The Springfield Seven

This “AA moment to remember” was the police raid on the Springfield, Missouri AA Clubhouse on August 24, 1948. Here are some of the sordid details of this dastardly deed:

The Springfield Police Department got an anonymous tip about “commercialized vice” at the AA Club, so Police staged an early morning raid complete with seven officers and four patrol cars. The next day’s newspaper headline stated “Details of the Great Clubhouse Raid: How Six Policemen Boldly Captured Seven Ex-Anonymous Poker Players” (they were ex-anonymous AA’s after the police got through with them). They netted approximately $28 in cash and chips from a 10-cent limit poker game. The game was played with chips, and the only money on the table was several dollars in change that had just been given to players who had purchased chips. The remainder of the money was in a basket beside the playing table. One AA gave this eyewitness account of the raid: “Three officers entered the room first – one of them shouted ‘Don’t touch that money! Don’t touch anything!’ The AA’s froze. ‘Playing poker,’ one officer exclaimed. ‘That,’ said a player, ‘is obvious.’ ‘A big game – LOOK AT ALL THOSE CHIPS!’” One of the AA’s tried to explain that they were 10-cent chips, but the officers weren’t listening. Then three additional officers charged into the room, and the six policemen escorted the seven men out. Four police cars waited outside the Club. One or two AA’s were put in each car and driven to the police station where they were booked. They were released only after posting a $350 cash bond. Later they were tried and convicted of “betting on games.” The incident was described as “a ludicrous display of authority.” It was in the newspaper for days – on the Front page, the editorial page, the “Talk of the Town” page, and the Letters to the Editor page. One newspaper reporter provided this Editorial comment: “Speaking frankly, we think that the AA raid was a horrible mistake on the part of the arresting officers. We think that they did not know where they were going in the first place; that when they arrived there, they did not know the meaning of ‘AA;’ that when they walked into the game, they did not recognize the players or conclude from their surroundings or their dress that they were persons of importance. Therefore, they were not disposed to listen to the efforts of the players to explain… Another reporter was even more emphatic in his denunciation of the police action: “I can’t think of any pinch which causes less embarrassment to the pinchees and more embarrassment to the pinchers than this dazzling episode in the history of Springfield law enforcement. As a blunder it was brilliantly conceived and beautifully executed. Sheer genius working in reverse with incredible skill.” The full names, ages, addresses, and occupations of the AA “criminals” were published in the paper. The “Springfield Seven” were: Ray D. – 38, 671 South Delusion, Golf Driving Range Operator William L. – 38, 1027 West High, Member of an Abstract Co. Orion S. – 43, 1419 E. Cairn, Restaurant Operator James H. – 31, 1411 ½ N. Broadway, Salesman Harold P. – 37, Route 9, Meat Cutter Harold B. – 34, 4206 North Grant, Septic Tank Cleaner Charles C. – 46, 507 W. Webster, Musician Among others, James H. and Ray and Ann D. wrote letters to the Editor. This was what James had to say: “Since I am one of the notorious gamblers captured in the daring raid, and considering the widespread interest shown in the case, I have decided that my eyewitness account of the story may be of some interest to you. As I try to reconstruct the scene, I think I had just called a 10-cent bet made by one of the more reckless players, when a voice about two feet behind me snarled “Don’t touch a thing.” I whirled around to see a cop with a flashlight in hand aimed directly at us. It looked like an eight-cell job. He held the seven of us at bay with this deadly weapon until two more Officers moved into position (and) had us completely surrounded…Since paying my fine, I have given the matter considerable thought, and I have drawn my own conclusions. The raid, although a masterpiece of police efficiency, was not only an utter waste of time, but outright stupid.” Ray and Ann D. wrote in and the newspaper quoted the following: “Speaking for ourselves and believing we express the sentiment of many other Springfield members of Alcoholics Anonymous, we’d like to say ‘thanks’ to personal friends of AA for a most kindly and good-natured understanding of our brief and unfortunate tangle with the city police – YES, we know where there is a poker game tonight, and – NO, we’re not going to file suit against the city to get back our poker chips, and – YES, we think the whole thing is silly and stupid and utterly ridiculous, but – NO, we don’t think any of the fellows and girls are so disturbed that they’re likely to take to the bottle, and – NO, we don’t think the reputation of the Club has been damaged, and – NO – most emphatically NO – we do not think that we personally have been embarrassed by the occurrence…You see, AA to us is the way we live – or rather the way we try to live, since we are hardly likely to attain all of the goals of AA in one lifetime. AA is sobriety – but AA also is self-respect and respect for and understanding of others. AA is the restoration of old friendships and the formation of new ones. AA is the reconstruction of old ideals with a new hope for their eventual reality. AA is a purpose to be worked toward, with the assurance that there will be friendly and adequate help along the way. If you understand in some small measure what AA has meant to us, you will see that we would be extremely ungrateful if we did not welcome every opportunity to identify ourselves with the organization – to those who may need its help, to any who are interested in it from any standpoint whatsoever, and to the general public when the occasion indicates it. In the present case, our anonymity has been eliminated by the city police, but that is certainly a minor matter.” You can see that the police raid provided the early Springfield AA’s with the opportunity to demonstrate that “Love and tolerance of others is our code.”

Source: “But, For The Grace of God…How Intergroups & Central Offices Carried the Message of A.A. in the 1940s” by Wally P.