Tradition 11 · November 12

There Was No Dr. Armstrong

Daily Traditions · November 12

Before the Tradition

On 1 March 1941 the Saturday Evening Post ran Jack Alexander's article, and A.A. was never small again (Big Book, p. xviii) — "By March 1941 the membership had shot up to 2,000," and within the year it was four times that. Read the article and you meet a physician (Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers) who is "still struggling to patch up his practice. The going is hard. He is in debt because of his contributions to the movement and the time he devotes gratis to alcoholics." The book calls him Dr. Armstrong. There was no Dr. Armstrong. It was Dr. Bob, printed under a false name to protect his own — the co-founder of A.A. appearing in the most important article ever written about it as somebody else entirely. Later, when a second Alexander piece was being prepared, Sister Ignatia asked Bill to keep her name out of that one. She was not a member; she was the nun who had admitted alcoholics to St. Thomas Hospital when nobody else would. Bill's answer drew the line exactly where the Tradition draws it. "To be anonymous, Sister, you'll have to take a little drink."

Sit with

A.A.'s co-founder let himself be printed as a stranger so that the rule he asked others to keep would hold for him first. What would I give up to keep a rule I have asked other people to follow?

Grounded in: Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers (the Post article; Sister Ignatia); Big Book p. xviii.

Tradition 11

"Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films."

Read the Long Form (pp. 563–566). The short form on pp. 561–562 is the one everybody quotes — but the Long Form is where the Traditions actually say what they mean. Tradition 3's "no other affiliation" clause, for instance, exists only in the Long Form. That single clause is why no treatment centre can own an A.A. group. Most of what circulates online skips it.

And a distinction worth keeping straight: the Traditions are governance, not theology. They bind A.A. groups and the Fellowship — not individuals, and not outside businesses. They were adopted in 1950 to keep A.A. from being owned or co-opted. They are not a rulebook for your personal life.

What the Traditions actually say → The Long Form, p. 563 → Search the Big Book → Every day this month →

Ask Recovery Einstein about Tradition 11 → Get the app →

← November 11Carried Away With the Desire to Serve Tradition 11All of November November 13 →Not in the Meaning of This Tradition

Daily Traditions is an independent educational resource from Recovery Starts — not official A.A. literature, not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, and not medical advice. The Twelve Traditions are the property of A.A. Page references are to Alcoholics Anonymous (the Big Book), 4th Edition: short form 561–562, long form 563–566. If you're in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).