Significant November Dates in A.A. History
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Nov 1934 - Ebby T., carries message to Bill. (AACOA vii, NG 17-18,311,PIO 111-116)
Nov 1935 - Fitz M. leaves Towns Hospital to become 'AA #3 in NY with Bill W and Hank P.
(AACOA 16-17, PIO 161)
Nov 1937 - Bill and Dr. Bob compare notes in Akron. Count forty cases staying sober.
Akron Group members consider Bill's ideas for how to expand the movement:
A Book, AA Hospitals, Paid Missionaries. Passed by a majority of 2 votes.
(AACOA VII, 76-77, 144-146, BW-RT 239-243, DBGO 123-124, PIO 180.
Nov/Dec 1939 - Akron group withdrawals from association with Oxford Group. Meetings moved
from T Henry & Clarence Williams to Dr Bob and other members homes. (www)
Nov 1941 - "First Mass AA Meeting" in Oklahoma City, 8 present, 1 was drunk.(www)
Nov 1945 - Bill's article called 'Those Goof Balls' published in Grapevine. (GV)
Nov 1945 - Grapevine reports first of many articles from Indiana. (GV)
Nov 1946 - Grapevine reports: 55 New Groups Register in Month
New groups registering with the Central Office from September 12
to October 9 were: INDIANA - Warsaw. (GV)
Nov 1947 - Grapevine reports: The following new groups reported organization to the
Central Office during September: INDIANA - Goshen, Michigan City. (GV)
Nov 1952 - More Grapevine articles from Indiana. (GV)
Nov 1986 - Big Book published in paperback. (NG 301)
Nov 1, 1947 - 1st AA Group in Anchorage, Alaska. (www)
Nov 3, 2001 - J P Miller who wrote screenplay for "The Days of Wine and Roses" died.
Nov 9, 1966 - President Johnson appoints Marty M to the 1st National Advisory
Committee on Alcoholism. (www)
Nov 10, 1940 - 1st AA group formed in Minneapolis. (www)
Nov 10, 2001 - 1st of 400,000 4th Edition Big Books arrives in the mail. (GSO)
Nov 11, 1934 - Armistice Day; Bill started drinking after dry spell,
beginning of Bill's last drunk. (AACOA 56-58, BW-FH 56.
Nov 12, 1940 - 1st AA meeting is held in Boston. (www)
Nov 13, 1939 - Bill wants to go to work at Towns Hospital, NY drunks want
him to stay on as head of the movement. (www)
Nov 14, 1940 - Alcoholic Foundation publishes 1st AA Bulletin. (GSO-AC)
Nov 15, 1949 - Bill W suggests that groups devote Thanksgiving week
to discussions of the 12 Traditions.(GV)
Nov 16, 1950 - Dr. Bob S., died. (AACOA 7,9, GSO, DBGO 344, GTBT 90, GB 69)
Nov 18, 1946 - 1st Dublin Ireland group met. (GSO)
Nov 21, 1939 - AA's in San Francisco hold 1st California AA meeting in the Clift Hotel. (GSO)
Nov 21, 1952 - Willard Richardson, past Treasurer/Chairman of
Alcoholic Foundation, dies. (GSO, www)
Nov 26, 1895 - Bill W born in East Dorsett, VT. (BW-RT 15,CH 4, NG 10, PIO 13, RAA 138)
Nov 26, 1939 - Dilworth Lupton gave sermon "Mr. X and Alcoholics Anonymous".
Became one of first pamphlets on AA. (www)
Nov 28, 1943 - Bill guest speaker San Quentin Penitentiary.
(sometimes dated Dec 2, 1943) (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
The Timeline of A.A. History is based on information provided to the
AAHistoryLovers e-group, with local "Hoosier" events added, with references. (see above)
"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.