spiritual Roots for Recovery Today, 2000.
By The Power of God: A
Guide to Early A.A. Groups & Forming Similar Groups
Today, 2000.
God and Alcoholism:
Our Growing Opportunity in the 21st Century, 2002
Cured!: Proven Help
for Alcoholics and Addicts, 2d ed, 2006
Twelve Steps For You:
Take the Twelve Steps with the Big Book, A.A. History,
and the Good Book at Your Side, 4th ed.,
2005.
Dick B. and Ken B., Stick
with the Winners! How to Conduct More
Effective 12-Step Recovery
Meetings Using
Conference-Approved Literature: A Dick B. Guide for Christian Leaders and
Workers in the
Recovery Arena, 2012.
Now to Alcoholics Anonymous History on the Origins of A.A.,
Item by Item
Dick B.,
Introduction to the
Sources and Founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, 2007
Real Twelve Step
Fellowship History: The Old School A.A. You May Not Know, 2006/
Making Known the
Biblical History and Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd ed.
2006
The First Nationwide Alcoholics Anonymous
History Conference, 2d ed., 2006.
Turning Point: A History of Early A.A.’s Spiritual Roots and Successes,
1997.
Mel B.
New Wine: The
Spiritual Roots of the Twelve Step Miracle, 1991
My Search for Bill W.,
2000.
Alcoholics Anonymous History: Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr.
Dick B., New Light on
Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A., 2d ed., 1999.
Bill W., I Stand by
the Door, The A.A. Grapevine, 1967.
Charles Taylor Knippel, Samuel
M. Shoemaker’s Theological Influence on
William G. Wilson’s
Twelve Step Spiritual Program of Recovery, 1987
Helen Smith Shoemaker, I
Stand by the Door: The Life of Sam Shoemaker,1967.
John Potter Cuyler,
Jr., Calvary Church in Action, 1934.
W. Irving Harris, The
Breeze of the Spirit, 1978.
Samuel M. Shoemaker, Calvary
Church Yesterday and Today, 1936,
Samuel M. Shoemaker, Realizing
Religion, 1923
Alcoholics Anonymous History: the Oxford Group
Dick B., The Oxford
Group & Alcoholics Anonymous, Newton ed., 1998.
Frank N. D. Buchman, Remaking
the World, 1961.
Garth Lean,
Frank Buchman: A Life,
1985.
Good God, It Works,
1974.
James D. Newton, Uncommon
Friends, 1987.
Henry B. Wright, The
Will of God and a Man’s Life Work, 1909.
Howard A. Walter, Soul
Surgery, 1928.
Harold Begbie, Life
Changers, 1927.
Howard J. Rose, The
Quiet Time, 1937.
Cecil Rose, When Man
Listens, 1937.
Harry J. Almond, Foundations
for Faith, 1980.
Peter Howard, That Man
Frank Buchman, 1946.
Robert E. Speer, The
Principles of Jesus, 1902.
B. H. Streeter, The
God Who Speaks, 1930.
Sherwood Sunderland Day, The
Principles of the Group, n.d.
T. Willard Hunter,
It Started Right There,
2006.
World Changing Through
Life-Changing, 1977.
The Layman with a Notebook, What is the Oxford Group? 1933.
Kenneth Belden,
Meeting Moral Re-Armament, 1979.
Beyond the Satellites: Is God Speaking? Are
We Listening, 1987.
Alcoholics Anonymous History and the “Temperance Movement”
[Temperance, Abstinence, and the Widespread Concerns of
Society: Bill Wilson had made such a fuss over the “failures” of the
Washingtonian Movement that it can be said that his A.A. took no position on
“liquor” issues. But the Washingtonian Movement was but a speck on the
temperance front. It lasted only a short time. It was dismissed by many as not
a religious movement, and it is fair to say that its emphasis was on “pledges”
and not on healing by God. Nonetheless, the backdrop of Dr. Bob’s and Bill’s
boyhood days was temperance—abstinence from drink—however much people may have
disagreed on what was really involved—religion, morality, social problems.
There are several pieces of literature that may or may not be known by, or of
interest to those who might just dismiss the whole picture by saying, “We don’t
want to be like the Washingtonians. They failed.” But the failure occurred
before the major influences on A.A. background got under way. See Dick B. and
Ken B., Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous:
His Excellent Training in the Bible as a Youngster in Vermont; Dick B., The Conversion of Bill W.]
Harry S. Warner, Rev. Francis W. McPeek, and E.M. Jellinek, “Lecture 19,
Philosophy of the
Temperance Movement” Alcohol, Science and Society,
As given at the Yale
Summer School of Alcohol Studies, 1945, 267-285; McPeek: “I don’t believe
that the temperance movement can be understood in any sense unless the
framework in which it developed is understood, and this framework is
essentially Christian.,” 279.
Rev. Roland H. Bainton, “Lecture 20, The Churches and
Alcohol, Alcohol,
Science and Society,” 287-298
Rev. Francis W. McPeek, “Lecture
26 – The Role of Religious Bodies in the
Treatment of Inebriety
in the United States, Alcohol, Science and Society,” 1945, 406-411.
Jared C. Lobdell, This
Strange Illness: Alcoholism and Bill W., 2004, 30-38.
William L White, Slaying the Dragon, 1998, 4-14.
Alcoholics Anonymous History: the Co-Founder Dr. Bob’s
Christian Roots and Upbringing in Vermont
Dick B. and Ken B., Dr.
Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His Excellent Training in
the Good Book as a Youngster in
Vermont, 2008..
[The Town of St. Johnsbury—Dr. Bob’s birthplace]
Edward Taylor Fairbanks, The
Town of St. Johnsbury, Vt; A Review
Of One Hundred Twenty-Five Years to the
Anniversary Pageant, 1912
Claire Dunne Johnson, “I
See By the Paper,” 1987.
[The People, including the Fairbanks family and the Smith family]
Albert Nelson Marquis, Who’s
Who in New England
Charles G. Ullery, Men
of Vermont, 1894.
Hiram Carleton, Geneological
and Family History of the State of
Vermont, Vol I.
Lorenzo Sayles Fairbanks, Geneology of the Fairbanks Family…
1897
The “Fairbanks Papers” 1815-1889,.
William H. Jeffrey, Successful
Vermonters, 1904.
[Congregationalism and North Congregational Church of St.Johnsbury]
John M. Comstock, The Congregational Churches of Vermont and
Their
Ministry,
1762-1942. 1942.
John E. Nutting, Becoming the United Church of Christ in
Vermont, 1995
History of North Congregational Church,
2007
Arthur Fairbanks
Stone, North Congregational Church, St.
Johnsbury,
Vermont, 1825-1942, 1942
[Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor]
Francis E. Clark.
Memoirs of Many Men in
Many Lands, An Autobiography, 1922
Christian Endeavor in
All Lands, 1906
World Wide Endeavor:
The Story of the Young People’s Society of
Christian Endeavor and in All Lands, 1895.
Amos R. Wells, Expert
Endeavor, A Textbook of Christian Endeavor Methods and Principles, 1911.
John R. Clements, The
Francis E. Clark Year Book: A Collection of Living
Paragraphs From Addresses,
Books, and Magazine Articles by the Founder of the Young People’s Society of
Christian Endeavor, 1904.
John Franklin Cowan, New
Life in the Old Prayer Meeting, 1906.
[St. Johnsbury Academy]
Arthur Fairbanks et. al. [including Dr. Bob’s mother], An Historical Sketch of
St. Johnsbury Academy 1842-1922
Charles Edward Russell, Bare
Hands and Stone Walls, 1933
Richard Beck, A Proud
Tradition A Bright Future, 1992
Robert Miraldi, The
Pen Is Mightier: The Muckraking Life of Charles
Edward Russell, 2003.
The Academy Student (1897), (1898)
[Young Men’s Christian Association]
Year Book of the Young
Men’s Christian Association of North America,
1896
C. Howard Hopkins,
John R. Mott, 1865-1955.
Laurence L. Doggett,
History of the Young Men’s Christian Association
Richard C. Morse, History
of the North American Young Men’s Christian
Associations,
1919.
Sherwood Eddy, A
Century with Youth, 1884-1944, 1944
[Salvation Army]
[In Lecture 26, cited below, Rev. McPeek states: “Much work was
done in the city missions and particularly by the Salvation Army. . . .
Generally speaking. The Salvationists have capitalized on the same techniques
that have made other reform programs work: (1) Insistence on total abstinence.
(2) reliance upon God. (3) the provision
of new friendships among those who understand. (4) the opportunity to work with
those who suffer from the same difficulty. (5) unruffled patience and
consistent faith in the ability of the individual and the power of God to
accomplish the desired ends.” 414-415]
William Booth, In
Darkest England and the Way Out, 1890,
Harold Begbie,
The Life of General William Booth: The Founder of the Salvation Army
(Vol I and II), NY: MacMillan, 1920.
Twice Born Men,
1909
Rev. Francis W. McPeek,
“Lecture 26 - The Role of Religious
Bodies in
the Treatment of
Inebriety in the United States,” Alcohol, Science and Society, 1945,
403-418.
Howard Clinebell, Understanding
and Counseling Persons with Alcohol,
Drug, and Behavioral Addictions, 1998,
184-194.
Alcoholics Anonymous History: the Christian Upbringing of
Co-Founder Bill Wilson
Dick B., The
Conversion of Bill W.
[The conversion to God through Christ hat cured Bill
Wilson’s grandfather Willie of alcoholism]
Francis
Hartigan, Bill W.: A Biography…,
10-11
Robert
Thomsen, Bill W., 14
Bill W., My First 40 Years, 6
Susan
Cheever, My Name is Bill, 17.
[The Impact of the
Great Evangelists]
Allen Folger, Twenty-Five
Years as an Evangelist, 1906
Bob Holman, F. B. Meyer: “If
I Had a Hundred Lives…,” 2007
Edgar J. Goodspeed, The
Wonderful Career of Moody and Sankey in
Great Britain and America, 1876.
Elmer Towns and Douglas Porter, The Ten Greatest Revivals Ever, 2000
J. Wilbur Chapman, Life and Work of Dwight L. Moody
Mark O. Guldseth, Streams,
1982.
[The Impact of Bill’s
East Dorset Congregational Church]
Dick B. and Ken B., The
Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed,
Dick B., The
Conversion of Bill W., 7-10, 27-28, 72-73
Susan Cheever, My Name
is Bill W., 4, 44
Francis Hartigan, Bill
W., 175
Robert Thomsen, Bill W.,
15, 30-9. 200
[Bible study and
prayer meetings in East Dorset, in the Congregational Church, and in a 4 year
Bible study course at Burr and Burton Seminary in Manchester]
Dick B. and Ken B., The
Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed.
Susan Cheever, My Name
is Bill, 37-38, 47-48.
Robert Thomsen, Bill
W., 30-39, 200.
Frederica Templeton, The
Castle in the Pasture
The First
Congregational Church, Manchester, Vermont, 1784 - 1984
[Christian Revivals and Conversion Meetings Bill attended]
Bill Pittman, AA The
Way It Began, 79
Francis Hartigan, Bill
W., 10-11, 53, 58, 59
Matthew Raphael, Bill
W., 77
Susan Cheever, My Name
is Bill, 44-45,
Mel B., New Wine,
127-28
See also the impact of The Great Awakening of 1875, which
had transformed the church situation in St. Johnsbury in Dr. Bob’s youth and
was recognized in Manchester as a zealous season of evangelism and conversions.
The First Congregational Church,
Manchester, Vermont, 64.
[The continued impact
on Bill’s life of daily chapel he and Ebby Thacher attended at Norwich Academy]
The History of Norwich
University 1912-1965. Volume IV of the General History
[Gospel Rescue
Missions]
D. Samuel Hopkins
Hadley, Down in Water Street: A Story of
Sixteen Years Life and Work in Water Street Mission: A Sequel to the Life of
Jerry McAuley, n.d.
J. Wilbur Chapman,
S.H. Hadley of Water Street, 1906.
“Pass It On,”
William James. The
Varieties of Religious Experience, 1990, 188-9, 146
John Potter Cuyler, Jr., Calvary
Church in Action
Howard Clinebell, Understanding
and Counseling, 172-193
[Burr and Burton
Seminary, the Manchester Congregational Church, Norwich University]
Dick B. and Ken B., The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide
Bill W.: My First Forty Years
Frederica Templeton, The Castle in the Pasture: Portrait of Burr
and Burton Academy, 2005,, 25, 42. 44, 56, 67
[Young Men’s Christian Association-Bill as President, girl friend as
YWCA
President]
Bill W., My First Forty Years, 29
Robert Thomsen, Bill W., 57
Frederica Templeton, The Castle in the Pasture, 78-79, 69
[Bill’s return to
Jesus Christ, the “Great Physician,” Who can cure alcoholics].
Dick B.,
Turning
Point, 99-100.
The Conversion of
Bill W., 47, 94,
A New
Way In: Telling the Truth, 61-66.
Norman Vincent Peale, The
Positive Power of Jesus Christ. 1980.
Dale Mitchel, Silkworth, The
Little Doctor Who Loved Drunks
Alcoholics Anonymous
Comes of Age, 60-63.
Mel B.,
Ebby: The Man Who
Sponsored Bill W.
New Wine: The
Spiritual Roots of the Twelve Step Miracle
“Lois Remembers:
Searcy, Ebby, Bill & Early Days”: Recorded in Dallas Texas, June 29, 1973.
T. Willard Hunter, It
Started Right There
Bill W., My First
Forty Years
W. Irving Harris, The
Breeze of the Spirit
“Pass It On”
William James, The
Varieties of Religious Experience
[Bill Wilson’s first
unsuccessful attempts for six months to carry a message]
William Borchert, When
Love is Not Enough
Alcoholics Anonymous,
4th ed., 191.
Lois Remembers,
94-95
Alcoholics Anonymous
Comes of Age, 64-65
The Co-Founders of
Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches Their Last Major Talks, 9-10,
26.
[Alcoholics Anonymous
History – The Fellowship Begins]
How the First Three
AAs Got Sober by simply turning to God for help.
The Bill W. Conversion and White Light Experience:
[As a youngster in Vermont, Bill had repeatedly heard the
story of how his alcoholic grandfather Willie had been converted to God through
Jesus Christ on a mountaintop next to Bill’s village. Willie was saved, said
so, and never touched a drop during the remaining years of his life. And Bill
was no stranger to revivals, conversion meetings, temperance meetings, and
salvation teachings—the latter in his church and Sunday school]
(1) Dr. Carl Jung had told Rowland Hazard that he had the
mind of a chronic alcoholic and that a conversion experience might heal him (2)
Rowland Hazard made a decision for Jesus Christ and also joined the Oxford
Group. (3) Rowland and two other Oxford Group friends told Bill Wilson’s
long-time drinking friend Ebby Thacher the solution that Jung had proffered.
Rowland taught him about the efficacy of prayer. He informed Ebby of a number of
the Oxford Group’s Christian principles and told Ebby of Christian and Bible
ideas Ebby had heard as a youth and still believed. Then Ebby was lodged in
Calvary Rescue Mission in New York. (4) Meanwhile, Bill Wilson had made his
third visit to Towns Hospital. Dr. William D. Silkworth, Bill’s psychiatrist,
had a long talk. Silkworth had given Bill a virtual death sentence contingent
upon his continuing to drink. Dr. Silkworth, a devout Christian and a long-time
parishioner of Sam Shoemaker’s Calvary Church, told Bill Wilson that the “Great
Physician” Jesus Christ could cure Bill. (5) In this same period, Ebby Thacher
had made a decision for Jesus Christ at Calvary Mission, decided to witness to
Bill, visited Bill, and told Bill what had happened at the Mission. (6) Bill
decided to check out Ebby’s story and went to hear him give testimony at Calvary
Church. (7) Bill decided that if the Great Physician had helped Ebby recover,
he might help Bill. (8) Bill W. accepted
Jesus Christ at Calvary Mission, wrote in his autobiography that “For sure I
had been born again.” (9) Bill continued to drink, became severely depressed,
and thought,”If there be a Great Physician, I had better call on him.” (10)
Bill staggered on to Towns Hospital drunk and very depressed and was
hospitalized. (11) He said to himself, “I’ll do anything, anything at all. If
there be a Great Physician, I’ll call on him.” (12) He cried out, “If there be
a God let him show himself.” (13) He said: “The effect was, instant, electric.
Suddenly my room blazed with an indescribably white light.” (14) He continued: “Then,
seen in the mind’s eye, there was a mountain. I stood upon its summit where a
great wind blew. A wind, not of air, but of spirit. In great, clean strength it
blew right through me.” (15) :The light and the ecstasy subsided. He became
more quiet. A great peace stole over him. (16) Then he became acutely conscious
of a presence which seemed like a “veritable sea of living spirit.” (17) He
thought, “This must be the great reality.” And in one account, he said this was
“the God of the Scriptures.” And concluded: “Bill, you are a free man.”(18) He
said, “I thanked my God who had given me a glimpse of His absolute Self. (19)
He said that faith had suddenly appeared—no blind faith—but faith fortified by
the consciousness of the presence of God. (20) Briefly He stopped doubting God
and said “this great and sudden gift of grace has always been mine.” (21) He
never drank again. (22) But he did have his “hour of doubt.” (23) Dr. Silkworth
appeared and sat by Bill’s bed. Bill told Silkworth what had happened. Bill
asked: “Doctor, is this real? Am I still perfectly sane?” (24) Sikworth assured
him that he was sane. He said “You have had some kind of conversion
experience.” (25) Ebby showed up at the hospital, agreed with Bill that he and
Bill had a release that was a gift, real. He handed Bill a copy of a book by
Professor William James. It was called “The Varieties of Religious Experience.”
Bill he had read it “all day.”(26) The James book was filled with studies and
stories of the cure of alcoholism at missions such as the one founded by Jerry
McAuley at 316 Water Street in 1872, and later (in 1882) at 104 West
Thirty-second Street, known as Cremorne Mission. In 1886, S.H. Hadley took
charge of the Water Street Mission. Hadley had been converted at Jerry
McAuley’s Cremorne Mission, and in the years of service in Water Street not
less than seventy-five thousand persons came to the mission for help. Hadley died in 1906. (27) Before his
discharge from Towns Hospital in December of 1935, Wilson had been inspired to
help drunks everywhere. (28) On his discharge, he raced feverishly to the streets,
the missions, the hospitals, the Bowery, and flea bag hotels. He went with a
Bible under his arm and insisted that drunks give their lives to God. (29)
Bill’s story is briefly told as follows in the Big Book: “Henrietta, the Lord
has been so wonderful to me curing me of this terrible disease that I just want
to keep talking about it and telling people.” (30) But in his first six months
of witnessing, Bill was unable to get a single person sober.]
The Dr. Bob Prayers and Deliverance
[Dr. Bob was born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont when the entire
state was still swirling from the effect of “The Great Awakening of 1875 in St.
Johnsbury.” His parents were married when the events were taking place. They
taught Bob about salvation and the Word of God. He heard similar sermons and teachings
in the family’s North Congregational Church of St. Johnsbury. Temperance was in
the air. The Young Men’s Christian Association had been active in bringing
about the Great Awakening and was still very active during Bob’s growing-up
period. The great evangelists had inspired Vermont with their talk of
salvation, the Bible, and God’s healing power. The Salvation Army was becoming
well known for its outreach and resulting healing of derelicts and drunks. So
too were the rescue mission events involving Jerry McAuley, Water Street
Mission, and S.H. Hadley. The Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor, in
which Dr. Bob was active, had laid out a program of confession of Jesus Christ,
conversions, Bible study meetings, prayer meetings, Quiet Hour observances, and
reading and speaking on Christian literature. Their program, though not aimed
at drunkards, was certainly focused on bringing young people back to their
churches. In his early sobriety, Dr. Bob had turned back to church for himself
and Sunday school for his children. And the program of the early Akron A.A.
Christian Fellowship closely resembled the conversions which were so much a
part of Bill’s life, and the principles and practices of Christian Endeavor.]
[Dr. Bob’s road back to sobriety could—like Bill Wilson’s—be
said to have begun when he was at the bottom of the heap in 1931. I learned
little about him at that time. But I researched an learned a lot about what
happened in Akron in 1931. It revolved around the Firestone family, and Harvey’s
protégé Jim Newton—a young man from Florida. When Jim arrived in Akron, he
befriended Russell Firestone but found that Russell had a serious drinking
problem. Jim tried to help Russell by Oxford Group techniques. But finally, the
family decided to call in Rev. Sam Shoemaker of New York—an Oxford Group leader
of that time. They (Harvey, Russell, Jim and Sam) boarded a train for a
Bishop’s conference in Denver—with Russell well supplied with liquor. But on
the trip back, Sam Shoemaker took Russell into a train compartment and led
Russell to a new birth in Christ. By the time the train arrived back in Akron,
Russell was healed, and his doctor felt it was a miracle. Russell and Jim then
began traveling together and witnessing to others about the Oxford Group’s
life-changing program. By 1933, the family was elated at Russell’s progress.
They invited Dr. Frank Buchman and a retinue of some 30 Oxford Group activists
to come to Akron, speak in the pulpits and public places, and inform the press.
I have personally seen the Akron newspapers of that early 1933 period; and they
are alive with talk of Russell and his “miracle,” of Jesus Christ, of the
Bible, and of Christianity. And a large part of the town turned out to hear
Russell, Jim, Buchman, and others give testimony.]
[The wheels of sobriety began to grind for Dr. Bob. His
friend Henrietta Seiberling and his wife Anne attended the 1933 functions. They
were excited. They persuaded Dr. Bob to join a small Oxford Group. And, though
he continued to drink, Dr. Bob read all the Oxford Group literature he could
get his hands on. He studied the Bible extensively once again. He read it from
cover to cover three times. He prayed. And he enjoyed the people. But he
concluded to Henrietta that he just didn’t want to quit drinking and was a
“wanna wanna” guy. But Henrietta was undeterred. She convened a tiny group,
including Bob. They all engaged in life-changing stories. Dr. Bob joined in and
confessed that he was a “secret drinker.” Henrietta asked him if he wanted to
pray for his deliverance. And Bob joined the group on his knees on the rug at
the T. Henry Williams home, asking God for help. Help did not come at once. But
a seemingly miraculous phone call reached Henrietta from an unknown stranger
from New York. It was Bill Wilson saying that he was an Oxford Grouper, a rum
hound from New York, and needed to talk with a drunk. Henrietta was sure this
was an answer to the prayers and thought of Bill, “This is manna from heaven.”
She arranged a visit at her home between Bob and Bill. It lasted six hours. Bob
said he had heard it all before, but that Bill talked his language—the story of
a drunk. Bob said he picked up on the idea of “service” which was something his
religious endeavors had not gotten through to him.
And, after one last binge, Bob quit forever while Bill
Wilson was living with the Smiths in their home.
The Bill Dotson (A.A. Number Three) Instant Cure by Turning
to God
[We have run across very little concerning Bill Dotson,
except as set forth in the biographical information above. However, we know for
sure that: (1) Dotson was an attorney in Akron. (2) Dotson believed in God,
went to church, taught Sunday school, and became a Deacon in the church. (3)
His alcoholism had progressed to the point that he had been strapped to a
hospital bed six times in the preceding months. (4) And when Dr. Bob inquired
of a nurse whether there was a hospitalized drunk who needed help, she told
them she had a dandy—Bill Dotson. (5) Bill and Bob visited Dotson, told him
their stories, told him he needed to seek God’s help, and that—upon being
healed—he must go out and help others in like situations. (6) Dotson did turn
to God for help and was instantly cured. In fact, he subscribed to Bill
Wilson’s statement on page 191 of the Big Book that “the Lord had cured” him
and that he just wanted to keep talking about it and telling people. He called
the statement the “golden text of A.A.” for him and for others. (7) And, when
Bill and Bob had returned to the hospital, Dotson had been relieved of his
drinking problem, He left the hospital with his wife—a free man. The date was
July 4, 1935; and Bill Wilson proclaimed that as the founding date for A.A.’s
first group—Akron Number One. Dotson remained active in A.A. and often led
groups with a Bible in his lap, ready to help someone who needed help.]
The Co-Founders of
Alcoholics Anonymous (Pamphlet P-53)
Dick B. and Ken B.,
The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed,, 2010.
Dick B. and Ken B. “Introductory Foundations for Christian
Recovery” Class
[The Original Akron A.A. Christian Fellowship Program
Founded in June, 1935, and the first group—Akron Number One—founded July 4,
1935 when Bill D. was cured.]
DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers
Dick B., The Akron
Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous
Dick B., Turning
Point: The Spiritual History of Alcoholics Anonymous
Dick B., Henrietta B.
Seiberling: Ohio’s Lady with a Cause
Alcoholics Anonymous
Comes of Age, 66-72.
[The Principles and
Practices of the Original Akron A.A. Pioneers]
Dick B. and Ken B., The
Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide
Dick B., When Early
AAs Were Cured and Why
DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers
Sue Smith Windows and Robert R. Smith, Children of the Healer, 1992
[The Role of the
Bible in Earliest A.A.]
The Co-Founders of
Alcoholics Anonymous
DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers
Dick B.,
The Good Book and The
Big Book: A.A.’s Roots in the Bible
The Good Book-Big Book
Guidebook
The James Club and the
Original A.A. Program’s Absolute Essentials
Anne Smith’s Journal
1933-1939
Why Early A.A. Succeeded
(A Bible Study Primer)
Cured: Proven Help for
Alcoholics and Addicts
The First Nationwide
Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference
[“Prayer and
Meditation” in Earliest A.A.]
DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers
Dick B., Good
Morning!: Quiet Time, Morning Watch, Meditation, and Early
A.A.
Howard Rose, The Quiet
Time
Donald Carruthers, How
to Find Reality in Your Morning Devotions, Penn State
College, n.d.
Nora Smith Holm, The
Runner’s Bible
The Upper Room
Oswald Chambers, My
Utmost for His Highest
E. Stamley Jones, Victorious
Living
[The “Real Surrender”
to Jesus Christ in Early A.A.]
Dick B.,
The Golden Text of
A.A.
When Early AAs Were
Cured and Why
That Amazing Grace
A New Way Out: New
Path, Familiar Road Signs, Our Creator’s Guidance
Mitchell K., How It
Worked
Dick B. and Ken B., The
Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide
[The Akron Formula]
[Bible based, Christ-centered, bringing the Creator’s Power
and Cures Back into Focus. And we believe the following are the ingredients
common to most all successful Christian efforts to bring deliverance to
alcoholics: 1. The choice of abstinence. 2. The choice of avoiding temptation.
3. The choice of entrusting one’s life to the care, direction, and strength of
the Creator. 4. The choice of establishing a relationship with Him through
Jesus Christ. 5. The choice of obeying His commandments and eliminating sinful
conduct. 6. The choice of growing in knowledge and fellowship with Him, His
son, and His children through Bible study, prayer, religious fellowship,
worship, and witness. 7. The choice of passing along to others with love and
service the message that will enable those others to help and be helped in the
same manner.]
Dick B., A New Way Out,
63-64.
Dick B. and Ken B., Stick
with the Winners
[The Daily Meetings,
Family Emphasis, and Close Contacts Among Members—Resemblance to First Century
Christianity]
[A.A. History – A.A. and First Century Christianity. The
Multiple First Century Christianity-A.A. Quotes Among The Rockefeller People
Who Investigated. Five of the
Rockefeller people involved with the Frank Amos report commented as follows on
the First Century Christianity nature of the Akron A.A.:
Frank Amos: As stated, Rockefeller’s investigator Frank Amos
had observed that the meetings of Akron people had, in many respects, taken on
the form of the meetings described in the Gospels of the early Christians
during the first century (Dr. Bob and the
Good Oldtimers, pp. 135-36)
Albert Scott: In December, 1936. a meeting was held in John
D. Rockefeller’s private board room. Bill W., Dr. Bob, Dr. Silkworth, Dr.
Leonard Strong, and some alcoholics from New York and Akron met with
Rockefeller’s associates Willard Richardson, A. Leroy Chapman, Frank Amos, and
Albert Scott. The meeting was chaired by Albert Scott, chairman of the board of
trustees of New York’s Riverside Church. Each alcoholic was enjoined to tell
his own personal story, after which, the chairman Albert Scott exclaimed, “Why,
this is first-century Christianity. What can we do to help?” (Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p.
148)
Nelson Rockefeller: In February of 1940, John D.
Rockefeller, Jr. had arranged a dinner for Bill and the AAs. John D. had
intended to attend, but was too ill to do so and sent his son Nelson
Rockefeller to host the dinner. As Bill’s wife Lois Wilson records in her
memoirs, “When Nelson finally got up to talk, there was a great deal of expectancy.
He told how impressed his father [John D., Jr..] was with this unique movement,
which resembled early Christianity.” (Lois
Remembers, pp. 128-29)
Willard Richardson and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., himself:
What they’d been hearing, he [Albert Scott] said, was like first century
Christianity, where one person carried the word to the next. . . . Willard
Richardson was in charge of all John D. Jr.’s philanthropies. . . Willard
Richardson added his approval to the report and immediately passed it on to Mr.
[John D.] Rockefeller. . . Rockefeller was impressed. He saw the parallel with
early Christianity and along with this he spotted a combination of medicine and
religion that appealed to all his charitable inclinations (Robert Thomsen, Bill W., pp. 274-75).
[The best comparative
material can be found in Acts 2:41-47]
“Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and
the same day there were added [unto them] about three thousand souls.
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and
fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs
were done by the apostles.
And all that believed were together, and had all things
common;
And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all
[men], as every man had need.
And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple,
and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and
singleness of heart,
Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the
Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Not surprisingly, Dr. Bob, co-founder of A.A. frequently
called the early A.A. Akron program a "Christian Fellowship"
Dick B. and Ken B., The
Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010.
[The Counting of
Noses in November, 1937 that proved God had shown the founders how to succeed]
[DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers also comments on the November 1937 meeting between Bill W. and Dr.
Bob which led to the decision that a book about their cure for alcoholism would
be needed.
In November of that year [i.e., 1937], Bill Wilson went on a
business trip that enabled him to make a stopover in Akron. . . .
Bill's writings record the day he sat in the living room
with Doc, counting recoveries. "A hard core of very grim, last-gasp cases
had by then been sober a couple of years," he said. "All told, we
figured that upwards of 40 alcoholics were staying bone dry
Up to then, prospects had come to the founders from other
cities. Now, the question was whether every alcoholic had to come to Akron or
New York to get sober. Was it possible to reach distant alcoholics? Was it
possible for the Fellowship to grow "rapidly and soundly"?
This was when Bill began to think . . . of writing a book of
experiences that would carry the message of recovery to other cities and other
countries.
Let us now look at this vitally-significant, November 1937
meeting in more detail.
In an October 1945 article in the A.A. Grapevine titled
"The Book Is Born," Bill referred to his meeting with Dr. Bob in
Akron in November 1937 as follows:
By the fall of 1937 we could count what looked like forty
recovered members. One of us had been sober three years, another two and a
half, and a fair number had a year or more behind them. As all of us had been
hopeless cases, this amount of time elapsed began to be significant. The
realization that we had "found something" began to take hold of us.
No longer were we a dubious experiment. Alcoholics could stay sober. Great
numbers, perhaps! While some of us had always clung to this possibility, the
dream now had real substance. If forty alcoholics could recover, why not four
hundred, four thousand — even forty thousand.
RHS: Co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous: Our Beloved DR. BOB (NY: A.A.
Grapevine, Inc., 1951), 8. The article from which this quote is taken also
occurs in The Language of the Heart
and is titled "Dr. Bob: A Tribute." This quote appears on page 359 of
that article.
In the quote above, Bill spoke of having counted "what
looked like forty recovered members." He also speculated about possible,
much larger numbers of alcoholics—"even forty thousand"—recovering.
Bill W. spoke more clearly and at greater length about his
November 1937 meeting with Dr. Bob in Akron in his tribute to Dr. Bob in the
special memorial issue of The A.A. Grapevine in January 1951 titled
"RHS":
Meanwhile a small group had taken shape in New York. The
Akron meeting at T. Henry's home began to have a few Cleveland visitors. At
this juncture I spent a week visiting Dr. Bob. We commenced to count noses. Out
of hundreds of alcoholics, how many had stuck? How many were sober? And for how
long? In that fall of 1937 Bob and I counted forty cases who had significant
dry time — maybe sixty years for the whole lot of them! Our eyes glistened.
Enough time had elapsed on enough cases to spell out something quite new,
perhaps something great indeed. . . . A beacon had been lighted. God had shown
alcoholics how it might be passed from hand to hand. Never shall I forget that
great and humbling hour of realization, shared with Dr. Bob.
But the new realization faced us with a great problem, a
momentous decision. It had taken nearly three years to effect forty recoveries.
The United States alone probably had a million alcoholics. How were we to get
the story to them?
Here again, Bill declares that he and Dr. Bob "counted
forty cases who had significant dry time" and refers to "forty
recoveries." And note that Bill credited God with having shown them "how
it might be passed from hand to hand." RHS:
Co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous: Our Beloved DR. BOB (NY: A.A.
Grapevine, Inc., 1951), 8. The article from which this quote is taken also
occurs in The Language of the Heart and
is titled "Dr. Bob: A Tribute." This quote appears on page 359 of
that article.
Bill wrote about his November 1937 meeting with Dr. Bob in Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age:
. . . [T]his trip [in the fall of 1937] gave me a much
needed chance to visit Dr. Bob in Akron. It was on a November day in that year
[of 1937] when Dr. Bob and I sat in his living room, counting the noses of our
recoveries. There had been failures galore, but now we could see some startling
successes too. A hard core of very grim, last-gasp cases had by then been sober
a couple of years, an unheard-of development. There were twenty or more such
people. All told we figured that upwards of forty alcoholics were staying bone
dry.
. . . [A] benign chain reaction, one alcoholic carrying the
good news to the next, had started outward from Dr. Bob and me. Conceivably it
could one day circle the whole world. What a tremendous thing that realization
was! At last we were sure. . . . We actually wept for joy, and Bob and Anne and
I bowed our heads in silent prayer. Alcoholics
Anonymous Comes of Age, 76. See also: Debra Jay, No More Letting Go: The Spirituality of Taking Action Against
Alcoholism and Drug Addiction (New York, NY: Bantam Books, 2006), 287-88.
Here again, we see Bill commenting about the "upwards
of forty alcoholics" who "were staying bone dry," while speaking
almost in the same breath about how "it could one day circle the whole
world."
The A.A. General Service Conference-approved book "Pass
It On" also discusses this November 1937 meeting.
“Later in 1937, Bill . . . did visit Bob and Anne in Akron.
It was on this visit that the two men conducted a "formal" review of
their work of the past two years.
What they came to realize as a result of that review was
astounding: Bill may have been stretching things when he declared that at least
20 cases had been sober a couple of years; but by counting everybody who seemed
to have found sobriety in New York and Akron, they concluded that more than 40
alcoholics were staying dry as a result of the program! "Pass It On": The Story of Bill Wilson and How the A.A.
Message Reached the World (New York, NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World
Services, Inc., 1984), 177-78.
Bill W. also spoke briefly about this meeting with Dr.
Bob—without mentioning numbers of recoveries—in his May 1955 article in the
A.A. Grapevine titled "How AA's World Services Grew, Part 1," in The Language of the Heart, 142.
See also: Dick B., The Akron
Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous, 224-25.
Bill W.'s wife Lois remarked on the 40 in her memoirs:
The business depression returned in 1937, and toward the end
of the year Quaw and Foley had to let Bill go. He went to Detroit and Cleveland
looking for new job ideas and, of course, stopped off at Akron on the way
He and Bob assessed the current status of the movement. They
were surprised to find that, although many of those they had worked with had
fallen by the way, forty members enjoyed an average of two years' solid
sobriety. This was flabbergasting, awe-inspiring. They really had hit on a program
for helping alcoholics. Now they saw it could develop into something
tremendous—if it was not diluted or garbled by word of mouth. Lois Remembers: Memoirs of the Co-founder
of Al-Anon and Wife of the Co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (New York:
Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., 1987), 107.
Here are some key comments about this important tally of
successes by other writers:
In November [of 1937] Bill had to make a trip to the Midwest
in connection with the brokerage job he was trying to nail down. Although
nothing came of his efforts concerning the job—another depression had hit the
country in the fall of '37—the trip gave him an opportunity to visit Dr. Bob in
Akron. Bill had been sober almost three years, Bob two and a half, and this,
they figured, should be ample time for them to see where they were and even
make some sort of informal progress report.
There had
been failures galore. Literally hundreds of drunks had been approached by their
two groups and some had sobered up for a brief period but then slipped away.
They were both conscious of their failures as they settled down in Bob's living
room and began comparing notes. But as the afternoon wore on and they continued
going over lists, counting noses, they found themselves facing a staggering
fact. In all, in Ohio and in New York, they knew forty alcoholics who were
sober and were staying sober, and of this number at least twenty had been
completely dry for more than a year. Moreover, every single one of them had
been diagnosed a hopeless case.
As they
sat, each with a paper in hand, checking and rechecking the score, a strange
thing happened; they both fell silent. This was more than a game they were
playing, more than a little casual bookkeeping to be used for a report. There
were forty names representing forty men whose lives had been changed, who
actually were alive tonight because of what had started in this very room. The
chain reaction they had dreamed about—one alcoholic carrying the word to
another—was a reality. It had moved onward, outward from them. Robert Thomsen, Bill W. (New York: Harper & Row,
1975), 266-67.
Although Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith had communicated
through dozens of letters, sitting down together again after almost two years
turned out to be an astonishing experience. Whey they compared notes in person,
they realized that they had actually found something that doctors and laymen
had been searching for as long as anyone could remember: a way to help
alcoholics get sober that actually worked. Between them they counted forty men
who hadn't had a drink in more than a year Susan Cheever, My Name Is Bill: Bill Wilson: His Life and the Creation of Alcoholics
Anonymous (New York: Washington Square Press, 2004), 147.
In November [of 1937], Bill . . . was able to spend some
time in Akron. . . .
. . . He and the Smiths decided to take an inventory. Among
those they had tried to help, the failures were endless, and many of those who
seemed sincerely willing to try their approach were struggling. When they were
done counting, though, they realized that between Akron and New York there were
now forty alcoholics staying sober, and half of them had not had a drink for
more than a year. Francis Hartigan, Bill
W.: A Biography of Alcoholics Anonymous Cofounder Bill Wilson (NY: St.
Martins Press, 2000), 101.]
[The Documented 75%
Success Rate in the Akron A.A. Program]
Richard K., Early
A.A.—Separating Fact from Fiction: How Revisionists Have
Led Our History Astray,
2003
Richard K. New Freedom: Reclaiming
Alcoholics Anonymous, 2005
The one-page list in the hand of Dr. Bob—now in the
Rockefeller Archives
Dick B. and Ken B., The
Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide
[Bill Wilson’s
Preparation for a New, Oxford Group-Oriented Program]
The Preparation of the First Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous
[This story begins with what Bill Wilson had learned from
his extensive contacts with the Oxford Group, its meetings, its house parties,
its teams, and Oxford Group leaders and activists such as Dr. Frank N.D. Buchman,
Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Irving Harris and his wife, Rowland Hazard, Shep
Cornell, Cebra Graves, Garrett Stearly, Cleve Hicks, Victor Kitchen, Garth
Lean, and others. He learned Oxford Group ideas from Shoemaker, Rowland Hazard,
Ebby Thacher, and attendance at their meetings. Bill is mentioned personally in
some of the Shoemaker personal journals we have seen. He was given a major post
in bringing the president of the League of Nations to America. Bill left the
Oxford Group in August of 1937, but he soon returned to become a personal
friend and collaborator with Sam Shoemaker. Bill had gone to Akron to obtain
permission to write a book, and he received it—by a bare majority of those
voting. According to Bill, Shoemaker, and Irving Harris, Bill began working
with Shoemaker on the contents of the book. They were closeted in Shoemaker’s
book-lined study at Calvary House. Bill showed Shoemaker the first manuscript
of the book. And he actually asked Shoemaker to write the Twelve Steps though
Shoemaker declined. This charts the Big Book connections. And part of the
preparations for the book were the so-called six word-of-mouth ideas Bill
claimed were being used before the Big Book. Bill said there was no agreement
on the contents of the six, and their contents certainly differed.
Here are the various ways Bill’s alleged six “steps” were
phrased, for example, as to God:
1. “We prayed to
God.” See Dick B., The Akron Genesis of
Alcoholics
Anonymous,
256-257; The Language of the Heart,
200; William White, Slaying the Dragon,
132.
2. “We prayed to whatever God we thought
there was.” Dick B., The Akron
Genesis, 256; “Pass It On,” 197; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age. 160; Jared Lobdell, This
Strange Illness, 242. .
3. We prayed to God as you understand him.”
Jared Lobdell, This Strange Illness,
242; Dick B., Turning Point, 100.
4. Bill Wilson
also said his “six steps” came from the Oxford Group; and Lois
Wilson contended that the Oxford Group said: “Surrender your
life to God.”
Lois Remembers,
92; Dick B., The Akron Genesis, 257.
But, acting on the research and opinion of Oxford Group activist T. Willard
Hunter, A.A.’s own publication “Pass It
On” concluded the Oxford Group had no such six steps or any steps at all.
“Pass It On,” 206, Footnote 2
5. From some
source or for some reason undocumented and seemingly false,
the purported author of a Big Book personal story titled,
“8. HE SOLD HIMSELF SHORT,” (almost certainly Earl Treat of Chicago) was quoted
with reference to six steps plus several other ideas attributed to Dr. Bob as
saying: “Dependence and guidance from a Higher Power.” The story was added to
the 1956 edition of Alcoholics Anonymous several years after Dr. Bob’s death.
And it is my opinion, based on extensive research of and writing about Dr. Bob
that the language on page 263 is language easily attributable to Bill Wilson
but not typical of the way Dr. Bob spoke of God as “Heavenly Father” and “God”
and not as some higher power. Examples of the questionable words are: 1.
“Complete deflation.” 2. “Dependence and guidance from a Higher Power.” Dr. Bob
had apparently asked a newcomer if he believed in “God”—not “a god”—God!
6. In The Language of the Heart. in an article
dated July, 1953, Bill makes the
following comments about his six word-of-mouth ideas: “. . .
our growing groups at Akron, New York, and Cleveland evolved the so-called
word-of-mouthl program of our pioneering time. As we commenced to form a
Society separate from the Oxford Group, we began to state our principles
something like this. . . . Though these principles were advocated according to
the whim or liking of each of us, and though in Akron and Cleveland they still
stuck by the O.G. absolutes of honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love, this
was the gist of our message to incoming alcoholics up to 1939. . .,” 200. To
see some of the inconsistencies in Bill’s statements and dates, consider these
points: (a) Bill and Lois left the Oxford Group in August of 1937. (b) In 1938,
Frank Amos summarized the Akron program in seven points—practically none of
which paralleled Bill’s six. DR. BOB and
the Good Oldtimers, 131. (c) Clarence Snyder did not found the Cleveland
groups until May of 1939, after the Big Book’s April publishing date. (d) In
his two major speeches in 1948. Dr. Bob spoke about prayer and reading the
Bible. He spoke favorably about the Four Absolutes. He said nothing that indicated
he had departed from his adherence to the seven points summarized by Frank Amos
in 1938
a) For example, in
referring to God, Bill spoke of praying to God, praying to God as you
understood Him, and praying to whatever God you think there is. In one recital
of the six points attributed without documentation to Dr Bob (a recital that I
believe Bill himself wrote) the writer of the story uses and speaks typical
Bill Wilson language—higher power, deflation in depth, and other ideas that I
have not seen in usage in any other materials attributed to Bob and his Akron
ideas.
b) The first phase
of Big Book preparation itself took the form of two chapters that Bill wrote in
reverse order to those in the first two chapters of the Big Book. “Pass It On,’ 193. He then began sending
the chapters, one by one, to Dr. Bob in Akron for approval. And the approval
was forthcoming. Details are set forth in Dick B., The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous, 233-239;
c) At some point,
the materials were assembled into what has been called the “multi-lith.” This
was sent out to somewhere between 200 and 400 people for their comments.”Pass
It On,” 200.Then they consolidated all comments on one multi-lith which can be
seen in The Book That Started It All: The
Original Working Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous (Center City, MN:
Hazelden, 2010.
d) Other important
changes occurred along the way, at times and by persons I have been unable to
identify though much effort has been expended in that direction. So I will
simply list several of the changes made before and perhaps during the handling
of the Working Manuscript. These were:
(1) A large amount of material containing Christian and biblical material had
been discarded over the objections of John Henry Fitzhugh Mayo. It had
apparently contained material “learned from the missions and the churches that
had helped AAs.” The discard was verified in a conversation between Ruth Hock,
the typist and secretary and Bill Pittman, director of historical information at
Hazelden. (2) We know that at least 400 pages of manuscript material was cut by
an editor, but no one who described the incident—even though hired by A.A.
General Services to write “Pass It On”—could
confirm anything but the truthfulness of the 400 page discard. But not what the
pages contained or who discarded them. “Pass
It On,” 204. (3) Tom Uzzell of New
York University edited the manuscript, and I have been unable to locate any
information about him at NYU or concerning the changes he made. “Pass It On,” 204. (4) Substantial
changes were made in the Working Manuscript itself. They were hand-written, and
the authors have not yet been identified. However, it was then that Steps Two,
Three, and Eleven were changed to eliminate the word “God.” And the changes
were made in a compromise designed to appease atheists and agnostics.“Pass It On,” 199. Bill described the
contending forces. He said: “Fitz wanted a powerfully religious book. Henry and
Jimmy wanted none of it. They wanted a psychological book. . .” Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, 17.
Bill said, “All this time I had refused to budge on these steps. I would not
change a word of the original draft, in which, you will remember, I had
consistently used the word “God,” and in one place the expression “on our
knees” was used. The changes from “God” to “Power greater than ourselves” and
to “God as we understood Him. Such were the final concessions to those of
little or no faith; this was the great contribution of our atheists and
agnostics.” Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of
Age, 166-167. “Fitz thought that the book ought to be Christian in the
doctrinal sense of the word and that it should say so. He was in favor of using
Biblical terms and expressions to make this clear. . . Paul K. was even more
emphatic. Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of
Age, 162. But Lois Wilson described those change those changes as follows:
“The pros and cons were mostly about the tone of the book. Some wanted it
slanted more toward the Christian religion—others, less. Many alcoholics were agnostics
or atheists. Then there were those of the Jewish faith and, around the world,
of other religions. Shouldn’t the book be written so that it would appeal to
them? Finally it was agreed that the book should present a universal spiritual
program, not a specific one, since all drunks were not Christian.” Lois Remembers, 113.
It is more than fair to say that the end result of the 1939
Big Book project was far far different from the program summarized as the Akron
program by Frank Amos. Thus Bill finally made the following admissions in The Language of the Heart, pp. 297-298:
So, then, how did we first learn that alcoholism is such a
fearful sickness as this? Who gave us this priceless information on which the
effectiveness of our program so much depends? Well, it came from my own doctor,
“the ;little doctor who loved drunks,” William D. Silkworth. More than
twenty-five years ago at Towns Hospital, New York, he told Lois and me what the
disease of alcoholism actually is
Of course, we have since found that these awful conditions
of mind and body invariably bring on the third phase of our malady. This is the
sickness of the spirit; a sickness for which there must be a spiritual remedy.
We AAs recognize this in the first five words of Step Twelve of the recovery
program . . . Here we declare the
necessity for that all important spiritual awakening. Who, then, first told us
about the utter necessity for such an awakening, for an experience that not
only expels the alcohol obsession, but which also makes effective and truly
real the practice of spiritual principles “in all our affairs”? Well, this
life-giving idea came to us AA through William James, the father of modern
psychology. It came through his famous book Varieties
of Religious Experience. . . William James also heavily emphasized the need
for hitting bottom/ Thus did he reinforce AA’s Step One and so did he supply us
with the spiritual essence of Step
Twelve.
Where did the early AAs find the material for the remaining
ten Steps? Where did we learn about moral inventory, amends for harms done,
turning wills and lives over to God? Where did we learn about meditation and
prayer and all the rest of it? The spiritual substance of our remaining ten
Steps came straight from Dr. Bob’s and my own earlier association with the
Oxford Groups, as they were then led in America by that Episcopal rector, Dr.
Samuel M. Shoemaker.
To learn the difference between this twelve step program
which Bill said emanated from Sam Shoemaker and Dr. Bob’s statement that the
basic ideas came from their study and effort in the Bible. And the summarized
heart of that program is found in the Frank Amos report in DR BOB and the Good Oldtimers, 131:
Following
his visit to Akron in February 1938, Frank Amos, John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s
agent, summarized the original Akron A.A. “Program” in seven points. Here are
those points, as quoted in Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers:
· An alcoholic
must realize that he is an alcoholic, incurable from a medical viewpoint, and
that he must never drink anything with alcohol in it.
· He must
surrender himself absolutely to God, realizing that in himself there is no
hope.
· Not only
must he want to stop drinking permanently, he must remove from his life other
sins such as hatred, adultery, and others which frequently accompany
alcoholism. Unless he will do this absolutely, Smith and his associates refuse
to work with him.
· He must have
devotions every morning—a “quiet time” of prayer and some reading from the
Bible and other religious literature. Unless this is faithfully followed, there
is grave danger of backsliding
· He must be
willing to help other alcoholics get straightened out. This throws up a
protective barrier and strengthens his own willpower and convictions.
· It is
important, but not vital, that he meet frequently with other reformed
alcoholics and form both a social and a religious comradeship.
· Important,
but not vital, that he attend some religious service at least once weekly.
And we believe that if you master the original program,
study the Big Book, look at our history, and then take the Twelve Steps, it is
possible to get the best results from the Alcoholics Anonymous fellowship—just
as Clarence Snyder did when he brought those elements to Cleveland and soon
measured a 93% success rate there. See Dick B. and Ken B., Stick with the Winners.
Gloria Deo
Trademarks and
Disclaimer: ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, A.A., and Big Book are registered trademarks
of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Dick B.'s web site, Paradise
Research Publications, Inc., and Good Book Publishing Company are neither
endorsed nor approved by nor associated or affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous
World Services, Inc.
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