Subsequently, during a business trip to Akron, Ohio, Wilson was tempted to drink and realized he must talk to another alcoholic to stay sober. He phoned local ministers to ask if they knew any alcoholics. Norman Sheppard directed him to Oxford Group member Henrietta Seiberling, whose group had been trying to help a desperate alcoholic named Dr Bob Smith. Bill Wilson was an alcoholic who had ruined a promising career on Wall Street by his drinking.
The Experience Blog
Businessmen, traveling out of existing groups, were referred to these prospective newcomers. New groups started up and it was found, to the astonishment of everyone, that A.A.’s message could be transmitted in the mail as well as by word of mouth. By the end of 1939 it was estimated that 800 alcoholics were on their way to recovery.
Visit the online A.A. timeline and learn about our long history
But contemporary medicine has yet to develop a better plan. Had it not been for A.A.’s early friends, Alcoholics Anonymous might never have come into being. Could never have grown and prospered without many people.
How Did AA Begin? A Quick History
- By the time Dr. Bob passed away from a heart condition in 1951, it’s estimated AA had helped more than 40,000 alcoholics find sobriety.
- It’s been a constant force for good in the addiction treatment space.
- Following is a short history about the start of A.A.
- AA’s approach is to acknowledge the problem and follow the 12 steps Bill W.
- Brendan wrote about that, and it’s certainly true, and it limits exactly what we know about AA.
- The only way to know for sure whether A.A.
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- Meetings in Akron, before publication of the Big Book.
- In fact, Henrietta Seiberling, a member of Goodyear Tire’s founding family, was one of the people who insisted that Bill meet with Dr. Bob initially.
- We do not impose our experience with problem drinking on others, but we do share it when we are asked to do so.
- Studies done nearly 100 years after Bill W.
- In 1928, Dr. Robert Silkworth, known as Dr. Bob, was working as medical director of Charles B. Towns Hospital in New York City.
- Seiberling convinced Smith to talk with Wilson, but Smith insisted the meeting be limited to 15 minutes.
- Unity and functioning had been achieved and put into practice.
- And those who attended – those who became alcoholic and attended AA, remarkable recovery rates.
- The Eleventh Tradition states that our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films.
- That’s very important for many people very early on in their sobriety.
- So Abby offered his home as a closed meeting for alcoholics starting in May 1939, just one month after the publication of Alcoholics Anonymous (a.k.a. the “Big Book”).
By Buddy TBuddy T is a writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Because he is a member of a support group that stresses the importance of anonymity at the public level, he does not use his photograph or his real name on this website. Other studies have analyzed the effectiveness of peer support, in general, during substance use recovery and found that it contributed to a variety of improved outcomes.
Conference-approved literature indicating how members should introduce themselves at A.A. Meetings or whether it is necessary to do so at all. Fortunately, there are many different types of meetings for people from different backgrounds or with similar situations. The only way to know for sure whether A.A.
Spirituality
At first, Dr. Bob resisted meeting Bill. He’d known several men over the years who claimed to have a special insight into alcoholism, and he assumed meeting Bill would be a waste of time. He reluctantly agreed to give the man 15 minutes to say what he had to say. In almost every city in America, there’s probably an AA meeting happening right now. It’s one of the most well-known and historically successful recovery programs in the United States and beyond because of its focus on group accountability, support and following a concrete process.
