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ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18TH 2015 the Washingtonian Temperance Society

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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. joins the army Bill took his first drink as a 2nd lieutenant at the age of 22, despite the knowledge of problem drinking in his family Feeling awkward at a social event in New Bedford, Bill was introduced to a ‘Bronx cocktail’ He instantly relaxed and introduced himself to officers and soldiers alike: ‘I had found the elixir of life’ 1918 - Bill W. visits Winchester Cathedral during WW1 The name Thetcher gets Bill’s attention – it reminds him of his old school friend (Ebby Thacher) The gravestone carries an ominous warning - and is later featured in Bill’s Story in the Big Book • Returns from WW1 exhilarated by the opportunities in his life to come. • Studies law and engineering but attracted by the buzz of Wall Street. Develops a new idea for stock speculating and sets off on a tour of the East Coast. Travels with Lois on his motorbike to assess investment opportunities for his backers. • Very successful during the 1920s but spends more and more time in the bars and speak-easies around Wall Street. • Lois has several miscarriages and can’t have children. • Bill hits difficulties with his drinking and starts to drink alcoholically from 1928 onwards. Bill’s drinking life (1918 – 1934) • The Wall St. Crash in 1929 hits Bill hard – leaves him $60,000 in debt. Bill seizes an opportunity in Canada but the company fires him for his drinking. • Returns to Wall St. with a damaged reputation so he signs a pledge not to drink in return for a business contract. Brief success followed by disaster when he takes a drink of Jersey Lightening. • Admitted to Towns hospital in New York and is treated four times by Dr. William Silkworth. Psychologist at Towns Hospital NYC specialising in alcoholism. Treated over 50,000 alcoholics. Treated Bill 4 times and told him about the disease concept (the mental obsession combined with the physical allergy). Bill thinks he has the answer – but returns to the bottle • Bill leaves Towns Hospital in the summer of 1934 feeling that his new-found knowledge (Dr. Silkworth’s theory about the obsession of the mind and the physical allergy) could keep him away from a drink. • Still sober in November, Bill rewards himself with a trip to his golf club on Staten Island. He gets talking to someone on the bus and tells him how alcohol has brought years of torment to him and to those around him. • The bus breaks down so Bill and his companion have a bite to eat in a local bar. Bill is still sober at the end of the meal and the bus takes them to the golf club. Bill thinks he has the answer – but returns to the bottle • Bill continues to drink ginger ale in the golf club but the barman offers them both a drink in honour of the fallen soldiers of World War 1 – it was Armistice Day 1934 • Bill feels compelled to take the drink – and plunges into despair. Bill understands this later as insanity – an inability to see the truth when it comes to alcohol • Bill’s experience on Armistice day is emphasised in chapter three (More about Alcoholism) by the description of three people who, despite full knowledge of their condition, find themselves defenceless against the first drink The home of Bill & Lois Wilson 182 Clinton Street, Brooklyn Heights, NY • Whilst Lois travelled into work each day (at Macy’s department store), Bill drank alone at 182 Clinton Street • His final binge lasted a month – from November 11th to December 11th 1934 •His despair was interrupted by a visit from an old friend Ebby was a schoolboy friend of Bill’s and later became a drinking buddy Ebby was institutionalised several times and was often banned from clubs, bars and even towns Ebby faced jail for 6 months when he was caught shooting at pigeons in his backyard after several warnings about his drunkenness Membership of the Oxford Groups saved him from prison – a fellow member vouched for him in court and promised to look after him Rowland Hazard was a prominent businessman and former Rhode Island State Senator. He suffered from alcoholism. He sought help from the famous Swiss psychologist Dr. Carl Jung and underwent treatment for a year. He then drank again and was bewildered by the experience. Jung pronounced Rowland a chronic alcoholic and therefore hopeless and beyond the reach of medicine as it was at Rowland Hazard the time (a credible opinion, considering 1881 - 1945 Jung's unique role in the development of psychoanalysis). The only hope Jung could offer was Dr. Carl Jung for a life-changing "vital spiritual experience" -- an experience which Jung regarded as a phenomenon. Rowland decided to develop his spiritual life in the Oxford Groups meetings in Vermont. Whilst attending the meetings in Shaftsbury VT, he heard about the plight of Ebby Thacher. He decided to speak for Ebby in court and then to help him spiritually. Rowland was convinced that Ebby could get sober if he could accept spiritual principles. Ebby got sober and travelled to New York to visit his old school friend Bill Wilson. Ebby visited Bill in late November 1934 as he’d heard that his friend was suffering. Bill was surprised to see his old drinking buddy sober. Ebby refuses a drink offered by Bill and says ‘I’ve got religion.’ He explains his experiences in the Oxford Groups and tells Bill: ‘You can define your own concept of a Higher Power’ Bill W. entered Towns Hospital for the last time on December 11th 1934. As he experienced alcohol withdrawal and delirium tremens his friend Ebby visited him and discussed the Oxford Group ideas for recovery. Bill then took a course of action (ie the steps) which led to a spiritual awakening Bill’s Spiritual Experience Bill expressed deep remorse for his actions and for the harm done to his wife, Lois. In desperation he prayed that he would do anything, anything at all for help. ‘If there be a God, let Him show Himself! Suddenly, my room blazed with an indescribably white light. I was seized with an ecstasy beyond description. In my mind I stood upon a mountain, where a great wind blew. A wind, not of air, but of spirit. It blew clean through me. Then came the blazing thought – “You are a free man”. So this is the God of the preachers!’. Bill W. never took another drink. Co-founder of Al-Anon family groups Born in Brooklyn Heights, NY – daughter of a prominent surgeon and gynaecologist Met Bill in 1914 during a holiday in her family’s summer home at Emerald Lake – in East Dorset, Vermont Bill & Lois married on January 24th 1918 in Brooklyn – just before Bill set sail for Europe with the army Bill & Lois in 1918 Lois dreamed of having her own home and a family. She was unable to have children and it was many years before she was to have her own home. When Bill finally got sober he desperately tried to help drunks in Brooklyn for 5 months and didn’t seem to succeed. Lois noticed that Bill wasn’t concerned about drinking whilst he was helping others. She reminded him of this: “but you haven’t had a drink, Bill, so it has worked”. Bill was 5 months sober and decided to visit Akron on a business trip. The business venture failed and Bill faced a lonely weekend in the Mayflower Hotel, Akron. The cosy hotel bar beckoned him but Bill remembered Lois’s words. Bill had remained sober by helping another alcoholic. AA’s most important telephone call Bill realised that he needed another drunk. He looked through the hotel church directory and found a strange name which caught his attention – Reverend Walter Tunks (Tunks is a word used in Bill’s home state of Vermont). Bill called Rev. Tunks and received a list of people to call.
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