Aa history Lovers 2006 moderators Nancy Olson and Glenn F. Chesnut page
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member if he says so - we exclude no one; that every AA Group may manage its own affairs as it likes, provided surrounding groups are not harmed thereby; that we AAs have but a single aim, the carrying of our message to the alcoholic who still suffers; that in consequence we cannot finance, endorse or otherwise lend the name 'Alcoholics Anonymous' to any other enterprise, however worthy; that AA, as such, ought to remain poor, lest problems of property, management and money divert us from our sole aim; that we ought to be self-supporting, gladly paying our small expenses ourselves; that AA should remain forever non-professional, ordinary 12th Step work never to be paid for; that, as a Fellowship, we should never be organized but may nevertheless create responsible Service Boards or Committees to insure us better propagation and sponsorship and that these agencies may engage fulltime workers for special tasks; that our public relations ought to proceed upon the principle of attraction rather than promotion, it being better to let our friends recommend us; that personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and pictures ought to be strictly maintained as our best protection, against the temptations of power or personal ambition; and finally, that anonymity before the general public is the spiritual key to all our Traditions, ever reminding us we are always to place principles before personalities, that we are actually to practice a genuine humility. This to the end that our great blessings may never spoil us; that we shall forever live in thankful contemplation of Him who presides over us all." Following his recitation, Bill then asked if anyone objected. No one did. Bill then offered them for adoption and the attendees approved them unanimously by standing vote.
1949 issue of the Grapevine. Many folks think the short form of the Traditions, as we know them today, were approved in 1950 at Cleveland but that's not true. Two wording changes were subsequently made to the November 1949 short form version: the term "primary spiritual aim" was
changed to "primary purpose" in Tradition Six, and the term "principles above personalities" was changed to "principles before personalities" in Tradition Twelve. The short form version we use today appears to have been Conference-approved with publication of the 12and12 in 1953. In 1952, Al-Anon Family Groups adopted and adapted the 1949 version for their version of the Traditions which still uses the earlier wording. Bill W's notation that "Six old-time stalwarts, coming from places far flung as Boston and San Diego, beautifully reviewed the years of AA experience which had led to the writing of our Tradition" does not explicitly mention that the 6 speakers reviewed 2 Traditions each. The impression I have (and it's only an impression) is that they spoke about the Traditions in general. If you have a source that confirms that they talked about 2 Traditions each, I'd be most grateful to find out what it is. In a May 1951 Grapevine article, T.C. from Winnipeg Canada noted that "You journey to the First International Conference at Cleveland, to hear the Traditions confirmed. You do not hear the Traditions confirmed. Six fine looking men, from varying walks of life, with varying ages of sobriety - interpreted. Bill summarized: The Traditions are lessons gained in experience, written physically by his hand, actually by the Group Conscience; he thanked God that he had never been allowed to assume a mantle of leadership or authority. Then you found that you had risen to your feet with every other person there, and were adding your little bit, to the thunderous and steady applause. No - you did not hear the Traditions confirmed. You felt them confirmed."
period of years on 38rpm LP records. The July 1951 Grapevine carries a brief article that states:
Conference in Cleveland, 1950, on sale at your General Service Office. The Big Meeting (four sides of two Long Playing Records) Dr. Bob and Bill speaking, sells for $8.50. The Traditions Meeting (four sides of two LP records) with Bill and six other speakers, sells for $7.00. Both meetings ordered together are $15.00. I'm unable to determine if those LPs ever found their way on to audiotapes or are available over the internet on the many web sites that make historic AA recordings available. If you find a source where the talks have been digitized, I'd also appreciate your letting AAHistoryLovers know about it.
Arthur
From: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of abigapple2002 Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 12:16 PM To: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] First World Conference transcripts
had one speaker talk about two traditions in each talk. I was wondering if anyone might know how to find transcripts or tapes of those talks. Thank you very much. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 3677. . . . . . . . . . . . RE: How to identify 1st printing 1st edition Big Books From: ArtSheehan . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/4/2006 4:15:00 PM
Big Book. The covers of all other printings, except for the 4th printing, were in various shades of blue. Also on the title page, under the title "Alcoholics Anonymous" if the subtitle states "The story how one hundred ..." it's a 1st printing. On April, 1935 - 4,730 copies of the 1st edition of "Alcoholics Anonymous" were published at a selling price of $3.50 ($46 in today's dollars). The printer, Edward Blackwell, president of Cornwall Press, was told to use the thickest paper in his shop. The large, bulky volume became known as the "Big Book" and the name has stuck ever since. The idea behind the large size was to convince the alcoholic he was getting his money's worth. Ray C (whose Big Book story is "An Artist's Concept") designed the "circus color" dust jacket. The book had 8 roman and 400 Arabic numbered pages. The Doctor's Opinion started as page 1 and the basic text ended at page 174 not 164. The manuscript story of an Akron member titled "Ace Full - Seven - Eleven" was dropped (reputedly, because he was not too pleased with changes made to the first drafts of the Steps and text). 29 stories were included (10 from the east coast, 18 from the mid-west and 1 from the west coast which was ghost written by Ruth Hock).
the 1st edition Big Book: In March 1941, in the 2nd printing, the wording of Step Twelve changed. The term "spiritual experience" was changed to "spiritual awakening" and "as the result of these steps" was changed to "as the result of those steps." The story "Lone Endeavor" (of Pat C from CA, ghost written by Ruth Hock) was removed. Appendix II "Spiritual Experience" was added. Many members thought they had to have a sudden, spectacular spiritual experience similar to the one Bill had in Towns Hospital. The appendix emphasized that most spiritual experiences developed slowly over time and were of the "educational variety." William James, by the way did not explicitly use the term "educational variety" in his 1902 book titled "The Varieties of Religious Experience - A Study In Human Nature."
edition Big Books did not have a dust jacket. They were bound in a clear cellophane type wrap which was attached to the inside of the front and back covers with Scotch Tape. If your copy has tape residue marks on the inside of the covers it would be one of the earliest books off the printing press. The rarest of the rare versions of the 1st edition Big Book is reputedly the batch that has a green cover and tissue like paper from the 4th printing. It was the result of World war II rationing requirements. I've also been told by folks I consider expert in the matter that a 1st printing, 1st edition dust jacket in very good condition would command the same collector's price as the book itself. In 1956, the wording of Step Twelve changed again in the 2nd printing of the 2nd edition Big Book. The term "as the result of those steps" was changed back to the original term "as the result of these steps." I don't know who to attribute it to (it's likely from Barefoot Bill's web site) but info similar to that below can be found on the web for all 15 printings of the 1st edition.
Title states "One hundred men" 29 personal stories Cover is red, only printing in red. Story "Ace Full - Seven - Eleven" deleted. Jacket spine and front flap do not have a print number. Arabic numbers start at "Doctor's Opinion". 400 arabic numbered pages (8 roman). Stories: 10 East Coast, 18 Midwest, 1 West Coast. P234-L27, typo. L26 duplicated as L27. Published by Works Publishing Company.
Title states "Two thousand men and women" 28 personal stories Cover changed to navy blue, some light blue. Gold lettering deleted from cover, remained on spine. Added Appendix II - Spiritual Experience p399. Jacket spine and front flap has print number. Stayed at 400 arabic pages (8 roman) Added footnote "See Appendix II" p35, 38, 72. P25-L23, 80 of us to 500 of us. P25-L26, 40-80 persons to 50-200 persons. P63-L13, 100 people to Hundreds of People P72-L03, Spiritual Experience to Awakening. P72-L04, Result of These Steps to Those. P175-L23, Many Hundreds to 500. P234-L27, Typo corrected, 126 not repeated. P391-L01, Added "Now We Are Two Thousand." P397-L01, Moved "Foundation" here from p399. 1st Edition - 3rd Printing Title changed - "Six thousand men and women" Personal stories remain the same thru 1:16. Cover changed to light blue. Reduced in thickness 1/8 and height 1/16. P25-L23, 500 of us to 1000 of us. P27-L01, 100 Men to Hundreds of Men. P26-L13, Sober 3years to sober 5 years. P264-L13, (no time) to sober 5 years. P281-L09, 9 months to past 4 tears. P391, L01, Now we are 2,000 to 6,000. P392,L19, 3,000 letters to 12,000 letters. P393-L06, Increased 20 fold to 60 fold. P393-L12, 5,000 by 01/42 to 8,000 by 01/43. P393-L24, 9 Groups in Cleveland to 25. P393-L24, 500 members in Cleveland to 1,000. P393-L26, 1,000 Non-A.A. people to 2,000. P398-L03, Touching to Touching Nationally. Cheers Arthur
++++Message 3678. . . . . . . . . . . . Why no amends to family on page 76? From: Carl P. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/5/2006 9:54:00 AM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Steps Eight and Nine, making amends: Big Book 4th edition pg 76 chapter "Into Action." "Probably there are still some misgivings. As we look over the list of business acquaintances and friends we have hurt, we feel diffident about going to some of them on a spiritual basis....." My home group has a question regarding the above paragraph and have asked for the AA History lovers' views and opinions. Why in this paragraph is there no mention made of making amends to members of our families whom we may have harmed?
parts of the world, the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham is in England, located in the County of Greater London on the eastern side. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 3679. . . . . . . . . . . . The first 27 AA groups From: Glenn Chesnut . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/5/2006 2:47:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII The list of the first 27 AA groups in the world, as of November 14, 1940, is an important document for early AA history, giving us some idea of the directions in which early AA spread from its original foundation in Akron, Ohio, and in the greater New York City area. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - EAST COAST (including the greater New York City area, but also New England and the Old South):
Maryland: Baltimore Massachusetts: Boston New Jersey: South Orange New York City Philadelphia: Philadelphia Vermont: Wallingford Virginia: Richmond Washington, D.C.
circle around the Great Lakes region): Illinois: Chicago Indiana: Evansville Indiana: Indianapolis Michigan: Coldwater Michigan: Detroit Michigan: Jackson Ohio: Akron Ohio: Cleveland Ohio: Dayton Ohio: Toledo Ohio: Youngstown Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Wisconsin: Waunakee
Arkansas: Little Rock - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WEST COAST: California: San Diego California: Los Angeles California: San Francisco
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAHistoryLovers/message/3673 sent in by Barefoot Bill L.
NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS Box 658, Church Street Annex, New York City #1, AA BULLETIN, 11/14/40 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 3680. . . . . . . . . . . . Helen Worden, "New Hope for Old Soaks"
From: John Wikelius . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/5/2006 1:31:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I have an article written by Helen Worden, "New Hope for Old Soaks". I would like to find out what magazine this was published in. It is 3 pages long and seems to be the size of a Time or Newsweek magazine but that might not be true.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 3681. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Helen Worden, "New Hope for Old Soaks"
From: Jim B . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/5/2006 4:38:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I have an article written by Helen Worden, "New Hope for Old Soaks". Name and date of magazine needed.
title "Maybe I can Do It too." Jim
14-17, 2006 From: Glenn Chesnut . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/5/2006 3:37:00 PM
September 14-17, 2006 Baton Rouge, Louisiana
cancellation of the national AA archives gathering in New Orleans in Fall 2005 (because of the devasting hurricane), I am posting a reminder that it WILL be held this year, in Baton Rouge, which is in a part of Louisiana that was not so heavily damaged by the hurricane. To: glennccc@sbcglobal.net From: "Area64tnarchives.org" (daggerrose at area64tnarchives.org) Subject: 10th Annual National Archives Workshop "Preserving Our Past For Our Future" September 14-17, 2006 Baton Rouge, Louisiana Co Chairs: Jimmy H. mailto:jhardingnola@cox.net (jhardingnola at cox.net) Bobby B. mailto:danieb@att.net (danieb at att.net) Workshops, Seminars, Speakers, Banquet Holiday Inn South 9940 Airline Hi-Way Baton Rouge 70816 Ph# (225) 924-7021 Fax (225) 924-9816 Mention N.A.W. by August 31, 2006 for $79.00 night rate. Registration $35.00 Banquet $29.00
http://www.aanationalarchivesworkshop.com/flyer06.pdf Download Hotel Registration here. http://www.aanationalarchivesworkshop.com/hotel.pdf Download Workshop Schedule here http://www.aanationalarchivesworkshop.com/NATIONAL%20ARCHIVES%20Schedule%20_ 2_.p\
Documentation? From: ArtSheehan . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/5/2006 6:34:00 PM
myth sustained solely by anecdotal repetition. It's a variant of the myth that most of the members who had their stories printed in the Big Book died drunk and is the stuff of circuit speaker dramatics. Please reference AAHL message #2464 which attempts to refute the myth.
researched academic paper written by an historian for the Journal of Studies on Alcohol. She had no agenda or axe to grind. Asking whether someone died drunk or sober certainly seems to be relevant to the study and reporting of Alcoholics Anonymous history.
Arthur
From: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of michael oates Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 6:25 PM To: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [AAHistoryLovers] Re: Richard Peabody died drunk? Documentation? Is the purpose of the question of whteher Peabody died drunk to prove only AA founders died sober, what is the point, because earlier on the site it has been documented that not many of the first 100 the Big Book refers to made it to their deaths sober, i thought this was an intellectual site not a shrill for AA. If the purpose is anything other than AA History then discontinue me. ______________________________
someone commented that the Peabody method did not in fact work very well (something with which everyone agrees), and went on to say that Peabody himself in fact died drunk. The spirit of Peabody's book is basically that of "buck yourself up, and quit acting like a spoiled child, and learn how to be a REAL MAN, and start exercising some control over your drinking, and start using some will power like REAL MEN do, and quit being such a whimpering little sissy."
REAL RUGGED HE MAN and stop being molly coddled by your over protective Mommy" popular American literature and pop psychology of that period. During the 1920's and 30's, in popular American literature, there was a fad for blaming men's mothers for everything that was wrong with them after they grew up. My father certainly read the Jack London novels and the Zane Grey westerns and all that, and believed all of that! (I was born in 1939, so you can place this in history.)
that popular fad better, and read some of the cheap pulp literature of that period.
Kenneth G. Merrill, "Drunks Are a Mess" ( http://hindsfoot.org/nsbend2.html ). Most of what he says is very good, and has things we can learn from today. In fact it is one of the best short introductions to the psychological aspects of the AA program ever written. But even Ken Merrill was a man of his times, and he slips in one paragraph that shows the influence of the "rugged he man" fad on the American psyche at that period: "But of all other causes put together, none equals the sinister potency, in creating future alcoholics, of a harsh, cruel, disciplinarian type of father, coupled with an over-soft, over-affectionate, over-possessive mother. A mom who conspires with sonny to evade papa's wrath, who carries her protectiveness into fields beyond the home, and attempts ceaselessly, and usually successfully, to insulate the child from the normal, wholesome buffets of ordinary childhood experience. It becomes a hideous circle. The more impossible rules the father lays down for the child to follow, the more failures accumulate, the more bitter the father's persecution, the more maudlin and sentimental the mother's attempts to protect and compensate. Between them, believe me they do a job." Rich Dubiel's book on the Emmanuel Movement and the Jacoby Club (which is very important for AA history) says that Peabody renounced some of the principles which the EM and the JC were using (because the EM and JC called upon the power of God's grace to help us do what we could never do alone), and that this was what made Peabody's system so weak and ineffective in practice.
points of the EM and JC system, and insisted that we had to call upon God's grace for help, and ignored Peabody's attempt to change that vital part of the EM and JC system ( http://hindsfoot.org/kDub1.html and http://hindsfoot.org/kDub2.html ).
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