History of Indiana & AA History

103 Pages·2013·11.98 MB·English

A History of Indiana A.A., by some “Trusted Servants” Area 22 & Area
23 Archives Committee.
Welcome everyone.
(If members of the Archives Committee are present - introduce them)
AA Members seem to have a warm place in their heart for AA history.
Perhaps it’s because our stories define our own history when we
disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened and
what we are like now.
AA also has a very strong verbal tradition. Much information is passed
on by word of mouth. This has both its good and difficult sides. How do
you know what is fact and what is myth? There is a great deal of myth
that circulates by word of mouth in AA, and is accepted as fact when it
is factually incorrect.
A great deal of effort has been taken to ensure that what will be
presented to you has been verified in one or more reliable written
reference sources.
Also, to more accurately relate the past to the present, Consumer Price
Index (or CPI) conversion factors have been used to convert past dollar
amounts to the equivalent of today’s dollar values. For example, $3.50
was needed in 1939 to purchase the Big Book. That would be
equivalent to $57 today.
1
A Map of Indiana Beginnings. The first group in Indiana started in
Evansville in 1940 by James D. Holmes from Akron, OH.
Indianapolis in 1940, Fort Wayne 1941, Columbus 1942, South Bend
1943, Elkhart /Goshen, & Michigan City 1944,
Marion, Vincennes, Bloomington in 1945.
2
Bill W. (age 39) meets Dr. Bob S. (age 55) in Akron, OH. In May 1935
(Mother’s Day).
Bill’s Last Drink is December 11, 1934.
Dr. Bob’s Last Drink is June 10, 1935. (Some say June 17)
This is the date Alcoholics Anonymous marks as its beginnings.
3
This is what J. D. wrote in his letter to Dean Barnhart, (circa 1954) describing his
years in Indiana:
“I am the eighth man in A.A. not counting the sponsors, Dr. Bob and Bill. I received
my A.A. work in Akron. I joined A.A., then known as the Oxford Group, in October
1936. My wife's folks live in Evansville and we arrived there on Decoration Day of
1938 and decided to stay.
After obtaining an apartment I started out in search of an alcoholic but met with no
success in so far as finding one that wanted to quit drinking. Every Wednesday
night the wife and I held a meeting -- just the two of us -- using [the Methodist
meditational booklet called the] Upper Room. The wife, who is not an alky, stood
solidly back of me and said someday if I kept on trying I would eventually find
someone who really wanted to quit drinking.
In October of 1939 I told my story to a Dr. Decker who told me of a very prominent
surgeon in town who was definitely an alky.
The big A.A. book was being published at that time and Dr. Bob Smith sent me one
of the first copies off the press. I immediately read the book although I had
personally heard all the stories except four. After reading the book I called this
famous surgeon, one Dr. Joe Welborn. When I entered his office I said: "I want just
two minutes of your time" -- pulling out my watch -- "if after the two minutes are up,
if you want to talk longer I shall be glad to do so. If not and you feel so inclined you
may toss me out the office.“
I talked fast telling as much of my story as I could in two minutes. When the time
was up I stopped. He asked me to stay longer. I stayed 30 minutes and left the
book. Later he told me he read about half the book. I occasionally called on Dr.
Joe. He was a charming individual but I was getting no place, or so I thought.
In the Spring of 1940 (April or May, I believe) I received a call from a prominent
businessman from the county jail saying Dr. Joe was there and wanted to see me.
I went to the jail and there sat Dr. Joe as if he owned the place. He had been in for
several
days. He had been reflecting on what I had said and what he had read in the A.A.
book.
Dr. Joe being a doctor, this businessman and I decided the thing to do was send
him to Akron to meet Dr. Bob. The businessman and I came up with $75 for the trip
and Dr. Joe was on his way. He returned about ten days later and came to my
house and said he had two or three patients who needed help and would I go.
Would I go! Wild horses could not keep me away.
4
We soon had several persons interested and the first regular established
A.A. meeting was held in our little four-room house at 420 S. Denby St.,
Evansville.
Our growth was not rapid, but we soon had several that stopped drinking
and made good A.A. members.
The meeting continued at our home until we could not accommodate more
so we moved the meeting place to Dr. Joe's office. Dr. Joe died and the
meeting place was moved to a small room near the Presbyterian Church on
Walnut St. “
5
Materials Early Members Would Read:
The Greatest Thing in the World, by Henry Drummond.
I Will Lift up Mine Eyes, by Glenn Clark.
The Sermon On The mount, by Emmet Fox.
The Upper Room picture is from the Akron Archives.
6
First Edition Big Book - April 10, 1939
On April 10, 1939, 4,730 copies of the 1st edition of “Alcoholics
Anonymous” were published at $3.50 a copy ($57 a copy in today’s
dollars). The printer, Edward Blackwell of the Cornwall Press, was told
to use the thickest paper in his shop.
The large, bulky volume became known as the “Big Book” and the
name has stuck ever since. In AA Comes of Age (pg 170) Bill W wrote
that the idea behind the thick, large paper was to convince the alcoholic
that he was getting his money’s worth.
The book had 8 Roman and 400 Arabic numbered pages. “The Doctor’s
Opinion” started as page 1 and the basic text ended at page 179 not
164. 29 stories were included: 10 from the east coast, 18 from the mid-
west and one last-minute story from the west coast (which was ghost
written by Ruth Hock and removed in the 2nd printing).
7
Cleveland, Ohio - AA’s Third Group - May 10, 1939
On May 10, 1939 led by pioneer member Clarence S (Snyder) whose
Big Book story is “Home Brewmeister” the Cleveland members
announced that they would meet separately from Akron and the Oxford
Group.
Their first meeting was at the home of Abby G (Goldrick) whose Big
Book story is “He Thought He Could Drink Like a Gentleman.” After
almost 4 years, this was AA’s 3rd group.
Clarence S claimed that it was the first group to call itself “Alcoholics
Anonymous.” However, the term was used a number of times in letters
by Bill W to describe meetings held at his home almost a year prior to
the founding of the Cleveland group.
8
Liberty and Plain Dealer Articles
The Liberty Magazine article, Alcoholics and God, come off the presses
by September 1939. This article mentions the book Alcoholics
Anonymous and the Alcoholic Foundation. (But, did not give a mailing
address to contact the Alcoholic Foundation to get the book Alcoholics
Anonymous.)
In Cleveland, the Elrick B. Davis articles from the Cleveland Plain
Dealer, appear from October – November 1939. These (7) articles
appeared in the newspaper, just (5) months after the first A.A. group
was formed in Cleveland. The articles resulted in hundred's of calls for
help from suffering alcoholics who reached out for the hope that the
fledgling Alcoholics Anonymous offered.
9
Dohr’s Letter to Liberty Magazine
This is a copy of Doherty (Dohr) Sheerin’s letter to the Liberty Magazine
requesting a copy of the book Alcoholics Anonymous. This letter is from
the Indianapolis (Intergroup) Central Office Archives.
10