Aa history Lovers 2009 moderators Nancy Olson and Glenn F. Chesnut page
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Parkhurst’s. (PIO p.217) AACOA p.11, "We attended New Jersey’s first AA meeting, held in the summer of 1939, at the Upper Montclair home of Henry P..." (AACOA p.11) A.A. Group # 5 Greenwich Connecticut Marty pioneered a group in Greenwich so early in 1939 that some folks now think
this one should carry the rating of A.A.s Group Number Three. Backed by Dr. Harry and Mrs. Wylie, owner of Blythewood, the first meetings were held on the Sanitarium’s grounds. (AACOA p.18-19) In the summer of 1939 our New York member Marty had sponsored a prospect named
Nona. (AACOA p.181) "While Marty and Grenny were patients at Blythewood Sanitarium in Greenwich, Connecticut, the two of them together with Bill persuaded Mrs. Wylie, the owner to let them hold meetings there. (PIO p.216) The first year was the hardest. I had plenty of prospects but few results. All
that long hot summer I went into New York once a week to the meeting, hoping a woman might appear, find me, know that she was not alone and unique, and stay. ...Finally, in October, came Nona, whom I had met when I entered the sanitarium nearly two years before. She came in wholeheartedly, a quiet girl not wanting to be noticed, but she was there. Written by Marty Mann - (For Men Only? Anonymous Grapevine – June 1960) By way of friendly inquiry I have Lois referring to the first meeting at Blythewood Sanitarium, in Greenwich, CT. as Friday, June 16, 1939 at which time Marty was still a patient. (AA History Lovers # 2896, yahoo.com) Author’s Comments: It is questionable whether or not this was actually a "group"
and not just a meeting. The date is questionable as well. Marty indicates in her
GV article that she was on the road attending meetings that long hot summer; not
exactly substantiating a group resident in Greenwich at the time. In AACOA Bill
calls this meeting "a group" so who are we to dispute that. This one may be subject to further discussion. A.A Group # 6 Chicago, Illinois According to member list index cards kept by the Chicago group, Sylvia's date of
sobriety was September 13, 1939 (www.barefootsworld.net, Sylvia K.) "He wrote to New York in September 1939 that the A.A.s in Chicago were organizing a group and would have regular meetings." (DBGO p.181) Referring to a
letter written by Earl T. A.A. Group # 7 Cleveland, Ohio - Borton Group Number Two in Cleveland was called the Borton Group. This group met at the
home of T. E. Borton, a non-alcoholic friend of the A.A. fellowship. The meeting
was located at 2427 Roxboro Road in Cleveland. Its first meeting was held on Thursday, November 16, 1939. (HIW p.150) A.A. Group # 8 Cleveland, Ohio – Orchard Grove Almost immediately thereafter, in another show of what Clarence sarcastically called A.A. "unity," they split again on November 20th. Out of the Borton group
was born the Orchard Grove Group. The Orchard Group met on Monday nights at 15909 Detroit Avenue. The Orchard Group later changed its name to the Lakewood Group. (HIW p.151-152) A.A. Group # 9 Washington D.C. At first he (Fitz) met with minimal success, but by the fall of 1939 the nucleus
of a small group had been established in Washington. He had been long a loner in
Washington, but Fitz was eventually joined by Hardin C. and Bill A.2 and was also joined by Florence Rankin Note 2. When Bill Wilson died in 1971, Donald E. Graham, now the publisher of The Washington Post, but then a young man learning the family business from the ground up, and working as a staff writer, interviewed me. Graham's story says in part: "Bill A., an Arlington businessman, recalled that in December 1939, when Alcoholics Anonymous was a small, little-known group, he went to New York to meet Mr. Wilson. The next month Mr. Wilson helped start an AA chapter here, the
fourth in the country." Sources: "Alcoholics Anonymous", "Pass It On", "Bill W." by Francis Hartigan, "History of AA in Maryland" from the website of the West Baltimore AA Group, private communications from Lee C. Compiled by Nancy O.
December
of 1939. Arrival of Ned Foote. supports this. However, actual start of Group may
have been January of 1940. See PIO p.257 N2 Washington Intergroup History lists
date as October 28, 1939 but this is in variance with PIO. In lieu of discrepancy we list this as the first group of December 1939. A.A Group # 10 San Francisco, California So it happened, that when an AA member from New York, Ray W., came to San Francisco for a sales training course in November of that year he brought with him a list of those who had made inquiries. Among them was Mrs. Oram’s boarder, Ted.
list. He finally arranged for some of them to meet with him in his room on Tuesday, November 21, 1939. It was there that the first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous on the West Coast
was held. Aside from Ray and Ted, there were two others present, Don B. and Dave
L. and the meeting lasted about two hours. As Ray mentioned, it had become clear that they would need to form an AA group
in San Francisco, where they all could meet regularly. Mrs. Oram offered her kitchen as a meeting place. So shortly before Christmas, 1939, the first AA group, the "San Francisco Group" began meeting in Mrs. Oram’s kitchen, and later
in various members’ homes. In October of 1940 they found a more or less permanent site for their meetings in the Telegraph Hill Community House at 1736 Stockton Street in North Beach. (www.aasf.org) AA’s First Meeting on the West Coast (Adapted from C.N.C.A History, prepared by the CNCA Archives Committee, September 1984)
"home" meetings. This particular gathering was held at Kaye’s place on Benecia Avenue on December 19, 1939. It included Kaye and Johnny, Lee and Chuck and a number of prospects. (ACOAA p.92) A.A. Group # 12 Rockland State Hospital, NY First A.A. Group in mental institution, Rockland State Hospital, NY (AACOA p.viii)
Archie T. went to Akron and spent ten and one-half months living with Dr. Bob S.
and his wife. He says he got his AA direct from one of the founders. Archie read
Emmet Fox's Sermon on the Mount, and he said it changed his life. In December, 1939, the first meeting of AA in Michigan was held in Arch T.'s room on Merrick Avenue in the Art Center in Detroit. Present, besides Archie, were Mike E., who became member #2 in Michigan, another alcoholic, and Sara Klein, a non-alcoholic. (Copyright© 1999-2006 Alcoholics Anonymous General Services of Southeast Michigan) http://www.aa-semi.org/ A.A. Group # 14 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania On February 13, 1940, with about two years of sobriety, Jim and Rosa moved to the Philadelphia area and started a group there. (www.barefootsworld.net/aaburwell.html) A.A. Group # 15 Houston, Texas The first Houston A.A. meeting was held March 15, 1940, in a room in the YWCA
Bldg. The group continued to meet on Tuesdays with as many as 25 attending -- but often a different 25 each time! Ed H. and Roy Y. tried to educate ministers and doctors without much success until they were referred to Dr. David Wade at Galveston State Hospital. Dr. Wade was to remain a good friend of A.A. (Bob P. Unpublished AA History Manuscript) A.A Group # 16 Little Rock, Arkansas The first meeting of the three men - Sterling C, Harlan N, and Bud G - as an AA group was in late May 1940 in the insurance agency office in the Wallace Bldg, Markham and Main Streets. The group ran ads in the newspaper as they continued to meet, and began to grow. (Bob P. Unpublished AA History Manuscript) A.A. Group # 17 Evansville, Indiana J. D. Holmes and the First A.A. Group in Indiana: Evansville, April 23, 1940"
The man who started A.A. in Indiana was a man named James D. "J. D." Holmes. He was one of the original Akron A.A. group. He got sober in September 1936: if we count Bill W. and Dr. Bob as numbers one and two, J. D. was A.A. number ten. On May 30, 1938, he and his wife Rhoda moved to Evansville, Indiana, which is in the extreme southwestern part of the state, on the banks of the Ohio River. He was unable to get any other alcoholics in Evansville to join him until the Big Book was published in 1939. Dr. Bob sent him a copy of the Big Book the minute it came off the press, and with this new aid, he was able to reach out to a local surgeon, Dr. Joe Welborn, after Dr. Joe's drinking finally landed him in the county jail in April of 1940. Dr. Joe brought in other alcoholics who were patients of his, and the first A.A. group in Indiana met on Tuesday evening, April 23, 1940, in J. D. and Rhoda's home at 420 S. Denby St. in Evansville. (http://hindsfoot.org/nfirst.html) A.A. Group # 18 Cleveland, Ohio - West 50th Street On May 1, 1940 the West 50th Street Group broke away from the Orchard Grove Group taking four members with them. The West 50th Street Group had their first meeting on May 8th. By the end of its first year, that group had eighty-seven members. They met at 3241 West 50th Street on Wednesday evenings. Its name was later changed to the Brooklyn Group. (HIW p.169) A.A. Group # 19 Camden, New Jersey "Thanks so much for your letter of the 11th regarding Camden A.A. meetings to begin Tuesday the 14th. We are more than glad to send along 30 of the A.A. pamphlets to give you a start at Camden. They were mailed this morning - hope
you have them in time for first meeting. . . . In the event we receive inquiries for assistance in the South Jersey area, Alcoholics Anonymous speaking, may we take the liberty of refering them directly to you? Best regards to you all from the New York and Northern New Jersey Fellowships." (GSO Archives Letter from Ruth Hock 5/13/1940 to J.R.Tucker)
treatment at Rockland State Hospital in New York -"the first [hospital in the East) to enter into full scale cooperation with AA" So the New York office of AA, learning that Ted C was returning to Richmond with a new business connection, asked him to serve as the AA contact there. One of the first referrals was McChee B, who was helped by Ted. The two men now hoped to start a group. The first AA meeting in Virginia was held June 6, 1940 at McChee’s apartment with 12
present. However, as Bill W later recalled, they "believed in getting away from
their wives and drinking only beer." It didn’t work, and the group fell apart
almost immediately. (Bob P.AA History Manuscript) Authors Comments: This group disbanded and re-started the following year. We carry this group here because it was listed in A.A. Bulletin # 1, 11/14/1940, as an active location. A.A Group # 21 Baltimore Maryland
Baltimore. The second Baltimore meeting, held in June of 1940, was attended by six people;
(PIO 258N) On June 16, 1940, the two Jims met with three other men at Ridgely's home on St.
Paul Street. Several days later, Burwell received a letter in Philadelphia from
a Baltimore lawyer who wanted to help his alcoholic brother and offered his office in the Munsey Building on Fayette Street as a meeting place. On June 22, 1940, the six men held the second Baltimore AA meeting in that office. (Nancy Olson- History of AA in Maryland) A.A. Group #22 Dayton, Ohio Authors Comments: See note for Group # 26. Trying to substantiate this date for
Dayton. A.A. Group #23 Coldwater, Michigan ...it appears that that there was AA activity in Coldwater, Michigan prior to October 1940, which is alluded to in a letter dated May 7, 1941. The letter is addressed to Mr. Walter P. and reads, in part: "I met a few of the Coldwater group last summer on my trip through Michigan and I particularly remember Bill
F. who still writes quite often and always interestingly. I notice that Hillsdale is close enough to Coldwater to make it feasible for you to attend meetings there if you so desire." (1941 Letter from Ruth Hock to Walter P.)
nine
members and at the end of its first year, had grown to thirty members. On September 3rd, the group moved from the home of Bob J. to St. Thomas Episcopal Church Parish Hall in Berea. (HIW p.170) A.A. Group # 25 Cleveland, Ohio – Westlake Group On September 20th the Westlake Group branched off from the Orchard Grove Group
and began meeting at the Hotel Westlake. When the Westlake Group left Orchard
Grove, it took thirty members with it. The group later became the Lake Shore Group. (HIW p.170) Notes on Groups not listed above but included in the November 14, 1940 AA Bulletin
Duke never did pick up another drink. A few months later, in September of 1940,
he and the other Toledo members started their own group. (DBGO p.254) By September of 1940, Cleveland was reporting to Bill in New York that, in addition to its own six meetings and 400 – 500 members, Ohio had meetings in Akron, Toledo, Youngstown, Dayton, Raveena, Wooster, and Canton. (DBGO p.262) Authors Comments: "Meetings" do not constitute "groups". We include Youngstown and Toledo as # 26 but not Raveena, Wooster and Canton in accordance with "Groups" listed in A.A. Bulletin # 1 November 14, 1940. Jackson, Michigan – Group start date unsubstantiated and group disbanded. We had lots of fine members whom I remember with great affection. I have good
memories of Bernie W., Roy D., Butch and Jake (a she) C., Silvanus J., Bill H.,
Charlie S., Ruth W., Frank Mc., Beck U., and many others whose names don't come
up on my screen at the moment, although I could remember them with a bit of jogging. We called ourselves Jackson Group #2, although there was not a #1 in an active state. However, there was a group registered in the national AA directory with Stan S. as a contact, but I never knew him and as far as I knew, it wasn't meeting. I would be happy to review any records you have, but I do think you can use December, 1939, as the starting time for AA in Jackson. It may have taken some time to really get off the ground, but I think we have to call Al C., the founder with later backup from Jack D.I hope this is of some help to you. Please call if you have more questions and I'll try to help. All the best, Mel B. Then we heard from Tom B.: Bud S. the electrician told me that Jackson Group #1 folded after they lost their meeting place when their landlord padlocked the hall. The present Jackson
Group, official registered in New York as Jackson Group #2, held its first meeting on the first Sunday of September 1945. Where the meeting was held has been forgotten but the date was confirmed by a copy of the minutes of business meetings from 1950, 1951 and 1952 that I got from Bud C. whose late brother-in-law had been group secretary in those years. Barb S. borrowed the notebooks to read over, and lost them all in moving to Texas and then back to Jackson. Tom says that Bud S. also told him that Al C. had a coffee shop in the Otsego Hotel in the early 40's. One night each week, Al closed early so that AA could meet in the coffee shop. Copyright© 2006 The Jackson Group http://www.aa-semi.org/ Waunakee Wisconsin – Local A.A. activity, but members attending meetings in Chicago. After an exhaustive search, I found no groups listed in Waunakee, Wisconsin prior to October 1, 1940, however there was indeed mention of AA activity in Waunakee, during this period. Early correspondence reveals that Harry S., of Waunakee, WI, may have been the first individual to contact GSO from this city. Harry’s earliest letter dates November 20, 1939 and reads, "I thank you for your letter of the 14th I would be pleased to correspond with your Chicago membership and perhaps would go there to see more of it." In a letter dating July 24, 1940, Harry writes: "My position as Chief Chef for the Mendota State Hospital, Mendota, Wisconsin, (a suburb of Madison Wisconsin) brings me in close contact with all types of alcoholics. A good many of these are more than anxious to stop drinking and are well worth saving, as a matter of fact, I have talked to a number of them and have outlined your procedure...I have had some correspondence with your Miss Coultis of Chicago who has very kindly invited me to attend some of their meetings there...I am eager to start a group in Madison and would so much appreciate any information you might give me which would enable to do so."
from
Harry are all filed with other group correspondence in the "Madison" folder. (Asst. GSO Archivist Michelle M.) IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 5864. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Timeline of the First 25 A.A. Groups
From: Glenn Chesnut . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/12/2009 2:05:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I have taken some of John B.'s dates directly into master list we are setting
up. I though it would be worthwhile to give my own additional notes however on four
places: - - - - We had Pennsylvania: Philadelphia 1st organizational meeting February 28, 1940;
Jimmy Burwell formed the Philadelphia Mother Group on March 6, 1940. John B. gives Philadelphia February 13, 1940, using the date from the little bio
of Jimmy Burwell at http://www.barefootsworld.net/aaburwell.html What do the folks from that part of the east coast say about this? Should it be February 28 or February 13? And what documents or other kinds of evidence do we have?
We had Illinois: Chicago (Evanston) September 20, 1939, using the date of the
first meeting in Chicago, as given in the history of Chicago AA given to us by Past Chicago Delegate Don Bennitt. John B. gives Chicago September 13, 1939, using Sylvia K.'s sobriety date. I think the date of the first meeting, since we now have it, is the more appropriate one to give. - - - - We had California: San Francisco November 21, 1939, using the date when they had
their first meeting in Ray W.'s room at the Clift Hotel. John B. give San Francisco December 1939, taking the date when the group started
meeting in Mrs Oram's kitchen. I think the first meeting in Ray's hotel room ought to be counted as the founding date, using the normal custom of calculating when AA started at a place (that is, the group doesn't have to have a regular meeting place, as long as they have actually started meeting). - - - - We had Michigan: Detroit January 4, 1940. John B. gives Detroit December 1939, which is the date given on the Detroit intergroup's website. (This is also the date given in http://hindsfoot.org/detr0.html which is taken from the same Detroit intergroup website.)
Wash. State, Wash. D.C. From: Cindy Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/12/2009 10:26:00 PM
(cm53 at earthlink.net) well, I don't know how important it is to quibble over 2 weeks...BUT ...in regard to Philadelphia: Jimmy arrived in Philly on February 13. The first meeting was not held until Feb. 28. This date is validated by an existing letter that Jimmy sent to Clarence S. the next day (Feb. 29--leap year) in which Jimmy describes having a meeting with 7 drunks the day before. -cm - - - - From: Shakey1aa@aol.com (Shakey1aa at aol.com) BTW the 1st planning meeting in Phila was on Feb 29th,1940. It was a leap year. Jimmy sent a letter confirming the date to Clarence "Snider"(He misspelled Snyder) in Cleve.,Oh in a letter on file at the S.E. Pa. I.G. Assn.
Archives. There were alcoholics meeting in the office of Dr C Dudley Saul two years before Jimmy brought AA to Philadelphia.(1938) This can be proven in the documentation of John Park Lee. The meetings were not AA meetings but were meetings of alcoholic patients of the good doctor. Yours in Service, Shakey Mike Gwirtz Phila, Pa
(jlobdell54 at hotmail.com) The date Feb 13 is the date Jim B moved to Philadelphia, not the date he formed a group. Yüklə 11,49 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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