The story of A.A., from the books

Each line below is the short answer of one page, in order. Every page answers from A.A.'s own books with page numbers: the Big Book (1939; the Long Form of the Traditions, 1946), Bill W.'s 1946–47 Grapevine essays (P-17), and A.A. Comes of Age (1957), with later books dated where they're used. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions is not one of the sources.

1934–1935: how it started

Bill W. was William Griffith Wilson (1895–1971), one of A.A.'s two co-founders (P-53, 2017); the Big Book's Foreword to the Second Edition calls him "a New York stockbroker" (p. xv). His own story, written in 1939, is Chapter 1 of the Big Book, "Bill's Story" (pp. 1–16). Who was Bill W.?

The friend who phoned Bill W. in November 1934 and came to his kitchen sober was Ebby T., a boyhood friend and old drinking companion from Vermont. The 1939 Big Book doesn't name him; later accounts do. Who was the old school friend in "Bill's Story" (Ebby)?

Towns Hospital in New York, where Dr. William D. Silkworth was the physician, treated Bill W. several times. On his last stay, in December 1934, a few weeks after his friend Ebby's visit, Bill had the sudden spiritual experience that ended his drinking. What happened to Bill W. at Towns Hospital?

Both co-founders got their start in the Oxford Group, a Christian movement of the 1930s. Bill W. came to it through his friend Ebby in late 1934; Dr. Bob had been going to its meetings in Akron for about two and a half years. What did early A.A. take from the Oxford Group, and why did it separate?

In 1935 Bill W., a New York stockbroker sober about six months, was stuck in Akron, Ohio, after a business deal collapsed. Afraid he would drink, he went looking for another alcoholic to help. How did Bill W. and Dr. Bob meet?

Henrietta Seiberling was a nonalcoholic member of the Oxford Group in Akron, the daughter-in-law of the founder of the Goodyear rubber company. She lived in the gatehouse of the Seiberling estate. Who was Henrietta Seiberling?

Dr. Bob was Robert Holbrook Smith (1879–1950), an Akron, Ohio surgeon and one of A.A.'s two co-founders. Who was Dr. Bob?

Anne Smith (born Anne Robinson Ripley) married Dr. Bob in 1915 (P-53, 2017) and died in Akron in June 1949, a year and a half before him (Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, 1980, f.96, f.103). The Big Book never names her in its 1939 text; Dr. Bob's own story (a member's story, pp. 171–181) calls her "my wife" and says "it was her interest that sustained mine" in his search for an answer (p. 178). Who was Anne Smith, Dr. Bob's wife?

Lois W. was Lois Burnham of Brooklyn, who married Bill W. on January 24, 1918 (P-53, 2017), stayed with him through his drinking, and died on October 5, 1988 (Pass It On, 1984, f.199, a later printing's chronology). The Big Book never names her: in "Bill's Story" (1939) she is "my wife," who worked in a department store while he drank (p. 4). Who was Lois W., and what did she do in A.A.'s beginning?

1935–1939: two groups, then a book

By going out and finding more alcoholics. After Bill W. and Dr. Bob met in Akron in 1935, the two of them phoned a hospital and asked for a prospect (p. 156). That man became the third member, and the three went looking for a fourth (p. 158). How did A.A. grow from two people?

Akron was A.A.'s first group, formed in 1935 around Dr. Bob, and for its first years it was the larger and more successful of the two. New York, around Bill W., took shape more slowly; for a long time the people he took into his Brooklyn home stayed drunk. How were Akron and New York different in the early years?

The Alcoholic Foundation was A.A.'s first board of trustees, set up in New York in 1938 as a small tax-free trust. It had both alcoholic and nonalcoholic trustees, with the nonalcoholics in the majority by one, and an alcoholic trustee who got drunk had to resign at once. What was the Alcoholic Foundation?

The popular telling has it backwards in one respect. In 1937–38 the founders asked John D. Rockefeller, Jr. for large sums, for hospitals, paid workers and a book. It was Rockefeller who turned the request down, saying, in Bill W.'s account, "I think money will spoil this." Why did early A.A. turn down Rockefeller money?

Yes. Bill W. wrote the chapters through 1938, reading them to the New York group and sending them to Dr. Bob in Akron for comment. The first two chapters were copied in mid-1938 to use in a fund-raising prospectus. Was there a draft of the Big Book before 1939?

The Big Book names no author. It presents itself as the work of "more than one hundred men and women" (p. xiii), and "The Doctor's Opinion" is by Dr. William D. Silkworth (p. xi). Who wrote the Big Book's chapters, including "To Wives"?

In 1938 the publisher Harper offered Bill W. an advance for the book. He and his partner Hank P. decided the fellowship should own its own book, and instead formed their own company, Works Publishing, selling $25 shares to members and friends. How was the Big Book paid for and published (Works Publishing)?

The Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, was written in 1938 and early 1939 and published in April 1939, when the fellowship had about a hundred members. Why was the Big Book written, and when?

When the Big Book came out in April 1939, A.A. had about a hundred members. The book's own foreword says "more than one hundred men and women" (p. xiii). How many members did A.A. have in 1939?

1939–1950: growth, trouble, and the Traditions

In May or June 1939, Cleveland members who had been driving to the Akron meeting, held in an Oxford Group home, started their own meeting in Cleveland, open only to alcoholics and their families. Clarence S., one of its founders, said that they took the name "Alcoholics Anonymous" from the new book. How did the Cleveland group become the first to call itself Alcoholics Anonymous?

Sister Ignatia was a nun of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine who worked in the admitting office of St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio. Starting around 1939–40, she and Dr. Bob admitted alcoholics there for treatment, the first religious hospital to take A.A. prospects on a regular basis. Who was Sister Ignatia, and what part did St. Thomas Hospital play?

It was a feature article about A.A. by Jack Alexander, a feature writer for the Saturday Evening Post, published in the issue of March 1, 1941. What was the Jack Alexander article (1941), and what did it do?

Father Edward Dowling, S.J., was a Jesuit priest in St. Louis, on the staff of the Catholic magazine The Queen's Work; Bill W. counts him among A.A.'s nonalcoholic friends of religion (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957, f.7). The Big Book quotes him in Appendix V, "The Religious View on A.A." (p. 572), and its footnote calls him "an early and wonderful friend of A.A." who died in the spring of 1960 (p. 572). Who was Father Ed Dowling, and why is he in A.A.'s story?

The Grapevine is A.A.'s monthly magazine. Today's Big Book calls it "our monthly magazine, the A.A. Grapevine" (Appendix VI, p. 573), and the Long Form of the Traditions (1946) calls it A.A.'s "principal newspaper," whose integrity the trustees guarantee (p. 565). What is the A.A. Grapevine, and how did it start?

A.A. grew from about 100 members in 1939 to about 8,000 by the end of 1941, and Dr. Bob put it at about 70,000 in late 1948. What changed in A.A. between 1939 and 1950?

The Traditions were written to keep A.A. alive and in one piece. The Big Book says they answer two questions: "How can A.A. best function?" and "How can A.A. best stay whole and so survive?" (p. 561). Why were the Twelve Traditions written?

In July 1950 A.A. held its first International Convention, in Cleveland, Ohio. Bill W.'s 1957 account puts attendance at about 3,000. What happened at the 1950 Cleveland convention?

Dr. Bob died of cancer at City Hospital in Akron, Ohio, on November 16, 1950. He had been sober since June 10, 1935. When did Dr. Bob die, and what were his last words to A.A.?

The Traditions year by year, 1937–1950, with every source: How the Twelve Traditions came about.

After 1950 (later sources, dated and read with care)

A.A. held its twentieth-anniversary convention in St. Louis on July 1–3, 1955, the second International Convention after Cleveland in 1950 (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957, f.7; Pass It On, 1984, f.182). What happened at the St. Louis convention in 1955?

A.A.'s Three Legacies are Recovery, Unity and Service: the Twelve Steps, the Twelve Traditions, and the services that carry the message. What are A.A.'s Three Legacies?

The Twelve Concepts for World Service are twelve statements, each with a long essay, written by Bill W. in 1962 about how A.A.'s world services are run: the groups, the General Service Conference, the trustees of the General Service Board, and the service corporations and their staffs. The 12th General Service Conference adopted them on April 26, 1962. What are the Twelve Concepts, and why were they written?

Read it yourself

• The Big Book's own account: "Bill's Story" (pp. 1–16): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt1.pdf, and "A Vision for You" (pp. 151–164): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt11.pdf
• Appendix I, "The A.A. Tradition" (pp. 561–566): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_appendicei.pdf
• A.A.'s books: https://onlineliterature.aa.org

Sources: the question pages linked above, each with its own sources table. This page last changed 2026-10-28. Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book is © A.A. World Services, Inc.