Foreword to Second Edition

Figures given in this foreword describe the Fellowship as it was in 1955. Since the original Foreword to this book was written in 1939 , a wholesale miracle has taken place. Our earliest printing voiced the hope “thatevery alcoholic who journeys will find the Fellowshipof Alcoholics Anonymous at his destination. Already,”continues the early text “twos and threes and fives ofus have sprung up in other communities.” Sixteen years have elapsed between our first printing of this book and the presentation in 1955 of our second edition. In that brief space, Alcoholics Anonymoushas mushroomed into nearly 6,000 groups whose membership is far above 150,000 recovered alcoholics. Groups are to be found in each of the United Statesand all of the provinces of Canada. A.A. has flourishing communities in the British Isles, the Scandinavian countries, South Africa, South America, Mexico, Alaska, Australia and Hawaii. All told, promising beginnings have been made in some 50foreign coun- tries and U. S. possessions. Some are just now takingshape in Asia. Many of our friends encourage us by saying that this is but a beginning, only the augury ofa much larger future ahead. The spark that was to flare into the first A.A. group was struck at Akron, Ohio, in June 1935 , during a talk between a New York stockbroker and an Akron physician. Six months earlier, the broker had been relieved of his drink obsession by a sudden spiritua experience, following a meeting with an alcoholic friend who had been in contact with the Oxford Groups of that day. He had also been greatly helpedby the late Dr. William D. Silkworth, a New York specialist in alcoholism who is now accounted no lessthan a medical saint by A.A. members, and whosestory of the early days of our Society appears in thenext pages. From this doctor, the broker had learnedthe grave nature of alcoholism. Though he could notaccept all the tenets of the Oxford Groups, he was convinced of the need for moral inventory, confession of personality defects, restitution to those harmed, helpfulness to others, and the necessity of belief in and dependence upon God. Prior to his journey to Akron, the broker had worked hard with many alcoholics on the theory that only an alcoholic could help an alcoholic, but he had succeeded only in keeping sober himself. The broker hadgone to Akron on a business venture which had collapsed, leaving him greatly in fear that he mightstart drinking again. He suddenly realized that in order to save himself he must carry his message to another alcoholic. That alcoholic turned out to bethe Akron physician. This physician had repeatedly tried spiritual means to resolve his alcoholic dilemma but had failed. Butwhen the broker gave him Dr. Silkworth’s description of alcoholism and its hopelessness, the physician beganto pursue the spiritual remedy for his malady with awillingness he had never before been able to muster. He sobered, never to drink again up to the moment ofhis death in 1950 . This seemed to prove that one alcoholic could affect another as no nonalcoho could. It also indicated that strenuous work, one alcoholic with another, was vital to permanent recovery. Hence the two men set to work almost frantically upon alcoholics arriving in the ward of the Akron City Hospital. Their very first case, a desperate one, recov-ered immediately and became A.A. number three. Henever had another drink. This work at Akron continued through the summer of 1935 . There were many failures, but there was an occasional heartening suc-cess. When the broker returned to New York in the fallof 1935 , the first A.A. group had actually been formed, though no one realized it at the time. A second small group promptly took shape at New York, to be followed in 1937 with the start of a third at Cleveland. Besides these, there were scattered alcoholics who had picked up the basic ideas in Akron or New York who were trying to form groups in othercities. By late 1937 , the number of members having substantial sobriety time behind them was sufficient toconvince the membership that a new light had entered the dark world of the alcoholic. It was now time, the struggling groups thought, to place their message and unique experience before theworld. This determination bore fruit in the spring of1939 by the publication of this volume. The member- ship had then reached about 100men and women. The fledgling society, which had been nameless, now beganto be called Alcoholics Anonymous, from the title of itsown book. The flying-blind period ended and A.A. en-tered a new phase of its pioneering time. With the appearance of the new book a great deal began to happen. Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, the noted clergyman, reviewed it with approval. In the fall of 1939 Fulton Oursler, then editor of Liberty, printed a piece in his magazine, called “Alcoholics and God.” This brought a rush of 800 frantic inquiries into the little New York office which meanwhile had been established. Each inquiry was painstakingly answered; pamphlets and books were sent out. Businessmen, traveling out of existing groups, were referred to these prospective newcomers. New groups started up and it was found, to the astonishment of everyone, that A.A.’s message could be transmitted in the mail as well as by word of mouth. By the end of1939 it was estimated that 800 alcoholics were on their way to recovery. In the spring of 1940 , John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave a dinner for many of his friends to which he invitedA.A. members to tell their stories. News of this got on the world wires; inquiries poured in again and manypeople went to the bookstores to get the book “Alcoholics Anonymous.’’ By March 1941 the membership had shot up to 2,000 . Then Jack Alexander wrote a feature article in the Saturday Evening Post and placed such a compelling picture of A.A. before thegeneral public that alcoholics in need of help really deluged us. By the close of 1941 , A.A. numbered 8,000 members. The mushrooming process was in full swing. A.A. had become a national institution. Our Society then entered a fearsome and exciting adolescent period. The test that it faced was this:Could these large numbers of erstwhile erratic alco-holics successfully meet and work together? Wouldthere be quarrels over membership, leadership, andmoney? Would there be strivings for power and prestige? Would there be schisms which would split A.A. apart? Soon A.A. was beset by these very prob-lems on every side and in every group. But out of thisfrightening and at first disrupting experience the con-viction grew that A.A.’s had to hang together or die separately. We had to unify our Fellowship or passoff the scene. As we discovered the principles by which the indi- vidual alcoholic could live, so we had to evolve principles by which the A.A. groups and A.A. as a wholecould survive and function effectively. It was thoughtthat no alcoholic man or woman could be excludedfrom our Society; that our leaders might serve butnever govern; that each group was to be autonomous and there was to be no professional class of therapy. There were to be no fees or dues; our expenses wereto be met by our own voluntary contributions. Therewas to be the least possible organization, even in ourservice centers. Our public relations were to be basedupon attraction rather than promotion. It was decidedthat all members ought to be anonymous at the levelof press, radio, TV and films. And in no circumstances should we give endorsements, make alliances, or enterpublic controversies. This was the substance of A.A.’s Twelve Traditions, which are stated in full on page 561 of this book. Though none of these principles had the force of rulesor laws, they had become so widely accepted by 1950 that they were confirmed by our first International Conference held at Cleveland. Today the remarkableunity of A.A. is one of the greatest assets that our Society has. While the internal difficulties of our adolescent period were being ironed out, public acceptance of A.A. grew by leaps and bounds. For this there were twoprincipal reasons: the large numbers of recoveries, andreunited homes. These made their impressions every-where. Of alcoholics who came to A.A. and really tried,50% got sober at once and remained that way; 25% sobered up after some relapses, and among the remainder, those who stayed on with A.A. showed improvement. Other thousands came to a few A.A. meet ings and atfirst decided they didn’t want the program. But greatnumbers of these—about two out of three—began toreturn as time passed. Another reason for the wide acceptance of A.A. was the ministration of friends—friends in medicine, reli-gion, and the press, together with innumerable otherswho became our able and persistent advocates. Without such support, A.A. could have made only the slowest progress. Some of the recommendations ofA.A.’s early medical and religious friends will be foundfurther on in this book. Alcoholics Anonymous is not a religious organiza- tion. Neither does A.A. take any particular medical point of view, though we cooperate widely with the men of medicine as well as with the men of religion. Alcohol being no respecter of persons, we are an accurate cross section of America, and in distant lands, the same democratic evening-up process is now goingon. By personal religious affiliation, we include Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Hindus, and a sprinkling of Moslems and Buddhists. More than 15% of us are women. At present, our membership is pyramiding at the rate of about twenty per cent a year. So far, upon the total problem of several million actual and potential alcoholics in the world, we have made only a scratch. In all probability, we shall never be able to touch morethan a fair fraction of the alcohol problem in all its ramifications. Upon therapy for the alcoholic himself, we surely have no monopoly. Yet it is our great hopethat all those who have as yet found no answer maybegin to find one in the pages of this book and willpresently join us on the high road to a new freedom.