Akron and Detroit’s Early AA Pioneers — Tuesday Night History Workshop — May 29, 2020

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Speaker Mike Fitzpatrick

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Date Recorded May 29, 2020

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Topic Akron and Detroit Early AA

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Mike Tuesday Night History Workshop • May 29, 2020

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Mike Listen to Meeting Recording

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Mike ABOUT THIS MEETING

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Mike A workshop on early AA origins in Akron and Detroit, featuring historic recordings connected to Bill W., Archie T., and Sarah Kline.

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Mike Full Transcript

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Moderator recording that, that George had sent to Bill. It was quite lengthy. He, at the time, I believe that was done in 1947. Uh, the traditions had not yet been, uh, adopted in Cleveland at the International. Um, they were getting, also getting ready to start the general service conference. So the, so New York was pushing for some of these things. Some of the old-timers in, in and around Akron, early members that had come through Akron, uh, maybe weren't as favorable and as encouraging for the unity that Bill wanted to create with the traditions and some of the work that he had been doing. Um, I find it interesting that he starts his conversation out by saying that he wants to make sure he does, uh, principles ahead of personalities, and then he goes right into the personalities. And he kind of continues to beat that in a few of his other recordings. Actually, Tim, play the next short recording, please. Bob's loyalty to those people with whom he was early associated in Akron, that these three whom I have mentioned have a great influence on him.

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Mike And he believes to a large extent what these people tell him. It would follow then, and it could not be anything else, that Bob only sees a distorted picture, and that it is obviously not only perhaps unfair, but almost impossible now to make him change his viewpoint. In the conversation which I overheard in Bob's living room between Earl and Bob, it was quite evident that Earl is entirely against any general conference as it now exists. His continual repetition is that the 12 steps of the recovery program are sufficient, that the 12 steps of the tradition are much too long and unwieldy and really have no place in the operation. And his insistence is that whatever control the trustees have so far as Alcoholics Anonymous itself and its management is concerned should rest in the hands of the older men and the old graybeards, so to speak. I cannot conceive that just because a man has a long period of sobriety, he is completely qualified to act in the advisory capacity. I think later on in Bill's writings, he referred to a lot of those folks as bleeding deacons.

0:39

Moderator And I think that, you know, what, what was beginning to happen very early as AA started growing out of Akron, and in the coming weeks we're going to have different people come on and, and talk. Um, and, uh, one's on now, Mitchell Kaye, who wrote a book on Clarence Snyder. And Mitchell's going to, going to be a featured guest with us one of these coming weeks. But one of the things that, that we'd like to do is analyze after Bill Shaber does his talk next week and the following week is start talking about how if Alcoholics Anonymous had grown the way that maybe Bill W. wanted it to, it may not have grown at all. And what I mean by that is, for example, they, uh, had high hopes of some early magazine articles, including the Liberty magazine which came out in September of 1939. By the time that article launched, AA had some small groups around the country, mostly in Akron, New York, Philadelphia, that area. And the magazine article did not do, it didn't have the response that Bill and Hank and those- guys wanted it to have.

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Moderator However, if it would have had the response, say, that the Saturday Evening Post had in 1941, AA didn't have enough of a foundation that we would have been able to handle the inquiries that came from it. And as a result, AA may have failed. So I look at the golden thread in all of this. And as we begin to talk about some of those things, we certainly welcome any suggestions from anyone that's joining us or questions regarding history or areas that you'd like to, to dive into. You know, the, George mentioned Archie in, uh, in Detroit. And Archie T. w- actually went... I'm gonna let him tell a little bit about this story, but he lived at Dr. Bob and Anne's house. And we talked last week about Eddie and his family moving in at Dr. Bob's house. Anne Smith was, was just such a worker. And, uh, and she worked with these families. They moved the families into the house, and Anne spoon-fed them and really tried to carry principles over to the AA members. She would do morning readings on the Book of James, of 13 Corinthians, and the Sermon on the Mount.

1:17

Moderator She really emphasized the principles of the program as well as fellowship. Because even though Al-Anon didn't start till many years later, Anne Smith was working with those families and having picnics. And Sunday nights they would have potlucks, and everybody would bring, you know... In, in some of the letters that I've read, they would bring hot dogs and potatoes because they were cheap and they would feed a lot of people. But these folks really created a family, and Archie T. was part of that family. And he went back to, uh, to Detroit. Actually, Bill W. drove him to Detroit and helped him get his footing after he had lived with Dr. Bob and Anne for 10 months. Um, Tim, cue up Archie, please. A- actually, Tim. Uh, yeah, I'm here. No, don't, uh... Go ahead and do Archie, and then we'll do, uh, Bill D. Okay. So do Archie first. All right. However, I went home and went to bed. After 18 days of continuous drinking, I went home, went to bed, and sweated it out all night. I don't need to describe that part of it to you.

1:36

Moderator It makes me shudder to think of it, and it would make all you just shudder. But I was on deck the next day, pretty much of a wreck, but I was there to start to Akron. In Akron, I was turned over to Dr. Bob and his wife and put in the hospital. At that time, the City Hospital of Akron was where we put the occasional prospect who was interested in AA. And I say occasional because in those days, we only had a prospect once in a while. I spent Labor Day in the hospital reading Emmet Fox's Sermon on the Mount. It changed my entire outlook on life. It changed my direction. I was visited both in the hospital and in one of the homes of the members of AA by 15 or 20 men who came to me with their stories, each one as different as could be from the next. Every one of those men were clear-eyed, neat, purposeful looking, full of confidence, not cocky, and they impressed me because they had all the things that I lacked. And I knew that whatever it was that they had, I wanted some of it.

1:54

Moderator And whatever they could tell me That would help me gain the same sort of look that they had. I was going to try those things that they told me. My health was found to be practically... Well, I don't know how to tell you about my health. Dr. Bob says that there wasn't much left of it. At any rate, it was 10 and a half months later before I could go to work. And I lived with Dr. Bob and his wife during those 10 and a half months. Many times during those months, I felt that it was very wrong for me to impose on them. They were poor. All members of AA in those days were poor, by the way. In the '30s, you didn't go out and get a job just because you were willing to and were going to reform. But I had to learn to accept their goodness in the spirit that it was given to me. But I often rebelled in my own mind against having to impose on them.

2:10

Moderator Looking back, however, in later years, I've seen that time and time again as an example of how much better plans our higher power has for us than we make for ourselves. Because what I thought was wrong, that is to say my being delayed in Akron and left on their, on the Smith's hands, was part of a plan under which I absorbed AA from one of its two oldest members, where I learned to stand on my own feet, where I gained the strength and spiritual courage to go out alone. I don't think I could have done these things that I had to do later without those 10 and a half months. Thanks, Tim. I think that, uh, you know, when you hear some of these early pioneers like Earl, and you think about how the AA movement expanded, and you think about the message that he was giving and how it was a program of attraction, talks about these 15 guys that came to talk to him, all with clear eyes. And, and you can just feel this sick man wanting what they had.

2:28

Moderator Didn't really know what they had, but he wanted it, and he was willing to do what was necessary, including impose on Dr. Bob and Anne for 10 and a half months, which he was uncomfortable about. I remember getting sober, and after the meetings, they would take me to the diner, and we would have, uh, burgers and stuff. I didn't have any money. And, and, and these guys would magically pay for it. On the way, you know, to the car, they might say, "Hey, you know, you don't owe us anything. You do that for someone else sometime in the future." And, you know, there was a lot of that giving early in my recovery, and I look at the, the pioneers, the guys like Archie, who had such gratitude to Dr. Bob and Bill, and, and even George for his commitment to Bill to want to give him as much information as he could on what was happening in the Midwest and, and what was going on in AA. And I think all of these characters were very, very impor- important for AA and the development of, of Alcoholics Anonymous. And, you know, Bill W.

2:47

Mike relied heavily and, and leaned a lot on non-alcoholics. And I think that we're gonna do some, some talk about non-alcoholics as we go forward because of the influence and the impact that the non-alcoholics had on AA and on the development of Alcoholics Anonymous. Now, for example, with Archie T., a little bit of Detroit history is he went, when he went back to, um, uh, uh- Detroit, New York had already received an inquiry from a woman who had a Big Book that she got from New York and she was corresponding with them, and they gave her name to Archie and he thought he was calling on an alcoholic. Her name is Sarah Kline. She's a non-alcoholic. She became the very first person to answer phones for AA. So in a really strange, kind of interesting way, Sarah, the first central office was really kind in Sarah's home. And they were having meetings in RGT's bedroom at, at... He, he was renting a room and that's where the AA meetings were. So to listen to some of these old recordings and hear how the history came together is just fascinating.

3:05

Mike I'm grateful that we can share them with you. And here's a, a recording I, I doubt anybody's ever heard. This is Sarah Kline, Archie's partner in Detroit, non-alcoholic, talking about the early days there in Detroit. Jim, can you cue that one? I had the good fortune to have one of the first copies of what we lovingly call our Big Book, the story of AA. That was in April 1939. I read the book and was so impressed by what I read that I wrote to New York asking them how they intended to put into practice that which they wrote in the book. I had a reply. Arch was then in Akron, and they wrote telling him that they had had a letter from Detroit, and of course they concluded that I was an alcoholic. And they told Arch that he had his first prospect awaiting him in Detroit. Arch returned to Detroit in July 1939 and immediately came to call on me. Afterwards, he laughingly called me his first man. He was in ill health, had lost his home, was without means or work.

3:23

Mike But he gallantly went ahead, first looking for a job, but always on the lookout for people who were sick, as he was. He wanted to give them the message and the hope that he had brought back from Akron. Now, Arch had no telephone, and I did. And that is where I first was of help to him. He would contact somebody, and so eager was he to help them that he wanted to make an immediate date. If he could not, he left my telephone number for them to call. Then later, having made some contacts, he decided to have meetings in his room on Merrick Avenue. Those meetings, the first ones, were held in midwinter of 1930, 1939. The first several meetings, no one came. So Arch and I sat there talking, of course, about the 12 steps in the AA program. Then one night came three men. Roy, who had been sent by his firm to Akron the previous summer, and his brother-in-law, and a young chap, about 30 years old, Steve, who afterward became our first secretary. Someday I'll get more comfortable with muting and unmuting myself. I hope you enjoyed Sarah.

3:41

Moderator And it's, her role in helping the foundation in that area is so vital for how AA grew. And just the fact that a non-alcoholic could facilitate the duties that needed to happen, taking the call, setting up the meeting, even participating and going to the meetings and watching this thing grow. Without these people, I don't think AA could have gotten the, the traction that it actually got. It really required all of these people doing what they did in these different areas to give Alcoholics Anonymous some traction. One, so the Big Book could get out and, and become popular. Two, so the meetings could be organized and people could get the help. And it was during a time where our country was coming out of some really difficult times. Uh, not a lot different than some of what we're dealing with today. And, you know, we historically, when you think about what's going on in Alcoholics Anonymous, I've been trying to think of an event that parallels what we've been faced with with the last 90 days. And, uh, I'm not sure what that is.

3:59

Moderator But I know that as AA unfolds, that the Zoom meetings and the fact that we're reaching more people through this media today than we ever would've been able to do, I see it as a blessing and a, and a positive thing for AA and for AA's future. I do think that it's gonna parallel and, uh, and there's going to be the, the digital meetings as well as the physical meetings as we go, as we go into the future. That's just my opinion. You know, but the thing about i- it, Bill W. Is Bill always said, "Alcoholics Anonymous is a story handed down." He really talked about AA being a story handed down. Your story, my story, his story, and the early members handing their stories down to us. And it's so difficult sometimes to be accurate and know what, what was going on, what did they think? Because many of them thought differently. For example, R, uh, RGT's experience at Dr.

4:16

Moderator Bob's house and going back to Detroit and setting AA up there was a lot different than, say, Bill D.'s experience in Canton, Ohio after he had gone to Akron City Hospital and got sober. Bill D. didn't even let his story be in the Big Book until the second, uh, edition of the Big Book, and he didn't write his story. Bill W. wrote his story. So it's very interesting to see how that happened. Um, Tim, I think we got a final clip, and I think that it is Bill D., AA number three. And I'm not sure if any of you have ever heard Bill D., um, but we pulled a nice clean copy of a short clip for you. Tim. I haven't felt any great responsibility about, uh, the movement being such a wonderful movement and all those great things it's gonna be. Down, and I even had a woman after one of the meetings I was to, she's coming around, oh, she was, been a missionary in China for a long time. A very wonderful woman.

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Mike Oh, she said, "This is wonderful." She said, "Maybe this is the answer, this is the answer to world peace." And I said, "Well, I don't know." Uh, anyhow, I hope it's, uh, the answer to, uh, peace in a lot of homes around in Akron where they used to get drunk and fight with each other. And now if you can carry it on over a- and make the world peace out of it, that's fine. But, uh, I have always had in mind that the main purpose of AA was to stay sober. And now there's a lot to AA, uh, uh, in my opinion, uh, that's, uh, worth a lot more. And a lot in there outside of staying sober, but actually and honestly, I hope, uh, that we always keep sobriety as the main purpose of AA. Now, I know positively that that's the thing that we started out with, was to stay sober. Uh, certainly I've got a lot of things out of it further than that.

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Moderator One fellow even argued with me about, uh, not so long ago, and said if sobriety had been the only thing he got, uh, it just wouldn't have been worthwhile. And I said, "Well, I don't know about you, but I know about me." I said, "The first, last six months I drank, I was dragged into the hospital eight times." Six months. And four or five times of those times, I've been tied down on the bed there, too, before ever I wanted to share that clip because, uh, it was very interesting. Bill was a, a religious guy and, you know, this lady comes back from China and says, "Well, you might have the answer to world peace here." And he looks at it and says, "Well, all I know is it's a way for me to stay sober," and that's what I think AA's about, and I think that that's it. And it was interesting to hear that coming from him, uh, back when he was able to, to go out and make some recordings. And hi- his idea obviously was that sobriety came first, and without that he had nothing.

5:11

Mike Um, I think that, you know, many of the early, early members were visionaries and they saw- This movement is something that could be much bigger than what it was, and they wanted to try different things. And yet here w- here was a guy probably similar to Dr. Bob in a lot of ways. And, you know, I often look at, at Dr. Bob, and I said this last week, is Bill might have this flash or this great idea of something he wanted to try, and Dr. Bob was trying to level him, pull him down and, and, uh, and give some balance. And I think that that balance was important in AA's conception and as AA grew for the first 10 to 15 years. So next week, uh, just as a reminder, we're gonna have Bill Schaber talking about his book, The Writing of the Big Book. We're... So we will have him on June 5th and June 11th. A reminder, June 6th is the event at Stepping Stones. Be sure to go on and register at steppingstones.org. I also received a, a message while we were playing Sarah's if I knew her background, and I don't.

5:30

Moderator I didn't know her background, but she was married to an advertising executive in Detroit. And I don't know, you know, what her professional background, if she had one. I know she had a couple of kids, um, but that's really all I know. And I know that she hung in- into the Michigan and then Tr- Detroit and really set a foundation. I mentioned a lady, um... I got married in 1987. I'd been sober a couple of years. I had been thoroughly indoctrinated into AA history by my sponsor, John Carlton, Bill and Arbutus O'Neill, some of the early Texas people, and I didn't know why they were clubbing AA history into my head. I'm grateful today that they were. There's been times in my life where I just, you know, it, it's like why. Even my nephew today was going through some books and, and I was giving him when the book was printed and, you know, uh, just, just crazy stuff that, that just happens in time when you're enthusiastic and passionate about something. And I've been passionate about AA and AA history since the very early times of my sobriety.

5:50

Moderator Well, we had moved to Michigan after we got married. I was living in Arizona. We got married, moved to Michigan where my wife was teaching school, and I was attending a lot of meetings 'cause we were planning on moving back to Arizona in June when the school year concluded. During that time, as I'm going to these meetings, some of the guys said, "Hey, we want to introduce you to th- this friend of ours." So they took me to this lady's house, and we go up the stairs into her home, and I'm greeted there by a woman wearing a long dress. Her hair is up, kind of looks like pictures of Anne Smith, you know? And, uh, we walk in and this lady says, "My name's Ruth. Nice to meet you, Mike. My husband Ernie and I came into Alcoholics Anonymous in Dr.

6:04

Moderator Bob's house." Well, immediately I'm like, "Wow," you know, "Ruth, are you in AA?" And she's like, "Well, no, but when I came in, when, when my husband Ernie came in, they treated us all like we were part of the same family." And she talked to me about the Oxford Group and the meetings that she was going to at T. Henry and Clarice Williams' house and some of the early things that were happening in Akron, even though her and her husband lived in Toledo. And she said to me, she says, "You, now, you come back anytime." I just love that. It's like that may have been the biggest mistake she made, 'cause every Friday afternoon I'm knocking on her door. And she would fix tea, and she would make affirmations, and we would crochet these little crosses. And I would just sit there and listen to her. And I didn't take notes. I never knew I'd be writing books or thinking really about AA history. Um, I really wish I had done some of that.

6:23

Moderator I'm grateful that, that my memory is good enough to remember those visits and some of the things that she impressed upon me. And really, I think the thing that, that, that Ruth impressed upon me most was the inclusion of the family in the early recovery movement, that the family was so destroyed and it was so welcomed because they had nowhere to go. And the husbands were starting to get well, and some of the spouses were feeling like they had spent years trying to get their husbands well, and now these guys start talking to them and they're getting sober. And, you know, so there, there was a lot of that going on, and Anne Smith really helped to level that. And t- you know, tonight we're talking Akron. You know, we're gonna be spending a lot of time talking about some of the things that Lois and some of the early members did up in New York to help the families and to deal with that. And I'm hoping that we can even get Sally To come on and, and do a meeting for us, Sally. How would you like that opportunity? Good.

6:42

Mike All right, so we got... We're gonna have Sally on, we're gonna have Mitchell on talking about Clarence. So we, we've got a lot to cover, and I feel like if we can spend the next 20 years taking little things every week, that we're gonna cover AA history, and we're all gonna come out with one thing. And I really hope that one thing is sobriety. And I hope that by doing this, we get a better foundation for our own recovery, that we can share with others the importance of retaining our history, making sure that they know our history. Because I can tell you that, you know, there's something I used to read and it said that if we don't remember our past, we're destined to repeat it. And you know, there's some stuff going on in the country right now that I just don't even understand. But the reality is that we repeat things if we forget. And I hope that in Alcoholics Anonymous, that we never forget the pain and the suffering that these people went through to make it possible for us to have this meeting. Bill and Lois being homeless for two years.

7:02

Moderator Dr. Bob and, and Anne almost losing their home, their reputation. The early members that committed suicide and died because they didn't have a message to get. The fact that some of the earliest members came back later and were able to get sober because these guys didn't give up on them, and they always gave them support, encouragement, and love, even when they dealt with people that weren't at all like them. Even when they dealt with some of the obnoxious hardcore atheists that were trying to tell them, "No, you can't have God in this program," and those types of things. So they found a way to deal with these personalities. They found a way to get along and to have that common bond and that relationship. And Bill going to Bob and ide- and helping Bob to identify with him that he was powerless over this, that once he started drinking, this is w- what was gonna happen, and it had happened time and time again.

7:18

Mike So by sharing their experiences, they were able to write the book, they were able to come up with a plan, they were able to do the traditions and the many things that became part of Alcoholics Anonymous. And I always like to share, because we're gonna close with Dr. Bob, is this. That, you know, Dr. Bob in his la- he didn't speak much. I think there were only four recordings of Dr. Bob that we know. Actually five. Five recordings that we know of, of Dr. Bob. He was a, definitely a man of wisdom. He was also a guy that didn't have a lot of words. He wasn't gonna get up there and talk like Bill W., okay? Bill would talk for hours. Dr. Bob was more of the minute guy, okay? But he did say that if you simmered Alcoholics Anonymous down to two things, those two things would be love and service. And when we really, really think about what love is, isn't that service in action? Isn't that actually taking the action and doing something? I think Dr.

7:36

Mike Bob saw that Bill was doing that, he was doing it, Lois was doing it, the early members were doing it. They were serving, but with love always. And I really believe that the, the foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous is just that. It's love and service. It's giving away what's been freely given us. Like Ebby said to Bill, "It's a new kind of giving. In this deal, we give without any expectation of reward." I hope you'll continue to come back next week. Share with your friends, your contacts, that we have this meeting, 9:00 PM Eastern, 6:00 PM Pacific. And for the rest of this meeting, we've got, uh, like 10, 12 minutes, we're happy to take... Anybody have any questions they'd like to, to ask, just unmute yourself and throw it out. If I don't have an answer, there's people on here that might. Questions? Mi- Mike. Tom O'Neill from Seattle, Washington area. Um, the question I have, with Sarah Kline, would, did she have any relatives that are, that were alcoholic or did she just thought it was a fascinating book, she read it and wanted to help? Is that what it was?

7:56

Moderator As far as I know, Tom, I, I believe that, you know, and I, a- a- and her talk's longer. I actually have two recordings. I can re-listen to them. Um, but I believe that she didn't have an alcoholic history, okay? I think it was she got the big book, fell in love with it, and contacted AA and said, "How can I help?" Very cool. Very cool. Thank you. Anyone else? Come on Uh, it's, uh, Dwayne. Uh, I'm a sober member of Alcoholics Anonymous from, uh, uh, Vancouver, Canada, uh, we're in that area. Hi, Dwayne. Welcome. I- I- I'm really enjoying this. I ... Last week, you- you- you kind of blew- blew my mind when you made reference to the fact with, uh, Bill G. and- and not actually being the third person. You come up with the name of Eddie R., a- and all the books I've read, I cannot find that information. It just behooves me. If they knew that Eddie was the third person, why would they not make reference to that in AA Comes of Age?

8:14

Moderator That's a great question, and it is in AA Comes of Age, and Eddie had to be committed to a sanitarium, so they couldn't very well publicize the first guy failing. It wasn't until years later that Eddie got sober. But the, but the magic of the story or the golden thread and God pulling a golden thread through Alcoholics Anonymous was that Bill and Bob planted a seed, and that seed grew even though Eddie wasn't part of it. Now, when Dr. Bob and Bill went to visit Bill D., AA number three, in a letter that's in the AA archives, Eddie said he was present at that meeting, that he attended the hospital. So we know he was probably trying to get sober around that time, and his recollection was he was there, but then he had to be committed and he didn't surface for years later, and then he did sober. So, um, you can find that. Actually, we played a recording, um, last week and the week before, and if you message Tim or Recovery Speakers, um, he can actually send you a link to the recording where they talk about Eddie. And also Dr.

8:33

Moderator Bob's son Smitty often liked to tell the story of Eddie and his family being, being moved into the house. Hey, Mike. It's Max. Yeah. I, I have a comment and a question. Yeah, I'm here. Um, I find it, um, remarkable, uh, bec- and, and just like to have your comment on it. I'm gonna say a couple things myself. But, um, Archie Trowbridge and Earl Treat, so they go back to ... One goes to Chicago in, I guess, September. Earl, Archie T. goes to Chicago in September of '39, so the big book does exist by then. And Earl Treat goes to Chicago sometime in '39, and presumably the book existed when he went. But they both had relatively short periods of sobriety, and yet they're credited with founding, you know, Alcoholics Anonymous in those cities. Um, and, uh, I'm gonna ask you for a comment, but I'm gonna throw one other thing in. So my dad got sober in December of 1947 in the town I grew up in in central Illinois called Decatur, which is about 180 miles from Chicago.

8:51

Moderator And when I was back there visiting not too long ago, a couple years ago, I went to a meeting and I found an old-timer who told me that AA came to our town in 1945. So when my dad got sober in 1947, there were only five members and one meeting a week, which coincidentally went, went, it was at my friend's grandfather's house, who was across the street from me. And when I was growing up, my grandmother used to comment about all the cars in the driveway once a week. Um, but it took two years before we had five people in our, in, in, that were sober. When my dad got sober, it was before the 12 and 12 existed. And at that time, they gave my dad the big book and the 24 hour a day book, because that's what they did in those days, 'cause they didn't have a lot of literature. And, um, so, um, I just find it remarkable the way that it did grow, uh, um, throughout the United States. And, and, um, I'm gonna make one other comment 'cause I'm sure you have some comments that I'd like to hear.

9:10

Moderator But if you wanna find out, you wanna see about how much of a visionary Bill was, if you read Hank Parker's story from the first edition called The Unbeliever, um, Bill 12-stepped him in Town's Hospital, just where he had been 12-stepped. And in The Unbeliever, Hank Parker's talks about being visited by Bill in 1935. There's only four AAs a- around and- And, um, uh, and, and Hank Parker says that Bill had a vision that one alcoholic would pass this to the next and it would grow. Um, and he also said that, uh, Bill recognized in September of 1935 when he came to visit him that, um, it, that he had to do it to stay sober. And, um, so I, I know that you have, and I thank you again. I want to thank you for, for your friendship, but also for everything you do for the enjoyment and, and the archives that you have. I've seen your archives and, uh, and the work that you're putting into this meeting. But I just wonder if you could comment on that early growth and just how remarkable it was that people were really short-timers, you know?

9:29

Moderator In LA we have a meeting called Life After 10, and you can't share there if you don't have 10 years of sobriety. And they don't ask me to share very often because every time I do, every time I speak, I say, "You know, by the way, when AA was founded, there were people with less than a year who were going off and founding AA in major cities." So anyway, no judgment on that at all. But uh, if you could comment on that early growth. I just find it so amazing. Not, not to go off on a tangent, but today, if you're sober for three years, you start a treatment center, so- Right ... you know, thank your- Yeah. What can I say? But, you know, the reality is this, Mac. You're right. It was a slow start, and it was in different areas. And, you know, there, in, in, it was Decatur? That, that was it. The community. Uh, Decatur. Decatur. It's right in the middle of Illinois. Okay. So, so there may have been a community right next to that, okay, that, that had already flourished, yet it hadn't gone over here.

9:49

Mike And, you know, that was the way AA grew. You know, so there may be one area within a city where they're having AA meetings, and it may not get to across town for three years just because they didn't have the, the people growing. They didn't have enough resentments to start the new meetings yet. You know, we, we often hear that, you know, that AA grew because somebody had a resentment and a coffee pot. Right. And, uh, you know, that, that really is a lot how the meetings started. The other thing is, is as the publication of The Big Book came out and, and more and more, uh, information was being made available through the press, people were getting in contact with AA. And the salespeople that, that were out calling on their clients and their customers and in their businesses were starting meetings and looking for meetings. So really, you know, when you think about it, somebody said to me the other day, they're like, "I don't know how, uh, how these newcomers can get sober with Zoom meetings." Yeah.

10:06

Mike And I think, my God, back in 1939, '40, '41, they were getting sober with a book, and that was it. And AA, AA was finding itself in all kinds of publications. I was looking at one today, uh, Mad Magazine, okay? Oh, yeah. And, uh, and in here there's an advertisement, okay, for AA. It's g- it's actually the back cover. I don't know if you can see that. Okay? Yeah. Well, yeah, I can. Well, the way my dad got sober, so there was an ad in our newspaper in town that the local AA group put in the newspaper, and it said, "If you know anybody with a drinking problem, uh, write to us," and it had a PO box number. Yeah. So that was in 1947. And my grandmother was living in Ohio, in the next two states over, and somebody sent her the ad, and she responded to the PO box and said, "My son is one of your town drunks. Can you help him?" And they went and got my dad and took him to his first meeting, and he never had another drink for 43 years. Wow. So.

10:25

Mike You know what I call that, Mac? That's a golden thread. That's a golden thread. Coincidence. Well, growing up, I, I grew up in a little town outside of Buffalo, New York. My dad got sober when I was a youngster, very young. His sponsor got sober in 1941. And I know you've heard me mention it, his sponsor was on the committee for the International in Cleveland in 1950. And these guys had created relationships, we're talking back in the '60s, okay, with the local, uh, court, uh, judges in the, in these communities- And the New York State Police ha- would drop, instead of giving somebody a citation or a ticket, they would actually drop people off at our house and put them to bed on the front porch. Okay? And in the morning my dad and his sponsor would take over and start doing their, their 12 step work. And they would take these guys to meetings. And, and my mom would, you know, God bless her, you know, clean up after them and, and make meals. And, and, uh, and I'll, I'll share the story.

10:43

Moderator I shared it, uh, last week or the week before about my little sister. We had seven kids in, in, in the family, and my little sister was probably around eight. And the, one of the drunks get dropped off, and he's sitting at the, at the kitchen table in the morning and he's just whining and carrying on and moaning, "Oh, I feel so embarrassed. I'm so ashamed of myself." And he's just carrying on. And finally, my sister Mary looks at him and says, "We've seen way worse than you." And simply, you know, I think about the ego deflation that Bill W. wanted and knew that we had. And, you know, that was a demonstration coming out of an eight-year-old. But that was the environment that I grew up in. So a, a lot of times the history is so meaningful to me just because of how I was indoctrinated into AA just growing up, and that was fascinating. So any other questions before we call it a, a night? Hey, Tim? That was great. Tim? Yeah. I'm here. Are you there? I'm here. Can, do you have cued up or somewhere real close Bill W.

11:03

Moderator reading A Vision for You that we could just close with tonight? I can do that. Cool. That would be really cool if you did that. Guys, I don't know if you've ever heard Bill W. read A Vision for You. Yeah. Yeah. He closed one of the meetings at the International in Cleveland in 1950 with this. All right. Here it is. Perhaps there is no better way at this time of parting for me to conclude than to read to you the last brief paragraph written in Alcoholics Anonymous 12 years ago. "Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellow. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the fellowship of the spirit and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the road of happy destiny. May God bless you and keep you until then." And I also, before we end today, want to just let you know that we are recording this meeting, but not the video even though, uh ...

11:21

Moderator So, so basically the audio recordings of these meetings will be available on Recovery Speakers. I don't want you to think that we're gonna put your pictures up there and that kind of stuff. We're not doing it. Um, I totally respect our traditions and, uh, or I respect you as well. So I'm thankful that you joined us and, uh, I hope you'll join us next week. Thank you. Thank you, Mike. Great meeting. You're welcome. Thank you. Thanks, Mike. Great meeting. Bye, Mike. Thank you. Thank you, Mike. Thank you, Mike. It was very informative. Wonderful. Thank you, Mike. Thanks, Mike. Thank you, Tim. Right on. Thank you, Tim. Thanks, Tim. Thank you, Tim. Good work, Tim. Yep. Thanks, Mike. Thanks, Tim. Thanks, Paul. Come on. All right. Bye bye, guys. Bye. Bye-bye. Thank you, Mike. Bye. Thank you. Thank you. Bye, everybody. Hey, that was very nice. I was gonna stay on and Zoom with you. I'm ... Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us.

11:38

Moderator We shall be with you in the fellowship of the spirit and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the road of happy destiny. May God bless you and keep you until then." And I also, before we end today, want to just let you know that we are recording this meeting, but not the video even though, uh ... So, so basically the audio recordings of these meetings will be available on Recovery Speakers. I don't want you to think that we're gonna put your pictures up there and that kind of stuff. We're not doing it. Um, I totally respect our traditions and, uh, or I respect you as well. So I'm thankful that you joined us and, uh, I hope you'll join us next week. Thank you. Thank you, Mike. Great meeting. You're welcome. Thank you. Thanks, Mike. Great meeting. Bye, Mike. Thank you. Thank you, Mike. Thank you, Mike. It was very informative. Wonderful. Thank you, Mike. Thanks, Mike. Thank you, Tim. Right on. Thank you, Tim. Thanks, Tim. Thank you, Tim. Good work, Tim. Yep. Thanks, Mike. Thanks, Tim. Thanks, Paul. Come on. All right. Bye bye, guys. Bye. Bye-bye.

11:57

Mike Thank you, Mike. Bye. Thank you. Thank you. Bye, everybody. Hey, that was very nice. I was gonna stay on and Zoom with you. I'm ...

The following is an AI-generated transcript. Minor errors may occur. The audio is the authoritative source.

Akron and Detroit’s Early AA Pioneers — Tuesday Night History Workshop — May 29, 2020

Akron and Detroit’s Early AA Pioneers — Tuesday Night History Workshop — May 29, 2020

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