AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF 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  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 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. 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 ’ 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. After many failed calls he finally made contact with Henrietta Seiberling of the powerful family which owned the Goodyear tyre company. The Gatehouse at the Seiberling estate in Akron

Henrietta Seiberling responds to Bill’s call and immediately thinks of her Oxford Group friends (Dr. and his wife Anne). The Oxford Group has prayed for help for Dr. Bob and It’s the day before Mothers’ Day and Henrietta sees Bill’s call Dr. Bob has come home with a plant as literally an answer to for Anne. Both the plant and Dr. Bob these prayers. are ‘potted’. Bill’s visit is delayed until the Sunday (Mothers’ Day) so that Dr. Bob can sober up. Dr. Robert Holbrook Smith Born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont on August 8th 1879, an “only child”

Heavy drinking student – famed for his ‘open throat’- being able to drink a bottle of beer without moving any muscles in his throat! Missed a final exam due to the shakes – had to repeat two terms

Member of Oxford Group Specialised in rectal surgery at St. movement – they prayed for his recovery Thomas’s hospital, Akron, Ohio

Suffered terribly from alcoholism until he was 56 Co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous  Accomplished physician – drank alcoholically for over 30 years  Agreed to meet Bill for 15 minutes to please his wife – it was Mothers’ Day  Sceptical about Bill’s reasons for visiting – ‘another crackpot attempt to sober me up’  Dr. Bob takes a liking to Bill  Dr. Bob goes to a – they’re both tall & lean medical convention in people originating from Atlantic City and drinks Vermont. again.  Bill explains that he hasn’t  Dr. Bob’s wife Anne and visited Dr. Bob to help him – Bill are worried – they he has come for his own wait for hours for Dr. benefit. He has to talk to Bob’s return. another alcoholic to stay  Dr. Bob returns home sober. drunk and gets off the  The 15 minute meeting lasts train at the wrong stop. 5 hours – Bill moves in and  He has to sober up as stays on for several months. he’s performing surgery the next day. Bill W. meets Dr. Bob • Bill gives Dr. Bob a bottle of beer to calm his nerves. This was the last drink that Dr. Bob ever took. • He performs the surgery and then tours Akron and makes amends to as many of his acquaintances as possible. • Dr. Bob’s last drink was on June 10th, 1935 – the official birthday of Alcoholics Anonymous. AA’s birthday signifies nothing more than two sober drunks helping each other. This simple formula has been working ever since – right across the world. • Bill W. had the desire to drink removed from him instantly. Dr. Bob struggled with urges to drink for two years but never gave in to them. This also reflects the differences experienced in recovery from alcoholism in the AA fellowship today. Dr. Bob and Anne Smith’s home 855 Ardmore Avenue, Akron, Ohio

Bill stays with Dr. Bob and his wife Anne for 3 months

They have many things in common and are convinced that they can carry a message to suffering alcoholics Dr. Bob practiced at St. Thomas’s Hospital in Akron. Staff at the hospital were impressed by Dr. Bob’s new-found sobriety. The hospital offered Dr. Bob and Bill W. the opportunity to talk with the patient (Bill D.). The patient was terrified as he was led to a private room (usually the sign of a terminal illness). Dr. Bob offered to treat him free of charge.

Staggered to hear Dr. Bob and Bill W. speak of their drinking, Bill D. identified with the message and A new patient was admitted to never drank again. St. Thomas’ hospital who suffered from alcoholism. He Dr. Bob and his friend was violent and attacked two went on to treat 5,000 patients in nurses. Akron’s hospital until Dr. Bob died sober in 1950. Sister Ignatia continued the work there for many years. Sister Ignatia convinced the managers of St. Thomas’s Hospital that alcoholics were sick and accident-prone and persuaded them to allow suffering alcoholics to “rest” in the hospital prior to release.

Dr. Bob and Sister Ignatia treated Bill D. (later to become AA #3) and nearly 5,000 other alcoholics free of charge. As alcoholism wasn’t accepted by the AMA as an illness until 1956, the patients had to be admitted for ‘severe gastritis’.

Sister Ignatia gave each of her newly released patients a Sacred Heart medallion, which she asked them to return before they took the first drink. St. Thomas’s Hospital, Akron, Ohio

It is believed that the medallions inspired the giving of sobriety chips in many of today’s meetings

When Sister Ignatia left the hospital for her next post, she was saluted by rows of alcoholics who lined the streets . They were in their cars with their headlights on as a farewell glow to the ‘Little sister of AA’. Alcoholics Anonymous – the early years •Bill returned to Brooklyn in the summer of 1935 and started a meeting at his home – ie a ‘home group’

•A few drunks attended and some moved in. One committed suicide. Some sobered up and became prosperous. Bill W. remained penniless but was offered a job at Towns Hospital in NYC. The group persuaded him not to take the job (the first group conscience)

•Bill noticed that the drunks needed to share their problems to stay sober. The problems were forming a pattern, with resentment being the key issue. Also, the need to ‘run the show’ was a common problem. Bill realised that they needed a programme of their own – and had to split away from the dominant force of the Oxford Groups. Alcoholics Anonymous – the early years •Bill developed the idea of a book but needed finance

•His brother-in-law (Leonard Strong) put him in touch with the Rockefeller Foundation. Dr. Bob came from Akron to attend the meeting. They asked for $50,000 and got $5,000. Rockefeller felt that money would ruin such a splendid organisation

•Bill and his friends tried to raise finance so that they could print the book by issuing share certificates. The $25 shares wouldn’t sell until they had a commitment from Readers Digest to publish an article on AA  Bill was the main author of the Big book but his manuscript had to be approved by other members of AA

 Care had to be taken not to endorse or offend any religion and the tone had to be about ‘suggestion’ rather than ‘direction’

 Bill worried about writing Chapter 5 as • His friend Hank P. (an it was so important to get it right agnostic) contributed to the book with the chapter ‘To employers’ – the only chapter  He was inspired one evening and scribbled out the steps in half an hour. not written by Bill W. He counted them and he was happy • Interestingly, neither God nor that there were 12 – it reminded him of spirituality are mentioned in this the 12 apostles chapter. In order to finance the printing of the First Edition Big Book, stock certificates were sold to early AA members and others. Works Publishing, Inc. was the original name of AA's publishing business. It was later changed to AA Publishing and then Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. These certificates were later purchased back so that AA could retain total ownership of the book. An early idea for the book cover! Bill W.’s famous writing desk

Bill's desk at Wit's End, , Bedford Hills, NY • Works Publishing printed 5,000 copies but Readers Digest withdrew their offer to publish an article. The contributors to the Big Book stories were given 28 copies free of charge and 49 were given to the shareholders. The rest were left in storage.

The book wasn’t selling.

Then, in 1940, a reporter called Jack Alexander started to investigate AA and attended the New York and New Jersey meetings with Bill W. Jack Alexander’s article – The Saturday Evening Post

Jack Alexander’s article was published by the Saturday Evening Post on March 1st, 1941.

Enquiries and desperate pleas for help flooded in from all over the USA.

Alcoholics Anonymous was finally established as an American institution.

Membership increased that year from 1,500 to over 8,000 alcoholics. • Married for 23 years, Bill and Lois had never owned their own home; • In 1941 they were lodging with any friends they could find and moved over 50 times; • Lois stopped one day and dropped her bags in Grand Central station. She cried her eyes out. • A generous AA friend then sold a house to them for $6,500. Mrs. Griffith wanted no down payment and asked for only $40 per month. Bill & Lois had a home at last.  Following the Jack Alexander article, Bill spent 3 years answering letters from groups across the USA. As many of the questions were the same, Bill realised that AA groups needed some help to run their own affairs.  The Traditions were not rules or commands but guidelines needed by AA groups to protect their unity, autonomy and anonymity. Most essential was a common purpose and a refusal to be distracted by outside issues.

Bill presented the 12 Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous to the AA convention at Cleveland in 1950 and they were accepted into the fellowship. Dr. Bob dies – 15th November 1950

Dr. Bob gave his last message to the fellowship at the Cleveland International Convention on July 28th 1950

He stressed his famous ‘keep it simple’ message and defined AA as ‘love and service’

Dr. Bob died with 15 years of sobriety at the age of 71. He was the co-founder of a fellowship which by then had helped Bill W. at Dr. Bob's grave over 100,000 people. Ebby Thacher dies - 1966

Ebby Thacher died sober in 1966 at the age of 70

Although only 2 ½ years sober after a life-time’s association with AA, Bill Wilson & Ebby is owed a great debt of Ebby Thacher gratitude by the fellowship for passing the vital message of spirituality to Bill W. Bill W. dies at the age of 75 Bill W. died from emphysema on January 24th 1971 – his 53rd wedding anniversary

He was 75 years old and had been sober for 36 years

Co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill was Bill W. has been described as the greatest social architect of the 20th century author of the Big Book and many other publications Lois W. dies at the age of 97

Lois Wilson died on October 5th, 1988 – she was 97 years old. As well as looking after Bill during his drinking and then supporting his efforts to get AA established, Lois was a co-founder of Al Anon Family Groups

Saluted by many as being one of the most important women of the 20th century, Lois was awarded the prestigious Humanitarian Award by the National Council on Alcoholism Alcoholics Anonymous is 80 years old!

AA celebrated its 80th anniversary at the International Convention in Atlanta