Aa history Lovers 2004 moderators Nancy Olson and Glenn F. Chesnut page

impossible to get alcohol in the quantities he needed when he was behind

bars. So while he was at Michigan City, he stayed off prison booze and used

homemade drugs instead, fearsome mind-bending substances prepared by prison

"chemists" from cleaning chemicals and things like that.
"And I don't really give a damn whether you're an alcoholic or not, whether

you're an addict of any form -- any form of addiction. If you take that

first line and change it [to say, 'We admitted we were powerless over

WHATEVER WE ARE STUCK ON,' and] try to work with somebody who has a like

problem, and follow down through the inventory steps into the knowledge and

experience with God, you can get free of that problem. 'Cause you won't need

it. You just won't need it any more.
"What it done for me, was helped get it possible to do the time. I'm still

doing time. I'm sent for doing time: God's time NOW.

now, soon as I wanted, and it kept me caged so I couldn't do nothing!

meet a few nice people, and we have a nice dinner together, and somehow life

is rich and rewarding. That's it: it helped me to do time."
================================================
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
++++Message 2067. . . . . . . . . . . . EARLY A.A. PRISON GROUP (1944), Part

3 of 6

MICHIGAN CITY

"Alcoholics Anonymous as a Correctional Technique," The Prison World,

Official Publication American Prison Association and National Jail

Association, Vol. 14, No. 4 (July-August 1952), pp. 12-14 and 31.

when the A.A. group was started there -- it had now become one of the two

most famous A.A. prison groups in the United States. He wrote this article

in 1952; eight years had passed since the A.A. group had been started at his

prison, and he had now been converted to a complete believer in the program

-- a highly vocal friend of A.A.'s whose enthusiasm was only surpassed by

his occasional ignorance of what the principles and traditions actually

meant.
One of the more outrageous suggestions he made in this article was for

parole officers to attend A.A. meetings regularly, both within prison and

outside. If anybody ever dreamed up a better way of totally stultifying the

open and honest exchange of thoughts and feelings at an A.A. meeting it

would be hard to imagine!!!

scrapbook belonging to C. W. Mackelfresh, Secretary of the Fellowship Group,

Indiana State Prison, Post Office Box 41, Michigan City, Indiana. The

inch-thick scrapbook contains a number of valuable archival documents

dealing with the prison A.A. program in 1952. This book was donated to our

archival project by Ed C. -- Ed and his wife Carla are A.A. members from the

Elkhart, Indiana, area. Ed believes the scrapbook had been saved by his

grandfather, Willard C., who had been one of the founders of A.A. in Elkhart

during the 1940's.
Prison World editor's note at beginning of article: Upon request of the

editors, Warden Alfred F. Dowd of the Indiana State Prison, Michigan City,

prepared the following comment based on the recent First Regional Conference

of Alcoholics Anonymous Prison Groups held at the Indiana State Prison. In

attendance were many outstanding wardens and correctional personnel, and the

group was honored by the presence of Governor Henry F. Schricker of Indiana.

jurisdiction, there is a great and gratifying growth of interest in the

rehabilitation of alcoholic inmates. This broadening hope for alcoholics has

also reached out to the city and county jails, road camps and other levels

of penal institutions to which alcoholics are sentenced. As a direct result

of proved successes, the Alcoholics Anonymous program has been inaugurated

in 134 prisons and penal institutions, an increase of 63 during the last

12-month period.

program to the alcoholic inmates of San Quentin, the AA group was formed at

the Indiana State Prison. For most the intervening eight years, I have

watched with considerable interest the influence of the AA precepts and

philosophy on inmate life. At first, we, the institution, could not fully

understand what Alcoholics Anonymous was all about, so we went content to

simply sit and watch. That point of view could be expected when we consider

how few outside the top medical profession and AA members themselves

possessed an understanding of the alcoholic malady and its effective

treatment.

had made little progress, despite the fact that, through widened education,

a vigorous assault was being made in combating alcoholism, our fourth major

public health problem.

The World Health Organization, a United Nations agency, created a

sub-committee on alcoholism; 39 states and the District of Columbia passed

alcoholic legislation offering medical care, research and rehabilitation.

The Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. recognized alcoholism and gave

Alcoholics Anonymous wholesale approval in its advertising. The American

Medical Association issued a general statement to physicians accepting

responsibility of the problems of alcoholism. Industry became seriously

concerned with alcoholism and many plants set up special programs to reclaim

alcoholic workers and aid the manpower shortage by cutting down absenteeism

and accidents. Society became awakened to the growing destruction of family

and community life caused by the alcoholic. It was then that many

theologians, philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, employers and

political scientists

approached AA to see how its principles and structure might fit into their

fields of work and meditation.

result of this universal, broadened education, we penologists also resolved

to cope with it to the best of our abilities, the same as we do with other

disorders coming within our sphere of jurisdiction. Our interest at the

Indiana State Prison intensified and we began a comprehensive study of the

AA program and its relative merit in prison environment. As a result we

found, in almost every instance, that AA is the greatest rehabilitation

program ever inaugurated behind the walls.

sincerely and honestly embraced the AA program, became quiet, orderly

inmates. The self-discipline of the AA group was by far more effective than

other forms of corrective treatment we had used in these cases.

found that some boasted larger membership than other prisons of equal inmate

population. We also learned that the ratio of men who entered inside groups

and continued with the AA program while incarcerated varied, in most cases,

as did the percentage of AA parolees who continued with the AA program when

released. We became aware that some parole officers were more fortunate than

others in their work with the alcoholic parolee.
These and other variations came to light during our research, and thus it

became imperative that all prison groups should pool their common

experiences with the AA program and share them with one another for the

common good.

Prison Groups of Midwest States was formulated, and to everyone

participating it proved a highly enlightening and educational experience. We

discovered that prison administrators had barely tapped the great AA

reservoir of dynamic power and help available to aid in work with the

alcoholic prisoner. We visioned for the first time the many overall benefits

to be derived by putting the program on a practical basis. We, as well as

the other prisons which participated, profited by this mutual exchange of

experience and found ways to improve the AA structure at ISP. These changes

will gradually be made until the program is permanently set up as a

substantial part of our inmate welfare work.
Rules which conflicted with AA traditions
kept groups from being effective
A great many of the differences in our findings were attributable to the

restrictions and rules of each prison and their accompanying influence upon

the manner in which the program functioned. Our experience at ISP is that

the AA program is a self-contained program, and unlike other rehabilitation

programs which can be processed by varying supervisory opinions and dogma,

the only way for AA to flourish and properly function in any prison

environment is within the framework of the AA 12 Steps and 12 Traditions.

During the past 15 months we have proceeded, hesitatingly at first, to relax

a few prison rules which were as old as the prison itself. To our deep

gratification, nothing unusual happened, except the inmate AA cherished and

zealously guarded these small privileges. We have continued to further grant

more privileges to the AA group as they earn and deserve them, and the

spirit of honest cooperation on the part of the inmate holds deep

significance for us.

in the conference had like experiences and not one reported a violation of

any privilege accorded their respected AA group. The State Prison of

Southern Michigan, Jackson, Mich., which could not actively participate

because of recent disturbances, reported, however, that not one single

member of their AA group was involved in the recent rioting.

4 of 6

MICHIGAN CITY

the conference is a composite one and the many direct benefits will become

apparent in the days ahead. The four morning panel meetings were, in

reality, full and open discussion periods on problems that seem to be common

to all prison AA groups. Here are some of the topics discussed, in brief:
WARDENS' MEETING
1. Outside literature for inside AA groups.
2. The value of inmate AA publications.
3. What part officialdom whould take in active participation and supervision

of their AA groups.

meeting as compared to only one large weekly meeting.

the program in prison environment. As an alternate it was suggested that

selection could be made by officials from a panel of men submitted by the

entire group.

advantages of good outside leadership.

individual state and major cities surrounding.

Joliet plan of appointing a civilian AA member as a full-time coordinator of

their AA group. He stressed the many advantages of this type of setup,

particularly its value with working in conjunction with outside groups. He

said that, with the help of the AA Joliet Committee of the Illinois

Fellowship of Alcoholic Prisoners, the coordinator was chosen and would

continue to be, as any other method would be a detriment. He cited that

Joliet had early recognized that any money needed and available for the use

of the AA program would have to be without strings and without

administrative interference. Governor Schricker of Indiana also commented at

this meeting that the AA work was too important to be cramped for the want

of a little money for any purpose.

created new plans for the AA program within the prisons. These plans will

gradually unfold in the near future.
A part of the overall plan, as visioned here in Indiana as a result of the

conference, will become a reality on June 26 when we form the Indiana

Fellowship of Alcoholic Prisoners. The Indiana institutions which will

actively participate in the benefits of this fellowship include: the Indiana

State Prison, Michigan City; the U.S. Penitentiary, Terre Haute; the Indiana

Reformatory, Pendleton; the Indiana State Farm, Greencastle, and the Indiana

Women's Prison, Indianapolis. A solid core of 23 Citizens of AA,

representing 21 AA groups in Indiana, will serve as the planning committee,

with an ultimate fellowship roster of 200 to 300 other Citizens of AA. Full

details of the Indiana Fellowship of Alcoholic Prisoners, as well as the

already existing Illinois Fellowship, are available for other interested

prisons.
PAROLE OFFICERS' MEETING

their localities was unanimously endorsed and approved. J. C. Copeland,

director of the Division of Corrections, and Maurice O. Hunt, administrator

of the Department of Public Welfar of Indiana; Joseph D. Lohman, chairman of

the Illinois Board of Parole; and Glenn R. Klopfenstein, chief of Probation

and Paroles in Ohio, have advocated, and in some instances have begun,

indoctrination program on alcoholism and AA for parole officers.
Parole officers should attend AA meetings
Parole officers were urged to attend AA meetings inside the prison, as well

as AA meetings in free society, to learn the nature of the work which the

alcoholic AA inmates are doing to prepare themselves for readjustment upon

release. It was agreed that this integration of parole officers with AA

inmates should encourage better understanding on the part of both as to

their mutual and common problem. (Walter C. Hock, parole supervisor for

northern Indiana, was guest speaker at the June 8 AA meeting at ISP. The

many benefits to be derived from continuing such association were apparent

after this first appearance.)
The problem of parole rules prohibiting
any association with former felons
The value of enlisting the help of an AA parolee who is making the program

work in a substantial way, to aid the new alcoholic parolee, was also

discussed and taken under advisement. The merit of the plan was recognized,

but, as permitted association of ex-inmates is prohibited by provisions in

existing parole rules, no definite action could be taken.
(We would like to mention that several other institutions have permitted

former inmates to visit with outside AA groups and have found this

experiment most beneficial. Wallkill Prison in New York, and the Westchester

County Penitentiary at East View, New York, have both made use of this

procedure. Wardens Wallack and Brown are continuing this practice with

selected former inmates. The Editors).

release because of the stigma attached to his having served time. The

genuine interest of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of citizens of AA who daily

visit the alcoholic prisoners in jails and prisons everywhere is of

immeasurable value in removing that stigma. To have society accept a part of

the ever increasing load of prisoner rehabilitation is eviden[ce] that here,

at long last, is the help that prison administration has been needing so

badly.
The outside AA s, by their attendance at inside meetings, offer the inmate

AA a human understanding, a companionship and an acceptance that he had long

forgotten existed. This integration instils hope, faith and confidence in

the inmate and holds definite promise for his future well-being upon

release. These men, in the most part business and civic leaders, offer wise

counseling and understanding, based on their kinship of common suffering,

and because of this fact, there are no class barriers.

barred windows comes from an old AA recipe for successful accomplishment --

man hours of persistence. And they say that each meeting with their

incarcerated fellow-men reminds them of an old familiar motto which hangs in

every AA meeting room. It reads . . . "But, for the Grace of God!"
The Indiana State Prison's ties with the outside AA s and AA groups will be

strengthened and the fullest use made of their tremendous help through the

formation of the Indiana Fellowship of Alcoholic Prisoners.
The significance of the conference just held
At the beginning of his talk at the afternoon conference meeting, Governor

Schricker said, "This conference has been the highlight of my official

career . . ." I, too, can say that it was indeed a privilege and a highlight

in my 30 years in penal work. It was inspiring to witness this gathering of

authorities and free world society, to see them offering in true Christian

charity their wholehearted, unbiased help and encouragement to their less

fortunate fellow-man, the alcoholic prisoner. Here, without guard

supervision, 800 free and imprisoned men had gathered for but one common

purpose. The tavern owner, the bartender, the police officer, the

prosecutor, the judge, the sheriff, the warden, the parole board member, the

parole officer, the Governor, and free society from all walks of life and

eight midwestern states, from beginning to end, the people and the agencies

which are directly concerned in the life of an alcoholic prisoner,

were represented. Where before has such a comparable and significant meeting

taken place and under what other auspices could it be possible?
I honestly believe that through good leadership, both inside and outside,

the Alcoholics Anonymous program should and will become an integral part of

every prison system. It most certainly will prove to be our greatest ally in

combating the growing problem of alcoholism and its indirect cause for

crimes resulting in prison sentences of all types. This is of great portent

when we consider that over 60 per cent of all men entering admit to an

excessive use of alcohol.
The prison administrators and other authorities who attended the conference

now see only a wide, clear road ahead for the AA program as it unfolds

behind prison walls and thence into the free world. We vision the day, in

the not too distant future, when Alcoholics Anonymous, through closely-knit

co-ordination of the efforts of prison administrators, parole authorities,

judges, free society, Citizens of AA, the alcoholic's family and the

alcoholic himself, will establish new concepts of penal work and new heights

of prisoner redemption and salvage.

sincere and well-intentioned people within the criminal justice system who

admired and respected what A.A. was able to accomplish, but whose immediate

response was to attempt to co-opt A.A. and turn it into just another of the

cogs in their own machinery. Judges who nowadays send people to A.A.

meetings under court order, and counselors at treatment centers who want to

sit in on closed A.A. meetings, come out of the same mindset. Non-alcoholics

have lived lives so different from that of alcoholics that they simply

cannot understand exactly how and why A.A. must remain an entity apart, with

no outside involvements or linkages whatever, in order to accomplish what it

does do so well.
================================================
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
++++Message 2069. . . . . . . . . . . . EARLY A.A. PRISON GROUP (1944), Part

5 of 6

MICHIGAN CITY

protest against what Warden Alfred F. Dowd was doing with his regional

conference there in 1952, Harry Stevens resigned from his role as principal

outside sponsor of the Michigan City Prison A.A. group, the job he had

faithfully carried out since the program was begun in 1944.
In the following letter, dated June 18, 1952, Harry wrote to C. W. "Mac"

Mackelfresh and explained his reasons for doing do. The letter was received

at the warden's office at the Indiana State Prison at Michigan City on June