April 1935 - Dr. Silkworth told Bill to quit preaching at drunks & tell them of obsession & allergy. (AACOA 13, 67-68, BW-RT 211, NG 25-26, PIO 133) April 1946 - Twelve Suggested Points for AA Tradition, published in the Grapevine. (GV, AACOA vii, 96, 203, LOH 20, 154) April 1947 - Grapevine report on new group in Richmond & Evansville, IN. April 1950 - Saturday Evening Post article "The Drunkard's Best Friend" by Jack Alexander. April 1958 - The word "honest"dropped from AA Preamble, "an honest desire to stop drinking". (GSO-FR) April 1966 - Change in ratio of trustees of the General Service Board; now two thirds (majority) are alcoholic. (GSO-FR) April 1970 - G.S.O., moved to 468 Park Ave. South, NYC. (PIO 399) April 2003 - Experience, Strength and Hope : Stories From the First Three Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous, was published. (GSO, www) April 1, 1939 - Publication date of Alcoholics Anonymous, A.A.'s Big Book. (AACOA viii, 170, NG 76, PIO 204-205, GB 59) April 1, 1966 - Sister Ignatia died. (LOH 371) April 2, 1966 - Harry Tiebout, M.D., died. (LOH 369, HT viii) April 3, 1941 - First AA meeting held in Florida. (www) April 3, 1960 - Fr. Ed Dowling, S.J., died. He was Bill W's "spiritual sponsor." (LOH 364) April 7, 1941 - Ruth Hock reported there were 1,500 letters asking for help as a result of the Saturday Evening Post Article by Jack Alexander. (www) April 10, 1939 - The first ten copies of the Big Book arrived at the office Bill and Hank P shared. (www) April 10,1945 – The Day In Indiana, Muncie Star reports on the “Indiana Home.” April 11, 1941 - Bill and Lois finally found a home, Stepping Stones in Bedford Hills, NY. (BW-RT 284, PIO 259-260, MMM 337, WPR 66) April 16, 1940 - A sober Rollie H. catches the only opening day no-hitter in baseball history since 1909. (HIW 157-158, www) April 16, 1973 - Dr. Jack Norris presented President Nixon with the one millionth copy of the Big Book. (NG 267, BW-FH 113) April 19, 1940 - The first AA group in Little Rock, Arkansas, was formed. First 'mail order' group. (GSO-AC) April 19, 1941 - The first AA group in the State of Washington was formed in Seattle. (www) April 20 - 22, 1951 - AA's first General Service Conference was held. (GSO-FR) April 23, 1940 - The first A.A. group in Indiana was established in J. D. and Rhoda H’s home at 420 S. Denby St. in Evansville, meeting every Tuesday night. One can find it listed on the Evansville meeting schedule today as the Tri-State Group. (local archives) April 24, 1940 - The first AA pamphlet, "AA", was published. (GSO-AC) April 24, 1989 - Dr. Leonard Strong died. (GSO) April 25, 1948 – Indy Radio Broadcast, WFBM (1260), on A.A. (local archives). April 26 or May 1, 1939 - Bank forecloses on 182 Clinton Street. (AACOA 11, 173, LR197, BW-RT 258, BW-FH 91, PIO 213-218) April 29, 1939 - Morgan R interviewed on Gabriel Heatter radio show. (AACOA 174-176, PIO 210, GB 60-61) April 30, 1989 - Film "My Name is Bill W." a Hallmark presentation was broadcast on ABC TV. (www)
SOURCE REFERENCES
Information has been gleaned from the library noted below:
12&12 Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, AAWS AABB Alcoholics Anonymous, the "Big Book" AAWS AACOA AA Comes of Age, AAWS ABSI As Bill Sees It, AAWS AGAA The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous, by Dick B (soft cover) BW-RT Bill W by Robert Thomsen (soft cover) BW-FH Bill W by Francis Hartigan (hard cover) BW-40 Bill W My First 40 Years, autobiography (hard cover) CH Children of the Healer, Bob Smith and Sue Smith Windows by Christine Brewer (soft cover) DBGO Dr Bob and the Good Old-timers, AAWS EBBY Ebby the Man Who Sponsored Bill W by Mel B (soft cover) GB Getting Better Inside Alcoholics Anonymous by Nan Robertson (soft cover) GTBT Grateful to Have Been There by Nell Wing (soft cover) GSC-FR General Service Conference - Final Report (identified by year), AAWS GSO General Service Office - Presentations and Literature, service pieces, AAWS/GSO US/Canada GSO-AC General Service Office Archives Collection Gv Grapevine - identified by month and year HIW How It Worked by Mitchell K (illustrated PDF file version) HT Harry Tiebout - the Collected Writings, Hazelden Pittman Press (soft cover) LOH The Language of the Heart, AA Grapevine Inc LR Lois Remembers, by Lois Wilson MMM Mrs Marty Mann, by Sally and David R Brown (hard cover) MSBW My Search for Bill W, by Mel B. (soft cover) NG Not God, by Ernest Kurtz (expanded edition, soft cover) NW New Wine, by Mel B (soft cover) PIO Pass It On, AAWS RAA The Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous, by Bill Pittman, nee AA the Way It Began (soft cover) SI Sister Ignatia, by Mary C Darrah (soft cover) SD Slaying the Dragon, by William L White (soft cover) SM AA Service Manual and Twelve Concepts for World Service, AAWS SW Silkworth - the Little Doctor Who Loved Drunks, by Dale Mitchell (hard cover) WPR Women Pioneers in 12 Step Recovery, by Charlotte Hunter, Billye Jones and Joan Ziegler (soft cover) www Internet Sources (e.g. Google, Microsoft Encarta, US National Archives & Records Admin. NARA, etc.)
Page numbers follow the source reference: e.g.: PIO 111, 113 = Pass It On pages 111 and 113.
Abbreviations: AA Alcoholics Anonymous GSB General Service Board AAWS AA World Services Inc. GSC General Service Conference AFG Al-Anon Family Groups MRA Moral Re-Armament BBS Big Book Story OG Oxford Group
This Timeline of A.A. History is based on information provided to the AAHistoryLovers e-group, with local "Hoosier" events added, with references.
"AA Members seem to have a warm place in their heart for AA history. AA also has a very strong verbal tradition. Much information is circulated in AA by word of mouth. This has both its good and difficult sides. How do you know what is fact and what is myth? A great deal of myth circulates by word of mouth in AA. To help address this, the timeline items in this paper (history) are cross-referenced to one or more reliable written references. The references provide both corroboration and sources for further investigation and historical research." - Arthur S., TX.