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Alcoholics Anonymous is one of the most renowned organizations that exist to help individuals recover from alcoholism. Millions have benefited from the programs and weekly meetings, and AA has influenced countless other programs, treatment centers, and those that work with alcoholics.
What may not be so well-known, however, is the history of AA and the events that have occurred to make the organization what it is today.
Bill Wilson’s struggle with alcoholism
Alcoholics Anonymous was created in 1935 by recovering alcoholic Bill Wilson. Wilson had been failing at his Wall Street career because his drinking was so out of hand that he was admitted into the hospital a number of times. Friends tried to help Bill, including his childhood drinking buddy, Ebby Thacher. Ebby had found sobriety through the Christian movement, called the Oxford Group, and he firmly believed it changed his life.
Dr. William Duncan Silkworth of the Towns Hospital in New York City also influenced Bill Wilson with religion, saying that alcoholism is a disease and that only God can cure it. With a newfound relationship of his own with God, Wilson was able to finally quit drinking for good.
Wilson and Smith
Even though he was sober, the temptation for alcohol was still strong. Wilson, on a trip to Akron, Ohio in 1935, met Dr. Bob Smith, another recovering alcoholic, and sought him out for support.
Shortly after that trip, Wilson and Smith co-founded AA. It started small at first, and the two helped about 40 alcoholics during the first two years, working tirelessly with them in their sobriety and also their relationship with God. The organization operated out of people’s homes, and alcoholics often found themselves living for a time with Wilson
The early years
Alcoholics Anonymous was a very faith based organization in its beginning. It called for its members to surrender absolutely to God, to devote themselves daily to prayer or meditation, and to join with other recovering alcoholics in a religious and support group.
There were five elements to the original AA program. These included total abstinence from alcohol, acknowledgement of Jesus as their Savior, obedience to God’s will, growth in fellowship with God, and help for other alcoholics. Meetings were very spiritual and those that joined AA often talked of the healing power of God.
AA today
Since those days, AA has grown and changed a lot. It still advises against all alcohol consumption, and focuses on moral character and personal change. But today members are usually encouraged to find their own higher being that can help with their sobriety.
The Twelve Steps are a notable part of AA, walking an individual through the process of being sober for life. Part of that journey still consists of helping other members. Members that have been sober for a while may sponsor a newer individual. These people are paired up and can help each other when they are feeling like quitting. The moral support that occurs at AA is one of its most useful tools.
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Comment by treatment (treatment) — April 10, 2009 @ 12:04 am
The History of Alcoholics Anonymous – http://tinyurl.com/cttkxv #ShareThis
Comment by Ivan — April 12, 2009 @ 12:01 am
Actually, AA has not changed… The fellowship has changed. With all the ttreatment centers popping up all over the place, our beloved meetings are becoming group therapy. It’s getting harder and harder to find a meeting in which alcoholism is emphasized upon or even God! It’s always about drugs, the divorce, or opinions. Many old timers are ostersized and called thumpers and have their own meetings. Real meetings. It is very unfortunate that this has happened. We have a great message and some people decide to make a buck, it’s a real shame, and if I or anyone speaks up we are told that we’re resentful??? Not at all, just miss what the fellowship was like…. God and whiskey… Nowadays it’s about all these drugs and these “clients” are told that they are to go to our meetings even if they are not alcoholics!!! I truly pray that this treatment center isn’t like most… Where lying is encouraged. Lying about being a alcoholic…
Comment by Jared — April 13, 2009 @ 8:54 am
I can see your Point of view. Alcoholics Anonymous meetings should be for alcoholics. I believe that an addict is best served by meeting which reflect his/her experiences (NA, SA, MA, etc.). This is my personal belief. I think what you are saying goes beyond just separating addicts from alcoholics. I think that you are talking about the real traditions of AA which may get diluted by the group therapy syndrome that you mention. This may or may not be true however there are some simple traditions in AA which I feel must be addressed in response to your comment and were provided by the founders as a solution…
1. All that you need for an AA meeting are two individuals ready and willing to get sober.
Anyone can create their own meetings, and have them be closed to alcoholics only…
2. # Step 12 – Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Step 12 is what I feel is most important to note here, it is important that we carry our message to other addicts. Whether they be alcoholics, drug addicts or process addicts. The 12 steps work as a solution to all addictions and has been proven over and over again. It is our mission and most importantly the “old timers” responsibility to spread the word of recovery.
When I attended 12 step meetings regularly there was nothing more impressive to me as a newly sober individual than someone who has been sober 5, 10 even 25 years by following the twelve traditions. That was always the individual that I would seek out and ask how his/her life is and how they got to where they are. These people are the most inspiring and I believe that they have a responsibility under the twelve traditions to share their experience, strength and hope with people who are truly addicts and those on the presibus (sp.) of a lifetime of addiction
Comment by jim gillespie — May 14, 2009 @ 10:27 am
When I arrived at a.a. in 1968, the meeting started with the preamble and the name of the speaker. It took two minutes.
Today there is a series of announcements, a list of do nots and an introduction of the speaker as if they were an icon of sobriety. It’s so bad I have to explain why I say nothing about the speaker. Our speaker tonight will tell you everything he/she wants you to know about them during their narrative.
With extreme emphasis I state “this meeting is not an awards banquet.”
Comment by Dick B. — December 8, 2009 @ 10:01 pm
CONGRATULATIONS.Please accept my applaus for your brief, but accurate statement about A.A. History–the Original program and its requirement of belief in God, surrender to Jesus Christ, elimination of sin, growth in fellowship through Bible study, prayer, and seeking God’s guidance, and working with others. I hope your accurate approach confirms a trend we are finally seeing in the discussion of A.A. and Twelve Step programs. They are no longer Christian fellowships, but there are tens of thousands of Christians and others in recovery today who need to know where their original program came from; the nature of the Original Christian fellowship program; and the 75% success rate achieved in the early days. A.A. changed dramatically when the Big Book was published in 1939, and there has been a wide variety of those who believe, those who don’t, those who criticize A.A., those who just don’t care, and those who are wondering what has happened. The message I hope to see more and more these days is the message that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible played a vital role in the founding and development of early Alcoholics Anonymous and that there are tens of thousands in recovery today who need to know this history and then to decide for themselves if they want God’s help in recovery today. God Bless, Dick B.
Comment by Dick B. — February 6, 2010 @ 7:36 pm
The emerging picture of accuracy in reporting A.A.’s origins, Original program, changes, and present-day diversity: Again, just a shorty to applaud your history statement. Most never spell Ebby Thacher’s name correctly. Most never point out that Dr. William D. Silkworth informed Bill on Bill’s third hospital visit that the Great Physician Jesus Christ could cure him. Most never point out that Bill then went to the altar at Calvary Rescue Mission and (as Ebby had done) made a decision for Jesus Christ, later writing that for sure he had been born again. Acting on that transformation, Bill got into a drunken and highly depressed and despairing state, decided he had better call on the Great Physician for help, went to Towns Hospital, cried out for help, had his “white light” experience, believed he had been in the presence of the “God of the Scriptures,” and then was cured for good–never to drink again. And that is good evidence of how and why the original AAs were required to profess a belief in God and come to Him through Jesus Christ. Those days are gone, but many Christians in the recovery arena need to hear the history and apply it if they want God’s help. Others need to hear it to eliminate some of the remarks made today about God, and replace them with the love and tolerance that are the code of modern day A.A. Anyway, thanks again, for launching forward some giblits about A.A. history that just haven’t been appearing for some 70 years. God Bless, Dick B.