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Hello, and welcome to the beginning
of what will be a complete history of Alcoholics
Anonymous Southern Illinois Area 21 District 19. This
story will be brought to you courtesy of "Alcoholics
Anonymous in Springfield Illinois 1941 - 2001" printed
for the 60th anniversary of our fellowship. You can
expect to find a little more of the story each month
here on the website, and a complete printing at the end
of the year. Stay tuned....
"There is one characteristic that
marks the decline of every civilization... they forgot
where they came from." -Carl Sandburg, Illinois Poet
Laureate
"Under the impact of (Jack)
Alexander's glowing story in the Saturday Evening Post
of March 1, 1941, membership in Alcoholics Anonymous
began a rapid, nationwide growth. In the last ten months
of 1941, membership quadrupled from 2,000 to 8,000, and
one of the visions of the Big Book finally came true.
Suddenly it was no longer possible to send sober
alcoholics experienced in the program to visit all those
expressing interest. In countless nooks and crannies of
an America mobilizing for war, the program would have to
be "gotten by the book." And significantly, an ever
increasing chain of correspondence developed, as many
ordering the Big Book from its New York distribution
center appended requests for further detailed
information." - Not God, A History of Alcoholics
Anonymous, (1979) pp. 101-102, printed with permission,
Ernest Kurtz Ph.D.
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Even the wildest dreams of Ward M.
could not have foreseen his future and legacy as the
"Founder of A.A.". As a matter of fact, in early 1941
Ward could not even quit drinking? But in March of that
year a ray of hope made its way through the darkness of
his life by the way of the nations leading weekly
magazine of that day, the Saturday Evening Post. It
contained the article mentioned above.
Its nationally acclaimed author, Jack
Alexander, had just finished his dramatic series
exposing the New Jersey rackets. His no-holds-barred,
straight forward style was supported by hard facts. His
reputation for expsing crime and fraud was well known to
a large audience just waiting for his next sensational
story. This next assignment, exposing a 'bunch of
nameless drunks" who claimed to have a way of
sobering-up other drunks was right up his alley.
However, after a thorough investigation of A.A., Jack
became convinced it was no hoax. He saw the methods used
and witnessed their results. Alcoholics could stop
drinking and these "ex-alcoholics" had the answer! It
was doubly sensational because their solution was
spiritual rather than medical.
Alexander was more than convinced. He
wrote additional hard hitting articles about A.A. and in
1951 became a member of the A.A. Board of Trustees.
His article (-"Alcoholics Anonymous:
Freed Slaved of Drink, Now They Free Others", Saturday
Evening Post, March 1, 1941; pp. 9-11, 89-90, 92.-) about these
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"dipsomaniacs" was not the first
national publicity A.A. had received, but it did bring
in the most requests for help. "It is estimated that
6,000 A.A.'s owe the start of their sobriety to the Post
article," and Ward M. would be one of them.
Jack Alexander and
the Saturday Evening Post brought the credibility A.A.
needed in its infancy. It also brought a rush of
inquiries about A.A. that founder Bill W. had not
prepared for. The new book Alcoholics Anonymous and one
small pamphlet were all that Bill and his secretary had
to send out to thousands of inquiries that came in
response to this article. Each inquiry was also answered
with a personal letter.
One of these
inquiries came from Elizabeth D. in Springfield,
Illinois. Her plea for help was on behalf of her
brother, Ward M. Using information given in the article,
Elizabeth wrote to what was then called "The Alcoholic
Foundation". She received her reply from "R. Houck,
Secretary" of the Alcoholic Foundation dated May 23,
1941 Church Street Annex, P.O. Box 658, New York City.
Ruth, a non-alcoholic, rarely used her first name on
these letters. The drunks seeking help were usually men
and Bill W. did not want them to think they were
corresponding with a woman. The Foundation had a Board
of Trustees for legal/financial purposes and two
additional clericals recently hired to help Ruth at the
small "National Headquarters". However, for all
practical purposes, Bill W. was "The Foundation" and R.
Hock was "The Secretary".
To Be
Continued.......
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