Dec 1938 - Twelve Steps written. (LOH 200, AACOA vii, 160-163, BW-RT 253, PIO 197-199, GB 55-57, AGAA 260) Dec 1939 - First AA group in mental institution, Rockland State Hospital, NY. (AACOA vii,12, BW-FH 128) Dec 1939 - 1st home meeting in Los Angeles at Kaye M.'s house. (www) Dec 1940 - 1st AA group formed in St. Louis, Missouri. (www) Dec 1940 - group started Ashtabula, Ohio due to Plain Dealer. articles. A.A. Cleveland has about 30 groups. (www) Dec 1945 - Grapevine reports: Fort Wayne, Ind., A.A.s observed their third anniversary with a dinner; among the 75 men and women present were guests representing the clergy, hospitals, medical profession and press. Dick S., formerly of the Cleveland Group and now of Chicago, was a speaker. (GV) Dec 1948 - Dr. Bob's last major talk, in Detroit. (www) Dec 1950 - Grapevine article signed by both Bill and Dr Bob recommend establishing AA General Service Conference. (LOH 126-128) Dec 1955 - 'Man on the Bed' painting by Robert M. first appeared in Grapevine. Painting originally called 'Came to Believe' (www) Dec 1982 - Nell Wing retires from GSO after 35 years of service. (GTBT 141) Dec 1, 1940 - Chicago Daily Tribune begins a series of articles on AA by Nall Hamilton. (www) Dec 5, 1985 - Dave B, founder of Montreal Group dies weeks before 50th anniversary. His story added to the 4th Edition Big Book. (www) Dec 6, 1979 - Akron Beacon reports death of Henrietta Sieberling. (AGAA 84, www) Dec 7, 1949 - Sister Ignatia received Poverello Medal on behalf of A.A. (SI 138-140) Dec 10, 1975 - Birds of a Feather AA group for pilots is formed.(www) Dec 11, 1934 - Bill admitted to Towns Hosp 4th/last time (fall '33, '34 in summer, midsummer and final admittance). (AACOA 61-62, LOH 197, RAA 152, NG 19, 311, NW 23, PIO 119-120, GB 31) Dec 11, 1941 - Dallas Morning News reports 1st AA group formed in Dallas. (www) Dec 13, 1937 - Rockland State Mental Hospital takes patients to meeting in New Jersey. Dec 14, 1934 - Ebby visited Bill at hospital, brought William James's book, "Varieties of Religious Experience". (AABB 13-14, AACOA vii, 13, BW-40 141-148, NG 19-20, NW 23-24, PIO 120-124, GTBT 111, LOH 278-279) Dec 14, 1987 - New Republic article, Alcohol and Free Will. (www) Dec 17, 1946 - Informational Meeting Notice, from The Muncie Star Newspaper. (ww) Dec 19, 1939 - Los Angeles hold their 1st AA meeting there. (www) Dec 20, 1945 - Rowland H dies (he carried the OG message to Ebby). (EBBY 59) Dec 26, 2001 - Boston Globe article on the 4th edition Big Book. (www) Dec 27, 1893 - Rev Samuel Shoemaker is born. (www) Dec 31, 1940 - 5 Former Alcoholics Offer Help ..., from The Indianapolis Star. (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.