Alcoholics Anonymous
History – Expanded and Revised for 2014
Early A.A. and Its Successful Christian Roots, The Real Pre-AA
Influential Christians and Christian Organizations, The Christian Upbringing of
A.A.’s Cofounders, How Its First Three Got Sober Before There Was Any Recovery
Program, the Centrality of the Bible, and Akron’s Christian Fellowship
with
Dick B.
© 2014 Anonymous. All
rights reserved
This study, and our website, and our six video study guide
for 2014, plus the accompanying Guidebook. intend to focus readers on accurate,
truthful, 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 the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous in April 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.
Particularly to those who wonder what happened to God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible and yielded to nonsense gods,
“spirituality,” and self-made religion as well as unbelief.
[Draft updated to January 1, 2014, with Dick B. and Ken B.’s
latest titles, articles, videos, and radio show episodes. The final draft will
contain full bibliographic references and publication data, and will be updated
as well. In other words, the final revision and editing are still works in
progress; but this material has already been widely read on the internet and
elsewhere in the first two editions of the article.]
Let’s Begin with Useful Alcoholics Anonymous General Service
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. General
Service Conference-approved literature first—instead of speculating on what
A.A. is or isn’t. Once that foundation is mastered, the reader can begin filling
in the holes, straightening out the distortions, correcting the misrepresentations,
eliminating the undocumented “wisdom of the rooms, and finding out what most in
the recovery community have simply not heard.
And the recommended A.A. books, in the order of the
publication, are:
Alcoholics Anonymous:
The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism,
1st ed. (New York City, N.Y.: Works Publishing Company, 1939). [Note that Dover
Publications has now released a complete reprint of the First Edition in trade
paper and has included a 27 page introduction by author Dick B.]
RHS (New York 2,
N. Y.: The A.A. Grapeine, 1951). This issue of the AA Grapevine is dedicated to the memory of the
Co-Founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, DR. BOB (i.e., Robert Holbrook Smith—“RHS”)
Alcoholics Anonymous:
The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism,
2d ed. (New York City, N.Y.: Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing, Inc., 1955)
Alcoholics Anonymous
Comes of Age (New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Publishing, Inc., 1957).
The Co-Founders of
Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches: Their Last Major Talks (New
York, NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1972, 1975). Item # P-53.
This pamphlet is currently available online from A.A.:
http://www.aa.org/pdf/products/p-53_theCo-FoundersofAA.pdf; accessed
1/30/13.
Alcoholics Anonymous,
3rd ed. (New York City: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1976).
DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers, (New York, N.Y.: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.,
1980).
‘PASS IT ON’: The
Story of Bill Wilson and How the A.A. Message Reached the World (New York,
N.Y.: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1984).
The Language of the
Heart: Bill W.’s Grapevine Writings (New York: The AA Grapevine, Inc.,
1988).
Alcoholics Anonymous,
4th ed. (New York City: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 2001).
Experience, Strength
and Hope: Stories from the First Three Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous,
(New York, NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 2003).
Next, Look at Relevant, Reliable Books and Other Literature about
Alcoholics Anonymous History 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:
Bill W., Alcoholics
Anonymous: “The Big Book”: The Original 1939 Edition, with a New Introduction
by Dick B. (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 2011)
AA of Akron Pamphlets,
n.d.: Available at Akron Intergroup Office (revised several times)
A
Guide to the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous
A
Manual for Alcoholics Anonymous
Second
Reader for Alcoholics Anonymous
Spiritual
Milestones in Alcoholics Anonymous
Akron A.A.’s: What
Others Think of Alcoholics Anonymous
Central Bulletin,
Box 1638, Station C, Cleveland, Ohio (3 Volumes)
Cleveland: A.A.
(articles in Houston Press), A.A. in Cleveland, A.A. Sponsorship
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Articles (before edited, altered, and republished under new name)
[All available Cleveland Intergroup archives materials were
reviewed by Dick B. and Ken B. in 2012, and discussed by Wally P., But for the
Grace of God, 1995], 30-46.
Autobiographies of Bill Wilson:
Bill W., My First 40
Years (Center City, MN: Hazelden).
Chapter 1 “Bill’s Story,” Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 2001, 1-16.
The many manuscripts by Bill that Dick B. found, was permitted
to copy, and which are contained in a bound volume in Maui, Hawaii. All found
at Stepping Stones, most of which are discussed at some length in Dick B., Turning Point: A History of Early A.A.’s
Spiritual Roots and Successes (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications,
1997).
Biographies of Bill W.:
Dick B., The
Conversion of Bill W., 2006.
Susan Cheever, My Name
is Bill W., 2004.
Tom White, Bill W.: A
Different Kind of Hero, 2003.
Francis Hartigan, Bill
W., A Biography . . , 2000.
Matthew Raphael, Bill
W. and Mr. Wilson, 2000
Nan Robertson, Getting
Better Inside Alcoholics Anonymous, 1988.
Robert Thomsen, Bill
W., 1975
Bill W. (New York:
The AA Grapevine, 1971).
Biographies of Dr. Bob
RHS, 1951.
The Co-Founders of
Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches: Their Last Major Talks, Item #
P-53.
“Doctor Bob’s Nightmare,” Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 171-81.
DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, 1980.
Dick B. and Ken B., Dr.
Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His Excellent Training in the Good Book as a
Youngster, 2008
Dick B. and Ken B., Bill
W. and Dr. Bob, the Green Mountain Men of Vermont
The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010.
Dick B.,
The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous, Newton ed., 1998.
Dr. Bob and His Library, 3rd ed., 1998.
http://drbob.info
“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
“Get 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.
Beck, Richard, A Proud
Tradition; A Bright Future: A Sequicentennial History of St. Johnsbury, Academy,
1192
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,’
356-57.
“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
Biographical on Rowland Hazard
[Rowland Hazard, an alcoholic businessman, had been told by
Dr. Carl Jung that he had the mind of a chronic alcoholic but could possibly be
cured by a vital religious experience—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 Thacher, an old drinking friend of Bill Wilson’s who had become
a “real alcoholic,” recalled that two of Rowland’s Oxford Group friends one of
whom was (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 erroneously: “Alcoholics
Anonymous does not use the words sin or conversion” See Linda Mercadante, Victims & Sinners, 1996, 70. Or, as
she does on page 91: “God does not ask any more than simple acknowledgement of
divine existence.” But our readers 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; 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, ReykjavÃk, 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
Dick B. and Ken B., Bill
W. and Dr. Bob, the Green Mountain Men of Vermont: Vermont Connections to A.A.
Personalities and Early A.A.’s Original Program (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research
Publications, Inc., 2012)
Dick B., The Oxford
Group & Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd ed.
Dick B., New Light on
Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A.
Tom White, Bill W.: A
Different Kind of Hero, 2003.
Fredericka Templeton, The
Castle in the Pasture: Portrait of Burr and Burton Academy
Biographical on F. Shepard Cornell
Bill W., My First 40
Years
‘PASS IT ON’
Mel B., Ebby
Leslie B. Cole, Rogers Burnham: The Original Man behind Bill
W.
Charles Clapp, The Big
Bender, pp. 105-50
Bill Pittman and Dick B., Courage to Change: The Christian Roots of the Twelve-Step Movement,
pp. 135-50.
Dick B. and Ken B., Bill
W. and Dr. Bob, the Green Mountain Men of Vermont.
Dick B., The Akron
Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous, Newton ed., pp. 5, 19, 28, 142-45, 152,
159, 162, 168-70.
Dick B., The Oxford
Group & Alcoholics Anonymous, new rev ed., pp. 128-30.
Dick B., New Light on
Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A., Pittsburgh ed., pp. 333-35.
Helen Smith Shoemaker,
I Stand by the Door, p. 177.
John Potter Cuyler, Calvary
Church in Action, p. 57.
Lois Remembers, p.
91.
Biographical on Cebra Graves
Bill W., My First 40
Years
‘PASS IT ON’
Mel B., Ebby
Leslie B. Cole, Rogers
Burnham: The Original Man behind Bill W.
Dick B. and Ken B., Bill
W. and Dr. Bob: The Green Mountain Men of Vermont
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 were confirmed by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.]
Dale Mitchel, Silkworth: The
Little Doctor Who Loved Drunks.
Dick B., The
Conversion of Bill W.
The Language of the
Heart
Dick B. and Ken B., The
Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010
Bill W., My First 40
Years
Norman Vincent Peale, The Positive Power of Jesus Christ
Biographical on Edwin Throckmorton Thacher, “Ebby,” Bill’s Sponsor
[While Ebby, a chronic alcoholic, 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. Ebby was sober. Bill concluded that Ebby had been “reborn.”
But taking no chances on Ebby’s version, 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, cried out to God for help, and had the
vital religious “white light” experience—which Silkworth called a conversion
experience. Bill mentioned the indescribably white light that blazed in his
room. He said he sensed he was on a mountain top he had not climbed and that he
had felt the breeze of the Spirit. He sensed the presence of God in his room. He
was cured. He never again doubted the existence of God. He reflected: “Bill,
you are a free man. This is the God of the Scriptures.” And Bill 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, 79-80: “[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.”
Dick B., The
Conversion of Bill W.
Dick B. and Ken B., The
Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed. 2010.
Dick B. and Ken B., Bill
W. and Dr. Bob: The Green Mountain Men of Vermont
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
DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers
RHS
The Language of the
Heart
Biography on Bill W.’s Wife, Lois Wilson
Lois Remembers,
1979.
William Borchert, When
Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story
Bill W. My First 40
Years
Dick B.., New Light on
Alcoholism, Pittsburgh ed.
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,
DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers
Biography of T. Henry and Clarace Williams
Dick B., The Akron
Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous, 2d ed.
DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers
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
Dick B., The Oxford
Group & Alcoholics Anonymous, Newton ed.
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.
The Oxford Group &
Alcoholics Anonymous,Newton ed.
Real 12 Step History
Irving Harris, The
Breeze of the Spirit, 1978.
“S.M. S.—Man of God for Our Time,” Faith at Work, 1964.
AJ Russell, For
Sinners Only
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,
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,
“Calvary Mission, “ Pamphlet, NY Calvary Episcopal Church,
n.d.
John Potter Cuyler, Jr., Calvary
Church in Action, 1934.
The Language of the
Heart
Alcoholics Anonymous
Comes of Age
Samuel M Shoemaker, Jr.
So I Stand by the Door
and Other Verses, Pittsburgh, CalvaryRectory.1958
My Life Work and My
Will, Pamphlet, 1930
“A First Century Christian Fellowship,” Churchman,
Calvary Church
Yesterday and Today, 1936.
Realizing Religion,
1923
“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
A.A. Sponsorship
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 1939. 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.
Uncategorized
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, AA The
Way It Began, 1988.
Ernest Kurtz, Not-God,
1979
Jared Lobdell, This Strange
Illness
Wally P., But for the
Grace of God. . . .
The Book That Started
It All: The Original Working Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous. 2010
How to Study, Learn, Teach, and Apply the Historical Elements Today
[As I have said, the place to start is with A.A. General
Service Conference-approved Literature. The primary reason is that so many
involved with Alcoholics Anonymous tend to feel and state that if a piece of
writing is not “Conference-approved,” it should not be read. There is no
authority for such a position; but if AAs themselves are to learn their
history, the least controversial source for some is their own literature. But
it falls far short of being complete or covering certain subjects or relying
upon certain authors and historians; hence an accurate, comprehensive,
reference point would include most of the topics and books included in this
history. The following are some suggested sources for your journey.]
Dick B. and Ken B.,
Stick with the
Winners! How to Conduct More Effective 12-Step Recover y Meetings Using
Conference-Approved Literature: A Dick B. Guide for Christian Leaders and
Workers in the Recovery Arena, 2012
Pioneer Stories in
Alcoholics Anonymous: God’s Role in Recovery Confirmed!, 2012
The Dick B. Christian
Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010
Dick B.,
Making Known The Biblical History and Roots of Alcoholics
Anonymous: A Sixteen Year Research, Writing, Publishing, and Fact Dissemination
Project, 3rd ed., 2005
The Good Book and The
Big Book: A.A.’s Roots in the Bible
The Good Book-Big Book
Guidebook, 2006
Cured!: Proven Help
for Alcoholics and Addicts, 2d ed, 2006
The James Club and The
Original A.A. Program’s Absolute Essentials, 4th ed., 2005
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
God and Alcoholism:
Our Growing Opportunity in the 21st Century, 2002
Why Early A.A.
Succeeded: The Good Book in Alcoholics Anonymous Yesterday and Today (A Bible
Study Primer for AAs and other 12-Steppers), 2001
By The Power of God: A
Guide to Early A.A. Groups & Forming Similar Groups Today, 2000
Utilizing Early AA.’s
Spiritual Roots for Recovery Today, 2000.
Now to Alcoholics Anonymous History: Item by Item, on the Origins of
A.A.
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.
When Early AAs Were
Cured and Why
The Golden Text of
A.A.
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.]
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 Trreatment 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.
Bill W. and Dr. Bob: The
Green Mountain Men of Vermont, 2012
[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, 19
[Congregationalism, Vermont, 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.
T. Seymour Bassett, The
Gods of the Hills: the Nineteenth –Century Vermont, 2000
Michael Sherman, Gene Sessions, and P. Jeffrey Postash, Freedom and Unity: A History of Vermont,
2005
[Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor]
Francis E. Clark.
Memoirs of Many Men in
Many Lands, An Autobiography, 192
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,
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
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. Mc Peek 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. Mc Peek, “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.
Dick B. and Ken B., Bill W. and Dr. Bob: The Green Mountain
Men
Lois Remembers
William Borchert, The Lois Wilson Story: When Love is Not
Enough
[The conversion that 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 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
Henry Drummond, The
Greatest Thing in the World
[East Dorset Congregational Church]
Dick B. and Ken B.,
The Dick B. Christian
Recovery Guide, 3rd ed
Bill W. and Dr. Bob: The
Green Mountain Men
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-in East Dorset and in a 4 year Bible study
course at Burr and Burton Seminary]
Dick B. and Ken B.,
The Dick B. Christian
Recovery Guide, 3rd ed.
Bill W. and Dr. Bob: The
Green Mountain Men
Susan Cheever, My Name
is Bill, 37-38, 47-48.
Robert Thomsen, Bill
W., 30-39, 200.
[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
Bill W. My First 40
Years
[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 and the Manchester Congregational
Church]
Dick B. and Ken B.,
The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide 3rd ed
Bill W. and Dr. Bob:
The Green Mountain Men
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
Mel B., Ebby
Dr. Robert J. Wilson III and Phebe Ann Lewis, The First Congregational Church, Manchester,
Vermont 1784-1984 (Manchester, VT: Bicentennial Steering Committee, 1984),
88-91, 128.
[The few A.A. history writers and Christian critics of A.A.
are often quick to assert that Bill Wilson could not possibly have been a
Christian because of his alleged beliefs about Jesus Christ. The problem is
that there is no evidence that they have examined or understood the Confession
of Faith and Church Covenant of both the Manchester and the East Dorset
Congregational Churches which would readily clear up their misunderstanding
should they choose to accept the facts discovered. In fact, one of the first
A.A. history writers made the untenable statement that little is known about
Wilson’s religious background because there is little to know—a blatant
admission that there was lots about Wilson’s Christian upbringing, his
Congregational Churches and chapels, and his Bible studies that such writers
just never investigated or perhaps even wanted to learn, and hence don’t know.]
[Young Men’s Christian Association-Bill as President, girl-
friend as YWCA President, active in both]
Bill W., My First
Forty Years, 29
Robert Thomsen, Bill
W., 57
Frederica Templeton, The
Castle in the Pasture, 78-79, 69
Dick B. and Ken B.,
Bill W. and Dr. Bob: The Green Mountain Men
Borchert, The Lois
Wilson Story
[Bill’s return to Jesus Christ, the “Great Physician,” in
despair, on the advice that this Great Physician can and does cure alcoholics].
Dick B.,
Turning Point: A
History of the Spiritual Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous, 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.
Bill W. My First 40
Years
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
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, 9-10, 26.
[Alcoholics Anonymous History – The Fellowship Begins]
How the First Three AAs Got Sober by simply turning to God
for help.
Bill W.
[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 [a vital religious
experience. such at that on page 25 of
Big Book, might heal him
(2) Rowland Hazard made a decision for Jesus Christ, joined
the Oxford Group, and worked actively with Rev. Sam Shoemaker.
(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. They also told Ebby
some Oxford Group ideas and particularly about Jesus Christ and Bible
time—things Ebby had learned as a youth and believed. They informed Ebby of a
number of the Oxford Group’s Christian principles. 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—Ebby’s actual rebirth.
(6) Bill decided to check out Ebby’s story and went to hear
him give testimony at Calvary Church.
(7) Bill decided that since 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. Bill 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 to himself: “Bill, you are a free man. This is the God of
the Scriptures.” See The Language of the
Heart.
(18) He said, “I thanked my God who had given me a glimpse
of His absolute Self.
(19) Ever since his girl-friend Bertha Bamford’s untimely
death, Bill had turned his back on God and harbored that doubt and resentment
through his drinking years. But this changed with his vital religious
experience—an experience which he later called the Solution in his Big Book.
(20) He said that faith had suddenly appeared—no blind
faith—but faith fortified by the consciousness of the presence of God.
(21) Briefly, Bill retained his doubts about God. He had his
“hour of doubt.” But Bill said shortly he never again doubted the existence of God
and said “this great and sudden gift of grace has always been mine.”
(22) He never drank again. On page 191 of the latest edition
of the Big Book, Bill said that the Lord had cured him of his terrible disease
and that he just wanted to keep talking about it and telling people
(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 devoured it. He said 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.]
Dr. Bob
[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.”]
(1) His parents were married when the Awakening events were
taking place. They taught Bob about salvation and the Word of God. In fact, their church urged this training of
youngsters.
(2) He heard similar sermons and teachings in the family’s
North Congregational Church of St. Johnsbury.
(3) Temperance was in the air.
(4) 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.
(5) The great evangelists—Moody, Sankey, Moorehouse, Meyer, H.
M. Moore, K.A. Burnell, and Folger--had inspired Vermont with their talk of
salvation, the Bible, and God’s healing power.
(6) The Salvation Army was becoming well known for its
outreach and the resulting healing of derelicts and drunks.
(7) So too were the rescue mission events involving Jerry
McAuley, Water Street Mission, and S.H. Hadley.
(8) 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.
(9) 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 which were so much a part of Bob’s life and turned up in the early
Akron A.A. Christian Fellowship program.]
[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 and learned a lot about what
happened in Akron in 1931. It revolved around the Firestone family, and Harvey
Firestone, Sr.’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,” with 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 Group’s people. But
he confided to Henrietta that he just didn’t want to quit drinking and was a
“wanta wanta” 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
shortly 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 what Bill said 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.]
[Bill Dotson (A.A. Number Three)]
[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 eight times in the preceding months. He had beaten up on two
nurses (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. 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.
“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
The Good Book and the
Big Book: A.A.’s Roots in the Bible
Turning Point: The
Spiritual History of Alcoholics Anonymous
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 3rd ed., 2010
Stick with the
Winners!
Pioneer Stories in
Alcoholics Anonymous: God’s Role in Recovery Confirmed
Dick B.,
When Early AAs Were
Cured and Why
Real 12 Step
Fellowship History
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
Good Morning!: Quiet
Time, Morning Watch, Meditation, and Early A.A.
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
Oswald Chambers, My
Utmost for His Highest
Henry Drummond: The
Greatest Thing in the World
E. Stanley Jones, Victorious
Living
Mary W. Tileston, Daily
Strength for Daily Needs
The Upper Room
[The “Real Surrender” to Jesus Christ in Early A.A.]
Dick B.,
The Golden Text of
A.A.
A New Way In
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 for Christian Fellowship Recovery]
Our books Stick with
the Winners!. Pioneer Stories in Alcoholics Anonymous, The New Dover
Publications Reprint of the Original Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, and DR.
BOB of Alcoholics Anonymous—particularly page 131 tell precisely what the
Pioneers did in the morning at the Smith Home with Anne Smith and her Quiet
Time, what they did at their daily meetings with their Bible reading and prayer
and quiet time, what they did in requiring belief in God and coming to Him
through Jesus Christ, and their “regular” Wednesday night meeting where they
met with a small band of Oxford Group people and AAs and families for a time.
They engaged in some sixteen Christian practices that practiced the seven
principles of their program as
summarized by Frank Amos in DR. BOB, 131/
[The need to bring back into recovery focus for those who
want God’s help A.A.’s Bible based, Christ-centered, reliance
upon the Creator’s Power and Cures. 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—putting off the “old man.”
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—putting on the “new man.”
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 if they wish to go that route.]
Dick B., A New Way Out,
63-64.
[The Daily Meetings, Family Emphasis, and Close Contacts
Among Members—Resemblance to First Century Christianity]
See Dick B. and Ken B., Stick
with the Winners!
[A.A. History – A.A. and First Century Christianity. There
were multiple “First Century Christianity at Work” quotes about early A.A. 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.:
1. 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)
2. 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 showing what the Apostolic
Christians did 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"
DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers
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, 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. And we believe that all these comments should be
taken as a whole, compounded, and absorbed. For a few cynical A.A. writers have
said that talking about this November “nose counting” and the forty sober
alcoholics is somehow frivolous worship of a non-existent golden age of A.A. In
fact, however, A.A. with its inadequate funding, unknown founders, and somewhat
tawdry group of alcoholic organizers were hardly capable of producing a “golden
age.” But what they did produce was an astonishing record in the face of
repeated declarations that medical cure of alcoholics was an impossibility,
that there was little hope of anything but death or insanity for the addicted
sufferer, and that repeaters were so commonplace they weren’t worth the effort
to help them—except for such benign people as Dr. Silkworth, the Salvation
Army, the Rescue Missions, the evangelists, and the concerns of the YMCA. In
other words, Bill and Bob embarked almost alone on a seemingly hopeless and
impossible task and, between 1935 and late 1937 they had turned hopelessness
into hope, medical incurability into cure, and death and insanity into
manageable proportions. How?
By giving their lives to God! That’s how. And in many cases,
it took little but a dedication to quitting forever, a devoted surrender to
God, and an unpaid service to those who still suffered.
That was not a golden age. It was a case of some thirty or
forty miracles. And it caught attention.
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 See 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?
A Question that still elicits qualifications, objections, and puzzlements by
several of today’s writers:
1.
The “Foreword to Second Edition” published in
1955 about alcoholics who came to A.A.: “Of alcoholics who came to A.A. and
really tried, fifty per cent got sober at once and remained that way;
twenty-five per cent sobered up after some relapses, and, among the remainder,
those who stayed on with A.A. showed improvement.”
2.
By
the time the book was published last April there were about one hundred of us,
the majority of them in the West. Although we have no exact figures, in
counting heads recently, we think it fair to state that of all the people who
have been seriously interested in this thing since the beginning, one-half have
had no relapse at all. About 25% are having some trouble, or have had some
trouble, but in our judgment will recover. The other 25% we do not know about.
See
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, 3rd 2010
[Bill Wilson’s Preparation for a “New Version” Twelve Step,
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. See Dick B.,
New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam
Shoemaker, and A.A., Pittsburgh ed.]
Here, for example, are extracts of the various ways Bill’s
alleged six “steps” were phrased 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.
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 about Earl Treat of Chicago) was
quoted with reference to six steps plus several other ideas attributed to Dr.
Bob. The story said: “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.” It should be remembered that two
different biographies stated Dr. Bob had apparently asked a newcomer if he
believed in “God”—not “a god”—God! He talked of your “Heavenly Father” never
letting you down. He did not appear to use the expression “higher power.”
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-mouth 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
o 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.
o 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,” 93.
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;
o 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 the writers 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.
· 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.
It seems critically important for historians to learn the
difference between this twelve step program—allegedly fathered by Dr. William
Silkworth, Professor William James, and Reverend Samuel Shoemaker 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 satisfactory 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.
As a matter of fact, International Christian Recovery
Coalition grows each day, has now participants in 50 states and in other
countries—dedicated to friendship. By that, they mean: 1. Tell people the role
that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible truly played in the recovery
scene. 2. Show them from their own Conference-approved literature today exactly
how and why the door is wide open to those who want to benefit from and serve
in the A.A. and/or 12 Step program that made them so welcome in their early
days. 3. Be friendly with those in the fellowship who do or don’t believe in
God, the Bible, Jesus Christ, or anything; help them with basic facts from
history and official literature; and stand confidently on their right to pursue
their own beliefs in complete accord with A.A.’s history, Steps, and
Traditions.
Gloria Deo
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