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Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age
Alcoholics Anonymous
Comes of Age
A BRIEF HISTORY OF A.A.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
NEW YORK
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS COMES OF AGE
Copyright © 1957, 1985 by Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing, Inc.
(now known as Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.)
475 Riverside Drive
New York, N.Y. 10115
All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any
manner without the written permission of the publisher.
FIRST PRINTING 1957
THIRTY-FIFTH PRINTING 2012
This is A.A. General Service
Conference-approved literature
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS® and A.A.® are registered trademarks
of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
ISBN 978-0-916856-02-1
eISBN 978-1-940889-94-8
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Contents
I When A.A. Came of Age, by Bill W., co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous
II The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous: Recovery, Unity, Service
III Four o’Clock Sunday Afternoon
IV Medicine Looks At Alcoholics Anonymous, by Dr. W. W. Bauer and Dr. Harry M. Tiebout
V Religion Looks at Alcoholics Anonymous, by Edward Dowling, S.J., and the Rev. Samuel Shoemaker
VI A Friend Looks at Alcoholics Anonymous, by Mr. Bernard B. Smith
Appendix A: How to Get in Touch with Alcoholics Anonymous and the Al-Anon Family Groups
Appendix B: Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Anonymous, by Bill
Appendix C: The Conference Charter
Appendix D: Text of the Lasker Award
Appendix E: Reports on A.A.
a. A New Approach to Psychotherapy in Chronic Alcoholism, by William D. Silkworth, M.D.
b. Therapeutic Mechanism of Alcoholics Anonymous, by Harry M. Tiebout, M.D.
c. Discussion Before the Medical Society of the State of New York, by Foster Kennedy, M.D.
d. 1939 Book Review of Alcoholics Anonymous, by Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick; also a quotation from his autobiography
Appendix F: List of Publications
Foreword
This book is for A.A. members and their friends. It is for all who are interested to know the history of how A.A. started, how its principles of Recovery, Unity, and Service were evolved, and by what means this fellowship has grown and spread its message around the world. Here is an inside and wide-angled view of Alcoholics Anonymous.
The first part of the book presents a panoramic sketch of the historic St. Louis Convention at which the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous came of age and assumed full responsibility for all its affairs.
The second part includes three talks, edited and enlarged, on the history of A.A. Recovery, Unity, and Service, which were given by co-founder Bill W. at the St. Louis gathering.
The third part is devoted to addresses of a number of A.A.’s friends, all of them notable in their several fields: Dr. Harry M. Tiebout, psychiatrist, Dr. W. W. Bauer of the American Medical Association, Father Edward Dowling of the Jesuit order, Dr. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Episcopal clergyman, and Mr. Bernard B. Smith, New York attorney and former Chairman of the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous. These friends tell of their association with Alcoholics Anonymous, the part they played in its development, and their view of what the future holds for this society.
Dear Friends,
As you read coming pages, it will be seen that their historical content is not arranged in a conventional, straight-line time-sequence.
For the limited purposes of this book, it was deemed better to throw special emphasis on our A.A. Legacies of Recovery, Unity and Service by separately telling the stories of those crucial developments. This has the merit of focusing attention upon them, one concept at a time. Nevertheless some members may prefer to start reading at chapter 2, which leads quickly into the early A.A. story as it relates to our present-day program of recovery.
The title of this volume, A.A. Comes of Age, is now and then questioned because it conveys to some people the idea that we A.A.’s really think we have “grown up”; that we have already achieved great emotional maturity.
In reality, the expression “comes of age” is used by us in a very different sense. We simply say that we have arrived at the time of life when adult responsibilities have to be faced and dealt with, as best we are able. To this end we do try to rely upon ourselves—and upon God.
Faithfully yours,
Bill W.
March, 1967
I
When A.A. Came of Age
BY BILL W.,
co-founder, Alcoholics Anonymous
DURING
