Alcoholics Anonymous
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AL-ANON FAMILY GROUPS 1995 WORLD SERVICE CONFERENCE Our Vision and Our Hope in a Changing World Tarrytown, New York, April 23-27, 1995
AL-ANON FAMILY GROUPS 1995 WORLD SERVICE CONFERENCE Our Vision and Our Hope in a Changing World Tarrytown, New York, April 23-27, 1995 T ABLE OF CONTENTS •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Admissions/Handbook Reportback .............................. 7 Inside AI-Anon ................................................................ 12 Alateen Presentation/Reportback .................................. 5 Institutions Presentation/Reportback ......................... 12 Approval of Annual Reports ........................................... 4 International Conventions Archives Reportback ......................................................... 6 1995 International ....................................................... 13 Ask-It-Basket .................................................................... 47 1998 AI-Anon/ Alateen International ...................... 13 Board of Trustees International Coordination Reportback ....................... 14 Concerns Regarding Board of Trustee Actions ...... 28 Literature Reportback .................................................... 15 AI-Anon Family Group Service Plan- Motions ............................................................................. 55 1995, The Year of Renewal .................................... 28 National Public Information Canada (NPIC) ............... 9 Five Year Plan ............................................................. 28 Nominating Committee Reportback ............................ 27 Long-Range Study Panel .......................................... -
Stepping Stones: Executive Summary
Name of Property: Stepping Stones (Bill and Lois Wilson House) City, State: Katonah, New York Period of Significance: 1941-1988 NHL Criteria: 1 and 2, Exception 8 NPS Theme: I. Peopling Places 2. Health, Nutrition and Disease II. Creating Social Institutions and Movements 2. Reform Movements Previous Recognition: 2004 National Register of Historic Places National Historic Context: XXXI. Social and Humanitarian Movements B. Temperance and Prohibition NHL Significance: Stepping Stones is the home of Bill and Lois Wilson, respective co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous and the Al-Anon Family Groups. During the 47 years that Bill and/or Lois Wilson lived here, A.A. grew exponentially, spreading within and outside of the United States, with Bill Wilson serving as the leader of the movement. It was Bill and Lois’ primary workspace and where they achieved most of their accomplishments. It is the location where Bill Wilson wrote most of his significant works including Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, A.A. Comes of Age, Twelve Concepts for World Service, and hundreds of articles. Lois Wilson created the Central Clearing House at Stepping Stones. The Central Clearing House provided assistance, information, and materials for family members of alcoholics eventually becoming known as Al-Anon Family Groups. In 1957 Lois organized Alateen for the children of alcoholic parents. Like Al-Anon and AA, Alateen also grew to include chapters around the world. Today, Al-Anon/Alateen has 24,000 groups in over 130 countries. With the creation of the Stepping Stones Foundation in 1979, Lois Wilson recognized the value the house would have as an historic house museum on the history of AA, Al-Anon, and Alateen. -
April 2006 IAC Newsletter
April 2006 IAC Newsletter Thank you all very much for sending in contributions to the IAC. The Treasurer’s report follows: The ending balance on this statement is $6,665.21. Fees of $28.54 which consist of: Bill pay service fee $9.95 which Stan says will be reversed Canadian handling fee $5.00 Foreign check adjustment of $13.59 of Canadian Funds. The deposit of March 24th for the amount of $1,257.92 outstanding The depost of April 3 for the amount of $230.00 outstanding, mixed funds Canadian/US There are no outstanding checks nor are there any other bank fees to my knowledge. Each month we receive interesting articles from our IAC members. I am enclosing one to you for yoru perusal. [The City of Cleveland will be renaming a portion of E. 22nd St near St. Vincent Charity Hospital after Sr. Ignatia during a ceremony on April 1st] From "When A.A. Came of Age": "...Dr. Bob [entered]...the doors of St. Thomas Hospital, the first religious hospital to receive prospective members of A.A. for treatment on a regular basis. Here there developed that great partnership between Dr. Bob and the incomparable Sister Ignatia...Sister Ignatia's night supervisor wasn't very keen about alcoholics, especially the d.t. variety, and Dr. Bob had arrived with a request for a private room for his first customer. Sister Ignatia said, 'Doctor, we do not have any beds, much less private rooms'...[but] then into the hospital's flower room she slyly bootlegged A.A.'s first jittering candidate for admission...From 1939 to the time Dr.Bob took leave of us in 1950, over 5,000 had thus been treated. -
June 2020 the Alcoholics Anonymous San Fernando Valley Central Office Newsletter Remembering How It Started
RECOVERY TIMES Vol. 44, No. 6, June 2020 The Alcoholics Anonymous San Fernando Valley Central Office Newsletter Remembering How It Started Alcoholics Anonymous was founded by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith. The date commonly referred to as the anniversary of AA is acknowledged as June 10, 1935, the date of Dr. Bob’s last drink. It is also the day the two men pledged to work on a program that would help others become sober. How the two met: Bill W. had been on a business trip to Akron, Ohio when he got the urge to drink. Using a church directory, he found Henrietta Seiberling, a member of the Oxford Group of Akron. Bill knew about the Oxford Group from his close friend Ebby Thatcher who had taken him to Oxford Group meetings in New York. Ebby had been a drinking buddy of Bill’s and told him that he had ‘found religion” and gotten sober. However, Bill’s moment of reckoning came while he was on his fourth admission to Towns Hospital under the care of Dr. Silkworth. While lying on the bed, he experienced a “hot flash” spiritual conversion where he called out to God and asked for help in getting sober. He then had the sensation of a bright light, a feeling of ecstasy, and a new serenity. Wilson described his experience to Dr. Silkworth, who told him not to discount it. After contacting Mrs. Henrietta Seiberling and asking for her help, she asked him to meet with one of their local drunks, a Dr. Robert Smith who the Oxford Group had not been able to help get sober. -
Al-Anon's C O F O U N D E
I knew.” He spent long afternoons telling her about Al-Anon fellowship which Lois served until the end his visions and dreams. Eventually, they fell in love of her days. Lois often said, and became secretly engaged. Al-Anon’s Lois W. “It takes only one person to start something, March 4, 1891 - October 5, 1988 They planned to marry after Bill graduated from the military college he was attending, but his stud- but many others to carry it out.” Lois seemed to have been born ies were interrupted by the approach of World War with the ability to lead. Her fam- I. Even in the midst of wartime uncertainties, Lois ily background, innate talents and remembered their courtship as a time of great prom- Throughout their lives, Anne and Lois remained C abilities, capacity and interest in ise for them both. close personal friends. They saw each other for the learning, and her devotion to Bill last time in 1983. In their eighties and nineties, all seemed to prepare her for the Although Bill’s drinking began before they were respectively, they reminisced about the early years. role she assumed later in life. married, it was not apparent to Lois that he had a While many of the details escaped them both, the O Lois was born into a loving problem with alcohol. To her, his drinking was the friendship that underlay their extraordinary work family, the eldest of six children. result of too much socializing and she felt sure she was as real as ever. These two women, who always Her father was a surgeon in Brooklyn; her mother, could return him to his former abstinence after their thought of themselves as ordinary people, worked a homemaker. -
Nature Coast Journal June 2020
1 NATURE COAST JOURNAL JUNE 2020 How Alcoholics Anonymous Got Started In 1931 an American business executive, Rowland Hazard, after trying all the possibilities of medi- cine and psychiatry in the United States, sought treatment for alcoholism with the famous psychia- trist Dr. Carl Jung in Switzerland. After a year of treatment, Rowland H. the alcoholic felt confident that his compulsion to drink had been removed. However, he found himself drunk shortly after leaving the care of Dr. Jung. Back again in Switzerland Rowland H the, dejected and depressed, was told by Dr Jung, that his case was nearly hopeless (as with other alcoholics he had treated) and that his only hope (might be) a spiritual conversion with a religious group of his choice. On his return to the United States , Rowland got in contact with the Oxford Group and soon so- bered up. The Oxford Group was an Evangelical Christian Fellowship founded by American Christian mis- sionary Dr. Franklin Buchman. Buchman was a Lutheran minister who had a conversion experi- ence in 1908 in a Chapel in Keswick , England . As a result of that experience, he founded a move- ment called A First Century Christian Fellowship in 1921, which had become known as the Oxford Group by 1931. The Oxford Group’s concepts were, total surrender of un-manageability of the problem, self-examination, acknowledgment of character defects (public confession), restitution for harm done, and working with others. The Oxford Group was not confined to members of alcoholics only; a mixed bag of ‘troubled souls’ were also welcomed. A chance meeting with Ebby Thacher, another chronic alcoholic who was about to be admitted to a Lunatic Asylum; Rowland H passed on the message Dr. -
Cheerfulness and Laughter Make for Usefulness Birthdays/Anniversaries
District 18 Newsletter April 2017 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS DISTRICT 18 CENTRAL SERVICE OFFICE AND BOOKSTORE MON - FRI 10 am - 6 pm SAT 10 am - 12 pm Address: 409 Broadway, Unit C-1, South Roxana, IL Phone: (618) 251-4000 District Meeting: Held the 3rd Sunday of each month Hat 2:00 pm There will be no District 18 meeting on Easter Sunday April 16th. The next meeting is April 23, 2017 at 2 p.m. Birthdays/Anniversaries Celebration Date What’s Happening Birthday Group Location ____ THU 4/6 @ 7:00pm Dana B. Celebrates 4/6 Sisters in Sobriety First Christian Church, 11 years 724 E Bethalto Blvd, HWY 140, Lower Level TUE 4/18 @ 7:00pm Ryan D. Celebrates 8 4/15 CSO Tuesday Night CSO 409 Broadway, South years Newcomers Roxanna Unit C-1 THU 4/20 @ 7:00pm Amber O. Celebrates 4/20 Sisters in Sobriety First Christian Church, 6 months 724 E Bethalto Blvd, HWY 140, Lower Level SAT 4/22 @ 5:30pm Kelsey W. Celebrates 4/22 Happy Hour Group Church of Christ 6 months 6th and Penning, Wood River MON 4/24 @ 8:00pm J.D.O. Celebrates 17 4/23 North Alton Group 101 West Elm St., Old years Building (downstairs) THU 5/4 @ 7:00pm Gary G. Celebrates 4/28 Edwardsville 1st Christian Church 29 years Bulldogs (downstairs), 310 S. Main St. Cheerfulness and Laughter make for Usefulness Dear Lord, so far today I’ve done all right. I haven’t gossiped, haven’t lost my temper, and haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. -
Stepping Stones Visit
Stepping Stones The Historic Home of Bill and Lois Wilson During the first 23 years of marriage Bill and Lois moved 51 times! (by Lois’ count) In 1941, Bill and Lois Wilson bought their first and only real home in Bedford Hills, New York. Before deciding to purchase their home, Lois and Bill were in the neighborhood and drove with friends to look at the house. Lois recounted, “We were charmed by it’s location and wanted to see the interior. A window was unlocked and we clambered in.” (1) We were told by a tour guide that Bill’s version was more like ‘We broke in through the window!’ (1) Lois Remembers, (B-7) p. 133 They first called their home “Bi-Lo’s Break”. The house had 7 rooms and was located on 1.7 acres. Their contract called for forty dollars a month on a $6,500 selling price. Because of the constant climbing up and down the rugged stone steps from the house to the garage, they changed the name to “Stepping Stones”. This also implied the connection with the Twelve Steps. Bill built a writing studio on their property around 1948. He referred to the studio as “the shack” , but Lois called it “Wit’s End”. Our tour guide shared one story behind “Wit’s End”. Lois didn’t want to disturb Bill when he was writing, so if an A.A. member came to see Bill, she might tell Bill that the member was at their wit’s end ! We were allowed to sit at the famous desk where Bill wrote much of the book Alcoholics Anonymous. -
What's What in Aa History
PLACES & THINGS IN AA HISTORY (Many heartfelt thanks go out to Archie M., who compiled this!!!) REFERENCES: (A) ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS COMES OF AGE (AA) (B) BILL W. by Robert Thomsen (C) CHILDREN OF THE HEALER by Bob Smith & Sue Smith Windows as told to P. Christine Brewer (D) DR. BOB AND THE GOOD OLD TIMERS (AA) (E) A.A. EVERYWHERE ANYWHERE (AA) (G) GRATEFUL TO HAVE BEEN THERE by Nell Wing (H) THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART (AA) (L) LOIS REMEMBERS by Lois Wilson (N) NOT-GOD by Ernest Kurtz (P) PASS IT ON (AA) (S) SISTER IGNATIA BY Mary C. Darrah (SM) THE SERVICE MANUAL (AA) (TC) TWELVE CONCEPTS FOR WORLD SERVICE (AA) (W) A.A., THE WAY IT BEGAN by Bill Pittman (Note: Each snippet is referenced: example (B 147)=Bill W. page 147, (N 283)=Not-God page 283,(P 111)=Pass It On page 111.) 1st psychiatrists recognize A.A.'s effectiveness Dr. Harry Tiebout (A 2) (E 19) (G 66) (H 369) 1st Trustees Frank Amos (G 92) 1st 3 Steps culled Bill's reading James, teaching Dr. Sam Shoemaker & Oxford Group; 1st Step dealt calamity & disaster, 2nd admission defeat 1 could not live strength own resources, 3rd appeal Higher Power help (P 199) 1st 13th step Lil involved 13th step Victor former Akron mayor (D 97) 1st A.A. archivist Nell Wing (E 78) 1st A.A. Cleveland group meeting May 12, 1939 home Abby G. Cleveland Heights Cleveland, 16 members (A 21) (N 78) (S 32) 1st A.A. clubhouse 334 1/2 24th Street, 1940, old Illustrators Club (A viii,12,180) (B 304) (G 86) (H 47,147) (L 127,172) 1st A.A. -
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18TH 2015 the Washingtonian Temperance Society
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18TH 2015 The Washingtonian Temperance Society The Washingtonian movement was established in the 1840s by six alcoholics and reached some 600,000 in membership It was mainly a religious movement designed to tackle members’ problems such as alcoholism It was popular and successful until the movement involved itself in other issues such as prohibition, political reform and the abolition of slavery Disagreements, infighting and controversies led to the complete extinction of the movement The Oxford Group Movement A religious society formed by American Christian missionary Dr. Frank Buchman. Some problem drinkers found sobriety through contact with other members and by practising the Four Absolutes – absolute love, absolute purity, absolute honesty and absolute unselfishness Although members of the Oxford Groups helped each other with many social and psychological problems including alcoholism, the focus of the movement became fragmented as war loomed in Europe. Frank Buchman was determined to bring the message of Christianity to Hitler and Mussolini The Oxford Group evolved into the Moral Re-armament Group and in 2001 was re-named ‘The Initiatives of Change’ ‘Bill W.’ - Co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous Raised in East Dorset, Vermont Alcoholic grandfather Problems over his father’s drinking Father moved away – followed by Bill W's High his mother School Picture Childhood sweetheart (Bertha Bamford) died suddenly during an operation Bill’s birthplace – East Dorset, Vermont Bill had many talents: • Constructed 1st boomerang in the USA • Taught himself Morse code and made a transmitter / receiver • Taught himself violin Bill’s birthplace – the Wilson House • Studied law, engineering and chemistry • Spoke French 1st World War – Bill W. -
Big Book Name and Date References
Big Book Name and Date References (Compiled by Tony C. and Barefoot Bill) Pg/Ch. Name Description ----- ---- ----------- Preface xi written by Dr. Silkworth The Doctor's Opinion Preface 2Ed xv Bill Wilson & Dr. Bob during a talk between a NY stockbroker & Akron physician (they first met on 5/12/35) xvi Ebby Thacher alcoholic friend in contact with Oxford Group xvi Dr. Silkworth (named) NY specialist in alcoholism xvi Bill Wilson The broker xvi Dr. Bob the Akron physician xvii Bill Dotson AA#3 (sober date was 6/26/35, Bill Wilson & Dr. Bob first visited him on 6/28/35) xvii-iii Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick (named) noted clergyman xviii Fulton Oursler (named) editor of Liberty xviii John Rockefeller Jr (named) gave dinner xviii Jack Alexander (named) wrote Saturday Evening Post article xix Traditions all Twelve Traditions mentioned xx recovery rate from 1939-1955 Of alcoholics who came to AA & really tried, 50% got sober at once & remained that way; 25% sobered up after some relapses, and among the remainder, those who stayed on with AA showed improvement Doctor's Opinion (was page 1 in the first edition of the Big Book) xxv-xxxii Dr. William D. Silkworth well known doctor (worked at Towns Hospital, N.Y.C.) xxv Bill Wilson patient he regarded as hopeless xxvii 9 years experience Dr. Silkworth had 9 years of experience with alcoholics & drug addicts when he wrote this xxvii Bill Wilson one of the leading contributors of this book xxxi Hank Parkhurst man brought in to be treated for chronic alcoholism xxxi Fitz Mayo another case, had hid in a barn Bill's Story (Bill Wilson) 1 Winchester Cathedral Bill Wilson has a spiritual experience ("Here I stood on the edge of the abyss into which thousands were falling that very day. -
Big Book Name and Date References (Compiled by Tony C
Big Book Name and Date References (Compiled by Tony C. and Barefoot Bill) Pg/Ch. Name Description ----- ---- ----------- Preface xi written by Dr. Silkworth The Doctor's Opinion Preface 2Ed xv Bill Wilson & Dr. Bob during a talk between a NY stockbroker & Akron physician (they first met on 5/12/35) xvi Ebby Thacher alcoholic friend in contact with Oxford Group xvi Dr. Silkworth (named) NY specialist in alcoholism xvi Bill Wilson The broker xvi Dr. Bob the Akron physician xvii Bill Dotson AA#3 (sober date was 6/26/35, Bill Wilson & Dr. Bob first visited him on 6/28/35) xvii-iii Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick (named) noted clergyman xviii Fulton Oursler (named) editor of Liberty xviii John Rockefeller Jr (named) gave dinner xviii Jack Alexander (named) wrote Saturday Evening Post article xix Traditions all Twelve Traditions mentioned xx recovery rate from 1939-1955 Of alcoholics who came to AA & really tried, 50% got sober at once & remained that way; 25% sobered up after some relapses, and among the remainder, those who stayed on with AA showed improvement Doctor's Opinion (was page 1 in the first edition of the Big Book) xxv-xxxii Dr. William D. Silkworth well known doctor (worked at Towns Hospital, N.Y.C.) xxv Bill Wilson patient he regarded as hopeless xxvii 9 years experience Dr. Silkworth had 9 years of experience with alcoholics & drug addicts when he wrote this xxvii Bill Wilson one of the leading contributors of this book xxxi Hank Parkhurst man brought in to be treated for chronic alcoholism xxxi Fitz Mayo another case, had hid in a barn Bill's Story (Bill Wilson) 1 Winchester Cathedral Bill Wilson has a spiritual experience ("Here I stood on the edge of the abyss into which thousands were falling that very day.