Our Story: Preserving the Voices of Recovery

In the 20th century, Bill and Arbutus O’Neal of Texas dedicated over 50 years to preserving the spoken history of Twelve-Step recovery. Through their passion and commitment, they recorded hundreds of AA and Al-Anon conventions, creating what became known as the Mid-West Tape Library—one of the earliest and most comprehensive collections of recovery audio in existence. They not only pioneered the recording of these events but inspired and mentored others to start similar libraries of their own.

In 2006, as Arbutus’s health declined, her family reached out to Mike Fitzpatrick, encouraging him to purchase the collection and carry on Bill and Arbutus’s work. Mike understood that this wasn’t just a transfer of tapes—it was the transfer of a legacy. He accepted the responsibility with care and reverence, committed to ensuring that these voices and messages would be preserved for future generations.

Original reel-to-reel tapes in the Midwest Tape Library

Since then, the work has only grown. In 2007, we began the massive task of digitizing more than 3,000 reel-to-reel tapes—just a portion of the collection. This process, still ongoing, has required time, money, and immense dedication. Over the years, additional libraries have been added, and what began as a collection became a movement—now known as Recovery Speakers.

In keeping with Bill & Arbutus’ original mission, Recovery Speakers is dedicated to collecting and preserving the audio history of the 12-Step fellowships. In recent years we have included talks from not only AA and Al-Anon, but also from other new and popular 12-Step programs.

The Midwest Tape Library

Today, Recovery Speakers hosts over 20,000 recordings from AA, Al-Anon, and a growing number of other 12-Step fellowships. In addition to preserving history, we have expanded our offerings to include:

• A daily speaker talk delivered by email

• A weekly online history meeting

• Periodic in-person events and workshops

• A growing archive of rare, historic audio—some never before heard

• Ongoing efforts to digitize, clean, and upload thousands of unreleased recordings

For nearly two decades, Mike and his family have personally funded this work. But as the scope of the project has grown—and the cost of digitization, web infrastructure, and programming has increased—we’ve reached a point where we must ask for help.

We remain committed to offering this rich archive free of charge to all who seek it. But if you are able, we invite you to support our mission by making a donation. Your gift helps preserve recovery’s past—and ensures its message remains accessible for generations to come.

Donations can be made on our contribution page by clicking HERE.