Aa history Lovers 2006 moderators Nancy Olson and Glenn F. Chesnut page
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off the mortgage on our home and make some needed improvements. The Foundation also granted Dr Bob and me each a royalty of 10% on the book Alcoholics Anonymous, our only income from AA sources. We are both very comfortable and deeply grateful." (LOH 62-66) December, the Grapevine carried a notice that an important new 48-page pamphlet titled "AA Traditions" was sent to each group and that enough copies were available for each member to have one free of charge. 1949 As plans for the first International Convention were under way, Earl T suggested to Bill W that the "Twelve Suggested Points for AA Tradition" would benefit from revision and shortening. (AACOA 213 says it occurred in 1947) Bill, with Earl's help, set out to develop the short form of the Twelve Traditions. (AACOA 213, PIO 334)
the AA Grapevine. The entire issue was dedicated to the Traditions in preparation for the forthcoming Cleveland Convention. Two wording changes were subsequently made to the initial version of the short form of the Traditions: "primary spiritual aim" was changed to "primary purpose" in Tradition 6, and "principles above personalities" was changed to "principles before personalities" in Tradition 12. (LOH 96) The date that these changes were adopted is difficult to determine precisely and appears to have occurred with the publication of the book "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions" in 1953. 1950 AA's 15th anniversary and 1st International Convention took place at Cleveland, OH from July 28-30, 1950 (AACOA 43, LOH 121, PIO 338). Bill W chronicled the proceedings in a September 1950 Grapevine article titled "We Came of Age" which is preserved in the book "The Language of the Heart." (LOH 117-124) The Traditions meeting of the Convention was held in the Cleveland Music Hall. Bill W was asked to sum up the 12 Traditions for the attendees. Bill did not recite either the short or long form of the Traditions as we know them today or as they were first published. Instead he paraphrased and summarized a variation of the Traditions that is preserved in the book "The Language of the Heart" (LOH 121). Following Bill's summation, he asked if anyone had any objections to the 12 Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous. Hearing none he offered the Traditions for adoption. The attendees unanimously approved their adoption by standing vote.
fine hour in that month of July 1950. Alcoholics Anonymous had passed it fifteenth milestone; its Second Legacy of Tradition was secure." 1952 In September, Al-Anon Family Groups (AFG) adopted and adapted the Twelve Traditions of AA. The version of the Traditions they used was the original wording of the short form of the Traditions that appeared in the November 1949 Grapevine. AFG Traditions continue to use the term "primary spiritual aim" as opposed to "primary purpose" in Tradition 6, and the term "principles above personalities" as opposed
to "principles before personalities" in Tradition 12. 1953 June, the book "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions" was published. Bill W described the work as "This small volume is strictly a textbook which explains AA's 24 basic principles and their application, in detail and with great care." Betty L and Tom P helped Bill in its writing. Jack Alexander also helped with editing. It was published in two editions: one for $2.25 ($15.50 today) for distribution through AA groups, and a $2.75 ($19 today) edition distributed through Harper and Brothers for sale in commercial bookstores. (AACOA ix, 219, PIO 354-356)
Louis, MO. Theme: Coming of Age. (AACOA viii, SM S2) Bill W claimed attendance of 5,000. It was actually closer to 3,000. On July 3, by resolution, Bill W and its old-timers turned over the stewardship of the AA society to the movement. The Conference became the Guardian of the Traditions and voice of the group conscience of the entire Fellowship. The resolution was unanimously adopted by the Convention by acclamation and was approved beforehand by the General Service Conference subject to approval by the International Convention. (AACOA ix, 47-48, 223-228) Note: this was one of two instances when the Conference did not convene in NYC. The Conference first convened in St Louis in late June and concluded on July 3. The 2nd edition Big Book was introduced at the international convention. 30 new personal stories were introduced. A new appendix was added to the Big Book containing the short and long form of the 12 Traditions. During the 1950's there was confusion in this appendix because it listed the short form of the Traditions that appeared in the November 1949 Grapevine and not the version that was contained in the 12and12 in 1953. Eventually, the wording of Tradition 6 was corrected in the 3rd printing of the 2nd edition Big Book and the wording of Tradition 12 was corrected in the 6th printing of the 2nd edition Big Book in 1963. 1957 Bill W, suggested, and the 1957 Conference approved, that the Conference Charter be amended to read: "But no change in article 12 of the Charter or in AA tradition or in the Twelve Steps of AA may be made with less than the written consent of three-quarters of the AA groups (SM S87).
"honest" from the term "honest desire to stop drinking" in the "AA Preamble." It also changed the term "AA has no dues or fees" to "There are no dues or fees for AA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions." The wording of the Conference advisory action can give the misleading impression that the Traditions were changed. The advisory action reads: "The General Service Conference recognize the original use of the word 'honest' before 'desire to stop drinking' and its deletion from the Traditions as part of the evolution of the AA movement. Any change to be left to the discretion of AA Publishing, Inc." The advisory action did not change the Traditions. AA legend will sometimes erroneously state that the word "honest" was removed from Tradition 3. Tradition 3, in either its long or short form, never contained the word "honest." The term "honest desire to stop drinking" comes from the Foreword to the 1st edition Big Book which still contains the term. 1976 Conference Advisory Action "It is resolved by the 1976 General Service Conference that those instruments requiring consent of three-quarters of the responding groups for change or amendment would include the Twelve Steps of AA should any such change or amendment ever be proposed." "In case a change is needed in the Twelve Traditions, the Twelve Steps, or the Six Warranties of Article 12, wherever the words "registered AA groups of the world", "registered groups" or "directory-listed groups" appear in the "AA Service Manual and Twelve Concepts for World Service" a bracketed sentence be inserted to state, "This would include all AA groups known to the General Service Offices around the world." The 1976 Conference Advisory Actions (and their predecessors) effectively make any notion of a change to the Steps, Traditions and Warranties (i.e. Article 12 of the Conference Charter) a virtual impossibility (even so much as adding or removing a comma). Cheers Arthur
From: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of John Lee Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2006 1:51 PM To: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [AAHistoryLovers] The Traditions/cross talk
Traditions developed as the result of "cross-talk", whether it was taking a job at Towns Hospital or considering a position as an "AA"
spokesman for the liquor industry. Cross- talk has a rich history in the Fellowship. It's been given an undeserved bad name by therapy-based practicioners in the treatment industry. john lee
where the Allegheny meets the Monongahela, to form the Ohio johncseibert I was recently asked about the text of tradition two in the 12x12. Specifically I was asked if I knew who it was Bill was referring to when he wrote: "Almost timidly, one of my friends began to speak." pg 137 Also they were curious as to why Bill mentions this story about being offered a position at Townes Hospital in the text of tradition 2 instead of either tradition 6 (Never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise etc.) or tradition 8 (Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional etc.) unless it's to emphasize the point of a "Loving God as he may express himself through our group conscience" being the guiding forcxe of A.A.
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From: Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/30/2006 3:38:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Perhaps our early timers did not think of "cross talk" as it is sometimes practiced these days.
angry
and exchanging. 2) Spontaneous ejaculation. Please don't be aroused. Ejaculation here means the
explosive outpouring of a sound or speech. These folks choose to interrupt the
meeting to demonstrate that they insist upon every speaker identifying themselves as alcoholic. So, when a newcomer or a really preoccupied member does not say, "My name is abc, and I am an alcoholic", these keepers of the faith (as they see it) shout forth with, "Who are you?" or "What's your name?". If the original contributor is not known in the meeting, it might be appropriate for the leader to make such an inquiry unobtrusively, or if they are known, they can be taken aside afterwards and enlightened. 3) Elaborating upon prior statements. It is very tempting to offer one's own experience pertaining to a question or an experience somebody else has just described in a meeting. If the meeting is smaller or most of the attendees know
each other, I think such exchanges are both appropriate and productive. I temper
my doing this, however, by avoiding public criticism or negativity - these I do in private, if ever. So, with our current chapter of AA history. Love, Thomas ----- Original Message ----- From: John Lee To: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2006 11:51 AM Subject: Re: [AAHistoryLovers] The Traditions/cross talk
Traditions developed as the result of "cross-talk", whether it was taking a job at Towns Hospital or considering a position as an "AA" spokesman for the liquor industry. Cross- talk has a rich history in the Fellowship. It's been given an undeserved bad name by therapy-based practicioners in the treatment industry. john lee
where the Allegheny meets the Monongahela, to form the Ohio johncseibert I was recently asked about the text of tradition two in the 12x12. Specifically I was asked if I knew who it was Bill was referring to when he wrote: "Almost timidly, one of my friends began to speak." pg 137 Also they were curious as to why Bill mentions this story about being offered a position at Townes Hospital in the text of tradition 2 instead of either tradition 6 (Never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise etc.) or tradition 8 (Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional etc.) unless it's to emphasize the point of a "Loving God as he may express himself through our group conscience" being the guiding forcxe of A.A. Can any of you learned folks answer these two questions?
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From: Shakey1aa@aol.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/29/2006 11:18:00 AM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Glenn, Please post the following response and attachment (from WAIA Archives)to clear up an inaccuracy. t/y shakey mike _________________________ Sally M. is the daughter of Marjorie M. and Churchill M. Churchill was Fitz's best friend and Marjorie is Jimmy B's sister. See attached from Wash. Area Intergroup Association Yis, Shakey Mike Gwirtz ___________________
Remembered notes from interview with Sally M. in Cumberstone, Md. Jimmy Burwell was Sally's Uncle. Fitz Mayo was her father's best friend." Above is cover from waia archives ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IN RESPONSE TO A COMMENT FROM KILROY: Good looking out. But speaking of inaccuracies, if I'm not mistaken and I don't think I am, Sally M. is the sister of Fitz M. not Jimmy B. I went to that workshop at the church about 6 or 7 years ago and she told the story. Kilroy W. 4021 Club Philadelphia PA [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 3620. . . . . . . . . . . . Passing of Jim Houck From: Cindy Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . 8/1/2006 9:28:00 AM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII James Houck got sober the day after Bill W. on 12/11/34 - so that makes 71.5 years. He was NOT an AA member tho. > > > > > HOUCK, SR., James W. On July 30, 2006, JAMES W. HOUCK, > SR.; beloved husband of the late Mary E. "Betty" Houck > (nee Brinley); loving father of James W. Houck, Jr. > and his wife Barbara, Frank W. Houck and his wife > Wendy and Bet-C Sammis and her husband Bud; cherished > grandfather of Janet Kines, James W. Houck, III, Beth > Svoboda, Patty Dawson, Heather and Mary Houck, Sharon > Hyde, Tonya Houck, Skip, Frank and Michael Sammis. > Also survived by 17 great-grandchildren. The family > will receive friends in the LEMMON FUNERAL HOME OF > DULANEY VALLEY, INC, 10 W. Padonia Road, Timonium, > 21093 on Thursday, 7-9 P.M. and Friday, 2-4 and 7-9 > P.M. Funeral services will be celebrated in the > funeral home on Saturday August 5 at 11 A.M. Interment > Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. A memorial service > will be celebrated in the Towson United Methodist > Church, 501 Hampton Lane on Saturday August 19 at 11 > A.M. Expressions of sympathy may be directed in Jim's > memory to the Rotary Club of Hunt Valley, James W. > Houck Foundation, Inc., C/O Rotary Club of Hunt > Valley, PO Box 94 Hunt Valley, MD 21030. > Published in the Baltimore Sun on 8/1/2006.
the 11th Step? From: jenny andrews . . . . . . . . . . . . 8/1/2006 1:14:00 PM
meditation. But why look in the crystal ball when you can read the book? Bill W. elaborates on Step Eleven meditation in his essay on Step Eleven in the 12 and 12. ___________________________ Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (bottom of page 98 to the top of page 102). IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 3622. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Passing of Jim Houck From: kilroy@ceoexpress.com> . . . . . . . . . . . . 8/1/2006 2:10:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Cindy, don't believe everything you read...Jim said that he was sober and leading the meeting at Calvary mission the day Bill walked in to his first mgt. _________________________ From: Cindy Miller To: aaHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] Passing of Jim Houck Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2006 09:28:53 -0400 James Houck got sober the day after Bill W. on 12/11/34 - so that makes 71.5 years. He was NOT an AA member thoough. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 3623. . . . . . . . . . . . Fwd: BB Authors, 3rd edition -- Sackville, Dublin, IR. "The Career Officer." From: funen99 . . . . . . . . . . . . 8/6/2006 6:01:00 PM
(p. 523 in 2nd, p. 517 in 3rd editions.) Heading: "A British officer, this Irishman -- that is, until brandy 'retired' him. But this proved only a temporary setback. He survived to become a mainstay of mainstay of A.A. in Eire." Sackville attended his first A.A. meeting on April 28, 1947, and never took another drink. He was a "retired" major from the British Army, in which he
served for twenty-six years. He had been discharged on medical grounds. This meant, of course, alcoholism. In a talk he gave in Bristol, England, in 1971,
he said he received a letter from the Army saying they had accepted his
resignation. But he didn't remember having sent it in. He was living with his parents in Dublin, existing on his retirement pay.
His long-suffering mother finally ordered him to pack his bags. He then
remembered seeing something about A.A. in the Evening Mail, and told her he
would try A.A. His parents agreed that if A.A. could help him he could live at home. But he would be on probation. He arrived at his first meeting that night, drunk on gin and doped up on Benzedrine and paraldehyde.
group in
Europe, founded by Conor Flynn in November of 1946. Conor had got sober in
Philadelphia three years earlier, and was on vacation in Ireland. It was
known as the First Dublin Group or The Country Shop Group, the name of the
restaurant where they met. Sackville found what looked like a large group
when he went to his first meeting. But it was the big Monday night open
meeting, to explain A.A. to newcomers and their families as well as doctors
and social workers. Getting off to a shaky start, the secretary and a dozen others got drunk in
the summer of 1947. Three remained sober, among them Sackville, who had
joined in April. They re-formed the group in August with Sackville as secretary. Sackville was a good organizer who had clear and definite ideas of what they should do. He suggest they switch the open public information meeting from Friday to Monday, the better to catch men coming off a weekend drunk. He also worked hard to get information about A.A. to the newspapers.
Sackville knew it was important to win the goodwill of the Catholic clergy. He convinced a professor of theology at St. Patrick's College, Mayhooth, to publish an article favorable to A.A. in the college paper The Furrow. Bill Wilson later referred to the publication of this article as an impressive step forward in A.A.'s relations with the churches. Bill Wilson visited them in 1950, and held a press conference in the Mansion
House (Lord Mayor's house). Many years later Jimmy R. took great pride in
showing the kitchen sink in his basement apartment into which Bill had
knocked his cigarette ash as they sat around and talked for hours following the press conference. Sackville, in his 1971 talk, spoke of what a great man Bill Wilson was.
to give
the group a sense of identity. A bimonthly group newsletter celebrating birthdays and group news, it also carried recovery sharing in a simple
unpretentious five-page format. He edited it for more than twenty- eight
years. Sackville updated his story for the March 1968 Grapevine. It was titled:
"Living the Program In All Our Affairs." He hoped that what he wrote
would not be taken as the view of an Angry Old Man. But he complained of those who give only lip service to the slogans and the steps. He urged realism, with its frequent reminders of humility; faith, anchored to some unchanging norm of goodness (God, as I understand him); atonement; patience; and thinking with spiritual discipline.
dry for
today and to come to meetings. He said the meetings were necessary, but
would not practice the Steps for anyone. Even the most meeting-minded member
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