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"I am interested in information on the genesis of the Seaman's Club and the interest of the Alcoholic Foundation and funding questions and/or relationships with other organizations during this period is fascinating." See p.357 of Jay Moore's book spells out the financial picture. Rockefeller people contributed over $7,150 to "AA Seamen" from 1944-1948. These were "loans" later forgiven; Moore details JDR Jr's dissatisfaction w/ whatever arrangements were made in the background. It looks like a grift: why did this small group ask Rocky for so much money? The Rockefellers bankrolled the entire deal -- not that I have any problem with that. There doesn't appear to be ANY proof AA ever "paid back Rockefeller loans" -- that's just AA rumor. Not "saved" -- CREATED. Alcoholics Anonymous and the Rockefeller Connection: How John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his Associates Saved AA ( https://books.google.com/books?id=JzsgCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA357 ) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alcoholics Anonymous and the Rockefeller Connection: How John D. Rockefe... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This book straddles the divide between personal story and period history. In his finely researched account, Jay ... I don't have any more information than Moore's book. , But it seems like "A.A. Seamen's Club" was another of Bill's entities -- e.g. Highwatch Farm -- that got money from outside sources using the AA name. How Bill Wilson was connected -- he certainly owned "Highwatch Farm" but structured it so that his creditors couldn't seize the property, for his old unpaid debts -- remains unclear. AA Seamen's was logically receiving US govt funding (let's be honest), how much Bill W. personally profited we cannot guess. Despite Bill's claim in 1947 (and earlier?) that AA was "fully self-supporting," it is documented that the Rockefeller people were giving this AA entity money as late as 1949 (when it was restructured into yet another shell). I can only guess this special purpose vehicle was funded in part by the US govt. See Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, Volume 8 (1947) p.502: "The A.A. Seamen's Club further expanded its activities by giving talks on the subject of alcoholism, with the help of the U.S.S. Educational Division, at marine hospitals, schools, union halls and Seamen's Y.M.C.A.'s." U.S.S. was funded by the US govt, no doubt about it: United Seamens Service ( https://unitedseamensservice.org/about-us/history ) ---------------------- United Seamens Service ---------------------- "I posted pamphlet separately. Below is a short announcement from Feb 1946 GV announcing the pamphlet available at the Seaman's Club ... and the only detail given was that there was a 5 step version of the steps and the full 12 steps. Next is March 1946 GV article with 5 Steps listed." A couple of points must be clarified. 1) There are reports online that Bill Wilson kept the upstairs room at the Club until the 1960s, that he stayed overnight there, i.e. it was his personal crash-pad. Did he pay rent -- how was that arranged? 2) Look carefully at the Seamen's Pamphlet, again. The 12 Steps are re-written! The whole gist is "We Seamen are different!" which presumably justifies changing the Steps. (I'm not agreeing with that; you can rationalize it however you like.) Who was responsible for that -- tenant of the upstairs room? 3) In fact, Bill devised different Step programs after the Rockefellers' 12-Step Program failed to meet his expectations. Later, he would claim the so-called "Six Step Program" came from the Oxford Group (False). But there is absolutely no period record of any "Six Step" program in the Oxford Group -- despite one vague and unsubstantiated comment by Clarence in the 1980s -- and none of the 1935-9 Pioneers' stories report any such make-believe. By contrast, several drunks' stories in the 1939 edition definitely allude to a course of 'Four Steps', so that could have been Bill's excuse. There's also nothing whatsoever in Dr. Bob's archive; it's Bill's muddle. What is absolutely certain, in the 1948-53 period, Bill himself (and no one else) provided different versions of his own abbreviated program. Earl Treat's story, which dates from c.1953 (not 1937), begets an 'historical revisionism' : everyone has been baffled ever since. With this 1946 Seamen's Pamphlet and one earlier example, the shortened version must have been conceived in that nerve-wracking 1939-1940 period, when the Big Book was 'rotting in the warehouse' (a failure, he thought). The oldest example comes from a talk Bill W. gave to the press in Philly. Apparently, the first recorded iteration of a 'Six Step Program' dates to March 1940 (uncredited to Bill W., the source) in M.W. Mountjoy’s article from The Philadelphia Record 4/1/1940. "Here are the steps we took toward recovery: (The following is a summary): (1) "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable, (2) "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. (3) "Admitted to God, as we understood Him, to ourselves, and to another human being the nature of our wrongs. (4) "Made a list of all people we had harmed and made direct amends wherever possible. (5) "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him. (6) "Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs." So thank you for posting this additional example, from ~5 yrs later. Similar 12 Steps, but altered in strange ways.

Hi, I'm new to AAHistoryLovers @groups.io. Glad to be here. A while back, I was doing some research regarding a section in the book, Dr. Bob & the Good Oltimers. I reached out to the Cleveland District Office and they sent me their Cleveland Central Bulletin. Not just the issue I was looking for, but the first 50 years of the bulletin! It’s a 4,838 page PDF document and about 340 MB in size. Can I post this on the site, for those who may be interested in this history? Or should I send it to you for download? Currently it's accessible through a Google file link. Because of the size, it won't let you preview it, but it will let you download the pdf easily. [Moderator comment: the answer, unfortunately, is no because the Cleveland central office has asked us not to post the PDF because they make money by selling copies for a few dollars on CD and it is a vital stream of income for them. If we post the file then people can get it here for free and have no need to get it from them. So no, we instead encourage people to buy it if they want a copy and support the Cleveland central office at aacle.org -Thom R.] Please let me know if you think members on AAHistoryLovers @groups.io would be interested. Best, Ana ("AdeM") -- Best, AdeM

I understand that the first meeting in NYC met at several locations” 182 Clinton Street, Brooklyn Hts, NY Then at; Hank Parkhurst’s house in NJ Then at; Bob and Marguarite Volentine’s house – also in NJ Also, at Bet Taylor’s house at interim Then at Steinway Hall. Question: Were these four meeting locations considered the First AA Group, albeit with different locations” If so, would that make the Akron meetings at T, Henry and Clarace Williams house; then Dr Bob’s house; then Kings School be considered the second AA group? Or is there a better configuration of order of sequence? Thanks in advance. Bob S **** From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of william schaberg Sent: Monday, November 30, 2020 11:15 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AAHistoryLovers] Sept 39 meetings?? Gene... These were not so much “new” meetings as extensions of what had been going on already in NY/NJ AA. Bill and Lois had to vacate their Brooklyn home on April 26, 1939 and they were basically homeless for the next two years. Without the “home base” at 182 Clinton Street, meetings moved to Hank Parkhurst’s house in Montclair and then – when Hank and Kathleen first split up in June, 1939 – to Bob and Marguarite Volentine’s house – also in New Jersey. There are several references in Lois’s 1939 diary to Sunday meetings at the Parkhurst’s house and to Tuesday meetings in New York City – which seemed to have been held, at first, in Bert Taylor’s apartment on 72nd Street and then, shortly after that (because of the size of the group?), at Steinway Hall in mid-town. NOTE that Lois’ count included wives who regularly attended meetings with their husbands in those days. -- Bob S

The following files and folders have been uploaded to the Files area of the [email protected] group. /Historical and Local Pamphlets/The special work of the Charles B. Towns Hospital and its ethical relations with the medical profession.pdf By: Thom R. <thomr021092@...> Description: "The special work of the Charles B. Towns Hospital and its ethical relations with the medical profession" - A Charles B. Towns Hospital promotional/informational pamphlet. Original source: https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/ext/kirtasbse/101556336/PDF/101556336.pdf

If there is a direct way to upload files someone help me learn. The 5 steps mentioned in the other post may be part of the story that precedes it rather than a rewrite of the steps which appear as all 12 Steps later in the pamphlet. Some have asserted Bill supported revising the steps by this example, the argument looks weak in context. Open to discussion among those who have studied our history. Roger Wheatley [Moderator comment: this is a great way to upload files for now because the message attached explains everything. It's perfect. If something is uploaded this way that should end up in the file section I will place it there along with the message as it's description. Thank you! -Thom]

The daily featured speaker on Recovery Speakers July 26 was Bernard Smith at the 1965 International. At 22:20 he says they had too little money to open a Seaman’s Club which was sorely needed. He says they had to have handouts from the Better Heels trustees. Since it is audio I am not sure if that spelling is correct. Does anyone know anything about this? The 34 th Street club later became the Seaman’s Club then the Helmsman’s Club. I am interested in information on the genesis of the Seaman's Club and the interest of the Alcoholic Foundation and funding questions and/or relationships with other organizations during this period is fascinating.

Since I did not know if you this document, I also sent the link and the PDF. https://silkworth.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AA-General-Service-Conference-Jun-1952.pdf

One more in case it is not in the archives. https://silkworth.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Conference-Report-Jun-1951.pdf

Page 3, paragraph 3 "In 1929 I contracted golf fever. We went at once to the country, my wife to applaud while I started out to overtake Walter Hagen." Is there documentation of tournaments he played in? His scores? Hagen was a professional. Was Bill or did he compete as an amateur? Any winnings? Were the "fat check"s which his banker watched with amused skepticism his winnings or his expenses? Have references to him been found in histories of various golf clubs? How long did his attempt last? Surely he must have golfed for some time before. Did he continue to play golf in later years?

Several months ago I read in William Schaberg's "Writing The Big Book" (pg. 139) what Dr Silkworth had meant, and also examined in detail, what moral psychology is. Moral psychology is mentioned only once in our book, pg. xxvii, (forth edition) and I often pondered what Dr Silkworth meant. For amplification I also read Silkworth's 1937 paper "Reclamation of the Alcoholic" (2 years before the Big Book was published!). I found the paper dry and too clinical but my imagination was fired!. Had I been one of New York's' atheists or agnostics members in early AA, I would have shouted this theory of how to recover from the roof tops! Especially to all who had problems with the spirituality of the program. I think Hank Parkhurst may have, but is there any source of information that points to this speculation?

Although mostly unknown by many Indiana AA’s, Bill Wilson was a director of a factory in Anderson Indiana called Pierce Governor Company in 1938. I believe you will find the attached information of interest. Research for this was done by Archives Chairperson, Area 22, Indiana: Bruce C. Bob S Virus-free. www.avg.com -- Bob S

A sponsee asked me this great question. I checked our site found - nothing, silkworth - nothing other sites nothing.. So I ask the experts.... Did Bill W come up with the term "King Alcohol" or is there more history behing the term? -- SW John