An Illustrated Timeline of AA History

301 Pages·2013·7.4 MB·English

by  Arthur Sheehan

Welcomeeveryone.
(IfmembersoftheArchivesCommitteearepresent-introducethem)
AA Members seem to have a warm place in their heart forAA history. Perhaps it’s because our stories
defineourownhistory whenwediscloseinageneralwaywhatweusedtobelike,whathappenedand
whatwearelikenow.
AA also has a very strong verbal tradition. Much information is passed on by word of mouth. This has
bothitsgoodanddifficultsides.Howdoyouknowwhatisfactandwhatismyth?Thereisagreatdealof
myththatcirculatesbywordofmouthinAA,andisacceptedasfactwhenitisfactuallyincorrect.
A great deal of effort has been taken to ensure that what will be presented to you has been verified in
oneormorereliablewrittenreferencesources.
Also,tomoreaccuratelyrelatethepasttothepresent,ConsumerPriceIndex(orCPI)conversionfactors
have been used to convert past dollar amounts to the equivalent of today’s dollar values. For example,
$3.50wasneededin1939topurchasetheBigBook.Thatwouldbeequivalentto$54today.
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BriefBiographies-TheCo-foundersOfAAAndTheirFamilies
Firstwe’llcoversomebriefbiographicalinformationontheco-foundersofAAandtheirspouses.
Inreality,allfourcanlegitimatelybeconsideredfoundersoftheAAFellowship.
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TheWilsonFamily
We’llbeginwithBillWandhisfamilyfollowedbyLoisandherfamily.
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WilliamGriffithWilson(BillW)
We’llbeginwithBillWandhisfamilyfollowedbyLoisandherfamily.
Bill was born on November 26, 1895 in East Dorset, VT. His sober date was December 11, 1934. As
best as can be determined, he favored hard liquor and had a taste for gin. Bill is shown here in the
classicphotodistributedbyAA.
Bill was also a chain smoker and developed emphysema which led to his death. He passed away on
January 24, 1971 at age 75 and 36 years sober, in Miami Beach, FL It was also his and Lois’ 53rd
weddinganniversary.
BillWwasthearchitectandauthorofAA’s3LegaciesofRecovery,UnityandService,andallthewritten
works that explained them. This was an amazing achievement. He had no training at all as a writer. In
1990, Life Magazine named Bill W as one of the 100 most important Americans of the 20th century.
Similarly,in1999,TimeMagazinenamedBillWasoneofthe100internationalheroesandiconsofthe
20thcentury.
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TheWilson(formerlyBarrows)House-BillW’sPaternalGrandmother-HelenBarrows-1896
Bill was bornina room behind a barin the Wilson House(formerlycalledtheBarrows House).It was a
villagehotelrunbyhisgrandmother,HelenBarrows(shownontherightholdingBill).
Bill was named after his paternal grandfather William C Wilson who was quite prominent in the
community.
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YoungBillW
HereweseeBillatage4ontheleftandage10ontheright.
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BillW’sTwoSisters
Billhadayoungersister,Dorothy,bornin1898.Herfuturehusband,DrLeonardVStrong,playedakey
role in helping Bill find sobriety and receiving financial assistance from John D Rockefeller Jr to help
writetheBigBook.
Bill also had a half-sister, Helen Evans, born in 1916. She was the first paid staff worker at the
Grapevine.AbiographicalarticleaboutherappearedintheJune1979Grapevine
BothofBill’ssisterswerenon-alcoholics.
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BillW’sFatherAndMother-GillmanWilsonAndEmilyGriffith
Bill W’s parents, Emily Griffith and Gilman Wilson, were married in September 1894. The marriage
turnedouttobeastormyone.Theyseparatedin1905anddivorcedin1907whenBillwasaround12.
Bill considered his parent’s divorce a “great disgrace and great stigma.” There is evidence that his
father’sdrinkingwasaveryprominentcauseofthedivorce.
In1906whileonapicnic,BillandhissisterDorothy,wereinformedbytheirmotherthattheirfatherhad
goneforgood.ThenewswasdevastatingtoBill.HismotherEmilyleftthefollowingdayforBoston,MA
to attend an osteopathic medical school. During most of the remainder of her life she seemed rather
distantfromBill.
Bill’s father hadpreviouslymovedtowesternCanadain1905 and Billdid notseehimagain for9years
untilthesummerof1914.
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TheGriffithHouse-BillW’sMaternalGrandfather-GardnerFayetteGriffith-1906
After his parents divorced Bill and his sister Dorothy were lovingly raised by his maternal grandparents
FayetteandEllaGriffith.
Bill’sgrandfatherGardner FayetteGriffithwasasecondfathertohimandhadawayofbringingoutthe
bestofBill’sskills.
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BillW’sPaternalGrandparents- c1915
This family photo shows Bill W with his sister Dorothy, his mother Emily and his paternal grandparents
HelenandWilliamCWilson.Bill’sgreat-grandmotherisinthecenterofthephoto.
According to Bill’s sister Dorothy, their grandfather was an alcoholic and found sobriety through a
profoundspiritualexperience.
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