Minnesota AA History
 

Alf's Story
 

Alf is an old timer in AA, and his story traces his struggle with alcoholism and the beginnings of AA in Minnesota. A great story, and the historical background of AA's growth in Minnesota from one person to what it is today is fascinating!

The Foundation, Progress and Principles of the Washington Temperance Society
 

Written in 1842, this page details the beginning of the Washingtonians, an organization that AA derives it roots from. Provides a vast amount of information and resources on the subject of Alcoholics Anonymous ...experience the history ...lest we forget!

The following, rather long, extract describes the Washingtonians and one of their star speakers as they were seen from the perspective of the latter part of the 19th century--years after their decline to little more than a fond memory in the minds of temperance advocates. The extract is from The Temperance Reform and its Great Reformers by Rev. W.H. Daniels, A.M., published 1878.

The Gabriel Heatter Broadcast--April 1939
 

The first national exposure for Alcoholics Anonymous came with the April 25, 1939 "We The People" broadcast. Gabriel Heatter's radio program was a tremendously popular program that was tuned in by millions of people. Morgan R., the AA member who spoke on the program, was expected to launch sales of the newly published book, Alcoholics Anonymous. How Morgan was prepared for his three-minute talk, and the resulting book sales are described in the A.A.W.S. publication Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age on pages 174-175.

T-Shirts, posters, coffee mugs, journals and more with a reproduction of a 1930's postcard of the Mayflower Hotel in Akron, Ohio, where Bill made that first phone call and AA was born.

Mayflower Hotel Journal

Mayflower Hotel T-Shirt

Mayflower Hotel Mini Poster

These articles appeared in the main Cleveland newspaper, the Plain Dealer, just five months after the first A.A. group was formed in Cleveland. The articles resulted in hundreds of calls for help from suffering alcoholics who reached out for the hope that the fledgling Alcoholics Anonymous offered.  The thirteen reliable members of the Cleveland group handled as many as 500 calls in the first month following the appearance of Davis' articles. The following year Cleveland could boast 20 to 30 groups with hundreds of members

Before we had the "12 by 12" this little booklet was used as a study guide by many groups. A later, expanded version was published until quite recently.

An excerpt from the book Don't Be Afraid! written by Edward Spencer Cowles, M.D. and published in 1941. From today's perspective some of this material may seem shocking, and yet, pathetically humorous. This physician treated "chronic alcoholics" with this method over a span of nearly 30 years.

Written by Bill W., this article appeared in the New York State Journal Of Medicine in August, 1944.

Alcoholics Anonymous in a Postwar Emergency

Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, Vol. 6, No. 2, Sept. 1945

Letter written by Bill W. read at the 105^th Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, Montreal, Quebec, May 23-27, 1949

The Saturday Evening Post published a second, glowing article about Alcoholics Anonymous. Coming just fifteen years after the founding of A.A., this article is a fascinating snapshot of the early days of the Fellowship.

Article by Bill W. written in Cleveland, Ohio in July, 1950

Dr. Bob's Last Message

Delivered at the first international conference of Alcoholics Anonymous at Cleveland, Ohio in 1950

A talk given by Dr. Bob and Bill in October of 1950 proposing the formation of  "The General Service Conference of Alcoholics Anonymous" – a small body of State and Provincial A.A. Delegates meeting yearly, who could assume direct responsibility for the guidance of the A.A. General Service Headquarters at New York City.

From the April 1951 Grapevine

Summary of Bill W.’s talk at the opening session of the General Service Conference in 1951, where Bill discussed the history of AA  services.

A meeting was held at the 24th Street Club House in memory of Dr. Bob in November of 1952. A recording of Dr. Bob’s last talk was played and a portrait of Dr. Bob was unveiled. Bill W. then addressed the meeting, and this document records his words.

A talk given by Bill W. in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1954

Talk given by Bill W. to the Manhattan Group in New York City in 1955 where Bill declares that AA has come of Age.

A excellent talk given by Bill W. in 1960 detailing the history of Alcoholics Anonymous and Bill's friendship with Father Ed, a recovering alcoholic.

Swiss psychologist & psychiatrist -Jan 23, 1961 A reference is made on page 26 & 27 of the Big Book.

The January 1963 issue of Harpers carried an article which harshly criticized A.A. This was only the first of several articles which appeared in national magazines in 1963 and 1964--including this one in the "Post". As a result, A.A. took its own inventory at the 1963 General Service Conference

Comments by Bill W. from the closing of the 1964 General Service Conference in New York.

A.A. members can soberly ask themselves what became of the 600,000 alcoholics who approached the Fellowship during the past 30 years but "who did not stay," Bill W., surviving co-founder, suggested in a moving address to the 1965 Conference at its closing session.

Guest House, Lake Orion, Mich., 1968

Large site containing much historical information on Akron, the birthplace of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Back to Basics

The primary objective of Back to Basics is to provide the recovery community with meeting formats that are historically accurate and replicate those conducted in the 1940'and 1950's when A.A. experienced a 50-75% recovery rate from alcoholism.  For the most part, these formats have been lost to the fellowship. After many years of research and numerous old-timer interviews, it has become clear that there was more to the "Original" A.A. program than just Beginners' Meetings.(And let us once again state that Open Discussion Meetings were NOT part of the "Original" program.)

Dick B's Materials On Early AA History

Dick B.'s titles and articles cover each of the following six major spiritual roots of early Alcoholics Anonymous in detail: The Bible, Quiet Time, The teachings of the Rev. Sam Shoemaker, The Oxford Group's life-changing program, Anne Smith's spiritual journal, and The Christian literature of the day. His books and articles show specifically how the original principles which made early Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) so successful in the 1930's and early 1940's can be used with the Big Book and modern Twelve Step programs to produce a similar success rate today.

Provides a vast amount of resources on the subject of Alcoholism and Recovery, especially A.A. history, Big Book online, downloads and much more - half GB of info.

Stepping Stones

In 1979, some nine years before she died, Lois created the Stepping Stones Foundation. The Foundation was to maintain and preserve Stepping Stones in perpetuity. In addition to caring for Stepping Stones, Lois wanted the Foundation to do, in her words, "good deeds" in the field of alcoholism. To that end, Stepping Stones has a dual mission: To contribute to the knowledge and understanding of the disease of alcoholism and its effect on the family and society and to preserve Stepping Stones and its historic archives for AA and Al-Anon members and those interested in alcoholism education and research.