Founding of AA
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Wilson's early efforts and influence of the Oxford Group
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Following his hospital discharge, Wilson joined the Oxford Group and tried to recruit other alcoholics to the group. These early efforts to help others kept him sober, but were ineffective in getting anyone else to join the group and get sober. Dr. Silkworth suggested that Wilson place less stress on religion (as required by The Oxford Group) and more on the science of treating alcoholism. Bill W. would later write: "The early AA got its ideas of self-examination, acknowledgment of character defects, restitution for harm done, and working with others straight from the Oxford Group and directly from Sam Shoemaker, their former leader in America, and from nowhere else."[23] According to Mercadante, however, the AA concept of powerlessness over alcohol departs significantly from Oxford Group belief. In AA, alcoholism cannot be cured, and the Oxford Group stressed the possibility of complete victory over sin.[24]
Beginnings of AA in Akron, Ohio
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Robert Smith's House in Akron
In 1935, AA began in Akron, Ohio, as the outcome of a meeting between Bill W., and Dr. Bob, an Akron surgeon. Wilson's first success came during a business trip to Akron, Ohio, where he was introduced to Dr. Robert Smith, a surgeon, who was unable to stay sober.[25] Dr. Bob's participation in the Oxford Group had not been enough to enable him to stop drinking.[25]
Bill W. explained that alcoholism affects the mind, emotions, and body, a concept he learned from Dr. Silkworth at Towns Hospital in New York, where he had been a patient multiple times. Convinced by Bill's insights, Dr. Bob soon achieved sobriety and never drank again, marking the inception of A.A., on 10 June 1935.[26] Bill W. and Dr. Bob started working with alcoholics at Akron’s City Hospital.[25] One patient, who soon achieved sobriety, joined them.[25] Together, the three men formed the foundation of what would later become Alcoholics Anonymous, although the name "Alcoholics Anonymous" had not yet been adopted.[25]
In late 1935, a new group of alcoholics began forming in New York, followed by another in Cleveland in 1939. Over the course of four years, these three initial groups helped around 100 people achieve sobriety.[25] In early 1939, the Fellowship published its foundational text, Alcoholics Anonymous, which outlined A.A.’s philosophy and introduced the Twelve Steps. This book also included case histories of thirty individuals who had achieved recovery, marking a significant milestone in A.A.'s development.[25] The Twelve Steps were influenced by the Oxford Group's 6 steps and various readings, including William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience.[27][28]
The first female member, Florence Rankin, joined AA in March 1937,[29][30] and the first non-Protestant member, a Roman Catholic, joined in 1939.[31] The first black AA group commenced in 1945 in Washington D.C., and was founded by Jim S., an African-American physician from Virginia.[32][33]