I Stand by the Door – Samuel M. Shoemaker

by | June 29, 2020 | Blog, Historical Letters and Docs | 0 Comments

I Stand By The Door By Samuel M. Shoemaker I stand by the door.I neither go to far in, nor stay to far out.The door is the most important door in the world -It is the door through which men walk when they find God.There is no use my going way inside and staying...
Read More

Alcoholic Experience – New York Times – June 25th, 1939

by | June 25, 2020 | Historical Letters and Docs, Historical Recovery Photos, History Resources and Reference | 0 Comments

Book Review New York Times June 25th, 1939 Alcoholic Experience by Percy Hutchinson Alcoholics Anonymous. 400 pp. New York: Works Publishing Company. $3.50 Lest this title should arouse the risibles in any reader, 1st let me state that the general thesis of...
Read More

June 10th, 1935: Celebrating 85 years of Continuous Alcoholics Anonymous: In our Co-Founders Words

by | June 9, 2020 | Historical Letters and Docs, Historical Recovery Photos, History Resources and Reference | 0 Comments

June 10th, 1935 - In Our Co-Founders Words June 10th, 1935, the day that Dr. Bob Smith took his last drink, now celebrated as Founders Day in Alcoholics Anonymous. The stories of the events that occurred have been told countless times and in many variations. We would...
Read More

Anne Ripley Smith Passed Away June 1st, 1949

by | June 1, 2020 | Historical Letters and Docs, Historical Recovery Photos, History Resources and Reference | 0 Comments

Anne Ripley Smith passed away on June 1st, 1949. Anne the wife of AA co-founder Dr. Bob Smith, was instrumental in the conception of Alcoholics Anonymous. She cooked, cleaned, and cared for the newly sober alcoholics along with their families. Here is an excerpt from...
Read More

85th Anniversary of When Bill W. and Dr. Bob Met – May 12, 1935

by | May 11, 2020 | Historical Letters and Docs, Historical Recovery Photos, History Resources and Reference | 0 Comments

It was Saturday, May 11th, 1935, Bill Wilson had been sober for 6 months and for the first time felt the fear of picking up a drink again. He was staying in the Mayflower Hotel in Akron after having a promising business deal fall apart. It finally came to his...
Read More

We The People – The Gabriel Heatter Broadcast of April 25, 1939

by | April 25, 2020 | Historical Letters and Docs, Historical Recovery Photos, History Resources and Reference | 0 Comments

The first national exposure for Alcoholics Anonymous came with the April 25, 1939, "We The People" broadcast. Gabriel Heatter's radio program was a tremendously popular program that was tuned in by millions of people. Morgan R., the AA member who spoke on the program,...
Read More

Works Publishing Stock Transferred to Alcoholics Anonymous : AA Received Ownership of the Big Book

by | April 22, 2020 | Historical Letters and Docs, Historical Recovery Photos | 0 Comments

In the spring of 1938, Bill Wilson started writing the big book. Also, with the help of the new connections made with people at the Rockefeller charity, The Alcoholic Foundation(now known as the General Service Board) was formed. The Foundation was formed in hopes to...
Read More

Father Ed Dowling and AA’s Bill W.

by | April 3, 2020 | Historical Letters and Docs | 0 Comments

Father Ed Dowling and AA's Bill W.by Robert Fitzgerald, S.J.Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, was down. His feet hung over the end of the bed that nearly filled the small room he and his wife, Lois, had rented above the 24th Street AA Club in New York....
Read More

The First AA Pamphlet April 1940 – Houston Press Articles by Larry Jewell

by | April 1, 2020 | Historical Letters and Docs | 0 Comments

 THE FIRST “A.A.” PAMPHLETAS DERIVED FROM THE SERIESOF ARTICLES FROM THEHOUSTON PRESSBYLARRY JEWELL*(April 1940)*Larry Jewell came to Houston from Cleveland with only a Big Book and a Spiritual Experience resulting from having taken the Steps while hospitalized.  His...
Read More

Larry Jewell: Founder of AA in Texas and author of The Houston Press Articles and The Texas Prayer

by | April 1, 2020 | Historical Letters and Docs, Historical Recovery Photos, History Resources and Reference | 0 Comments

Larry JewellHe was a writer originally from Cleveland, Ohio that was 12- stepped by Clarence Snyder and Dr. Bob while at St. Thomas Hospital in the winter of 1940. Clarence and Dr. Bob took Larry through the 12-steps leading him to a spiritual experience. Upon his...
Read More

Letters and Docs

Events, correspondence, milestones

Photos

Early founders, and significant pioneers

 

Resources

Reference and literature