Bill W. Meets Dr. Bob And A.A. Is Founded

The story of A.A.’s founding, on June 10, 1935 at the home of Dr. Robert H. Smith and his wife Anne at 855 Ardmore Avenue in Akron, Ohio, has two separate, distinct, and very different roots. The first involves William Griffith Wilson (who is known to AAs as Bill W.). Bill was born and raised in East Dorset, Vermont. His grandfather Willie Wilson had a conversion experience and never drank again. Bill had been involved in the East Congregational Church and in daily chapel as a youngster, but soon became a classic drunk. Propelled by his friend Ebby Thacher of Albany, New York, and by his psychiatrist Dr. William Silkworth, Bill went to Calvary Rescue Mission in New York, continued to drink, but only a few days later called on the “Great Physician” for help, and had his famous conversion experience at Towns Hospital. After which, Bill never drank again. Bill gained a firm conviction that conversion could produce the cure of alcoholism. His message never resonated with his early listeners on the East Coast. And now we turn to Dr. Bob. As a youngster in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, Bob said he had received excellent training in the Bible; and the whole community was then alive with conversions, revivals, Bible study, prayer meetings, Sunday school attendance, and Christian Endeavor activity. But, when Bob left St. Johnsbury to attend Dartmouth, he soon also became a classic drunk Yet years later, Bob brought with him to Akron, Ohio his deep recollections of his Christian upbringing, Bible study, prayer meetings, conversions, and training. But he continued to drink excessively. The roots converged when Bill Wilson, who had achieved sobriety in late 1934, came to Akron on an ill-fated business deal. Bill had been associated with the Oxford Group in New York; and Dr. Bob had been connected with the Groups since the famous Oxford Group meetings in Akron in 1933. Though Dr. Bob liked the Oxford Group people, he remained a drunk until Henrietta B. Seiberling of Akron convened at meeting at the home of inventor T. Henry Williams in Akron. At its close, Dr. Bob was invited to pray; and the entire group knelt on the carpet and prayed for Dr. Bob’s recovery. Another wind was blowing, for Bill Wilson knew, from his Oxford Group experience, that he would get drunk if he didn’t find a drunk to help. He was put in touch with Henrietta Seiberling through the efforts of Dr. Walter Tunks of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Bill told Henrietta he was a rum hound from New York and a member of the Oxford Group and needed to talk to a drunk. Henrietta—remembering the prayers for Dr. Bob—exclaimed that Bill Wilson was “manna from heaven.” She arranged for a reluctant Dr. Bob to meet with an eager Bill Wilson at her Gate Lodge home at Seiberling estate. Some six hours later, the two men emerged convinced that if they carried the message of conversion, of the medical incurability of alcoholism, and of the availability of the power of God, they could help others to recovery. Though Dr. Bob got drunk one more time and was nursed back to sobriety by Bill, Dr. Bob became determined to get well and help others; and he too never drank again. A.A. has dated its founding from the alleged date of Dr. Bob’s last drink—June 10, 1935. And within a matter of days, Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith had carried their message to Akron atto
ey Bill Dotson—also a seemingly hopeless drunk. Dotson asked for God’s help and immediately recovered, marking the founding of the first A.A. group—Akron Number One. Bill had proclaimed to Dotson’s wife that the Lord had cured him of his terrible disease and that he just wanted to keep telling others about it. Bill Dotson said that this phrase had become the golden text of A.A. for him and others. The resultant recovery program involved several simple points, derived largely from Dr. Bob’s upbringing in St. Johnsbury, Vermont—a training not unlike the training Bill Wilson had received as a youth in East Dorset, Vermont. Almost all its basic ideas came from the Bible. It included: (1) Abstinence. (2) Reliance on the Creator and Christian conversion. (3) Obedience to God’s will by walking in love and eliminating sinful conduct. (4) Growing in fellowship with God through Bible study, prayer, seeking guidance, and study of literature. (5) Helping other alcoholics to get straightened out. To these five fundamentals were added a required initial hospitalization at Akron City Hospital, frequent housing at the homes of Bob and others, daily Quiet Time meetings with Anne Smith at Ardmore Avenue, and wide circulation of Christian literature as well as study of the Book of James, Jesus’ sermon on the mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. In about two years, about 50% of the first serious forty had achieved continuous sobriety; and another 25% accomplished the same after a relapse.nndickb@dickb.com
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