History of Alcoholics Anonymous

In the early 1930s, the drunks of the day were shunned, locked away and discarded because it was assumed that they were choosing to drink. Dr. Silkworth was Bill Wilson’s doctor, and he was the first to realize and state that he believed that there are some people who have what he called “an allergy” to alcohol. That once they drank, they could not stop and that they craved the substance that was killing them. They had an “obsession of the mind and an allergy of the body.” He told Bill in the summer of 1934 that he was a hopeless alcoholic and that he was going to die, be put where he could not get to alcohol, or he had to find a way to stop. In December of that year, Bill had his life changing experience with God in Towns Hospital. He did not drink again. 

In May of 1935, he met Dr. Bob Smith in Akron Ohio. After an open and honest conversation, they agreed to support each other and reach out to help those similarly afflicted. Alcoholics Anonymous was born on June 10, 1935.

Sam Shoemaker led the Oxford Group in New York City Calvary Church where both Bill and Lois attended. Dr. Bob and Anne attended in Akron. They began to adapt the Oxford movement as the structure of their journey in sobriety. They embraced their basic principles that were ancient and universal. These principles are self-examination, acknowledgment of character defects, restitution for harms done, and working with others. They also acknowledged the paradox of regeneration: strength coming out from complete defeat and weakness, the loss of their old way as a condition for finding a new way of living. The Oxford four absolutes of honesty, purity, usefulness, and love also became foundational. These understandings became AA’s legacies of recovery, unity, and service. In 1937 AA separated from the Oxford Group to establish its own path.

Another powerful supporter was Father Ed Downing, S. J., who had a 20-year friendship with Bill. Bill worked the steps with him the first time. Bill 

discovered and received God’s Love, Grace, Mercy, and Forgiveness in this relationship. Fr. Ed was his spiritual sponsor and became an AA trustee. Fr. Ed also brought the correlation with the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, adding to the Oxford Group’s understanding of Christianity. These influences established the connection of Christianity and 12 Steps.

In 1938 the Alcoholics Anonymous Foundation was established, becoming the trusteeship for AA. John D Rockefeller Jr. gave $5000 to help the Foundation to get started. Then they voted to be self-supporting and not dependent on others who were not in the program. Also, in that year the 12 Steps were written with an important change. “God as we understood Him” was the language adapted, not Jesus, so that the door is open to all, not just professing Christians. And the Big Book was published. It was called the Big Book because the first edition had large print and was oversized. The nickname stuck through all the following editions. With each edition, the first section of history, explanations of the steps, and chapters devoted to helping the wives of the alcoholics and other important groups, were kept. The personal stories contributed have changed over time. 

In 1946 the 12 traditions were published. In 1949, The American Psychiatric Association recognized AA as the premier treatment option for alcoholics. Dr Harry Tiebout was the doctor who spearheaded this important recognition.

The AA movement grew by word of mouth as well as from an important article published on 3/1/1941 in the Saturday Evening Post. Jack Alexander of the magazine interviewed Bill and Dr Bob, and then wrote of the power of this new help for alcoholics. AA grew from about 200 to about 2000 very quickly. Today, millions of people throughout the world, in many languages have adapted the Steps to help themselves and others into recovery.