Robert Smith & William Wilson
United in their search for sobriety, Dr. Bob and Bill W. established Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935. This fellowship allows men and women to share with one another their experience, strength, and hope in order to carry the message of recovery to alcoholics seeking help.
"It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a power greater than myself. Nothing more was required for me to make my beginning."
— William G. Wilson
William G. Wilson (Bill W.)
Born: November 26, 1895 East Dorset, Vermont
Died: January 24,1971 Miami, Florida
Dr. Robert H. Smith (Dr. Bob)
Born: August 8, 1879 St. Johnsbury, Vermont
Died: November 16, 1950 Akron, Ohio
William Griffith Wilson (Bill W.) and Dr. Robert Smith (Dr. Bob) are generally accepted as co-founders of the fellowship known as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), the worldwide organization that offers hope to those suffering from alcoholism. The AA Twelve Step program offers the alcoholic a way to live a full and satisfying life without the use of alcohol. The purpose of AA is for alcoholics to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety.
The birth of this worldwide organization is generally cited as June 10, 1935, the day Smith took his last drink, a scarce month after a life-changing meeting with Wilson. Treating alcoholism as both a physical and spiritual disease, the two men would give hope to countless fellow alcoholics. Their belief and experience would provide the basis for AA and, most importantly, the concept of the Twelve Step program. This program, also embraced by other groups such as Narcotics Anonymous and Gamblers Anonymous, represents hope for all those who have a desire to address their addiction.
After his alcoholic father deserted the family, Wilson's grandparents and mother raised him. His mother left Wilson and his sister in the care of his grandparents while she pursued a career as an osteopathic physician. Although Wilson's grandparents were good to him, life in East Dorset, Vermont, was not easy. He had few friends and, by his own admission, was a tall, gawky, self-conscious child. Wilson's depression eventually became apparent to the adults in his life. Concerned for his well being, they sent him to Burr & Burton Academy in 1909. Wilson's natural leadership ability and his desire to succeed were evident at Burr & Burton where he served as president of his class. It was there he felt, "substantial and real.” In 1912, after the death of his romantic interest, Bertha Bamford, Wilson suffered a three-year bout with depression. He dropped out of the academy and in 1914 enrolled in Norwich University, a military college in Northfield, Vermont. After breaking his elbow and suffering mild seizures in the fall of 1914, Wilson dropped out of college and returned home for the rest of the academic year. He became engaged in the fall of 1915 and returned to the university in February of 1916, only to be suspended soon after. He returned in the summer to resume his studies but the entry of the United States into World War I would reroute him once again.
Wilson joined the Army in 1917 and married in 1918. It was during his Army service that he began drinking, finding that he liked the "change" that alcohol would bring: “Ah, what magic! I had found the elixir of life! Down went that strange barrier that had always stood between me and people around me. I could talk easily, I could communicate. Here was the missing link!”
For the next 17 years Wilson's dependence on the "elixir of life" grew, taking his finances and his marriage on a roller coaster ride. He was discharged from the Army in 1919, and he and his wife, Lois Burnham Wilson, settled in New York City. In the 1920's he began to make a good living on Wall Street. However, the extent of his drinking was evident in the loss of friends and family and the missed business opportunities. Although he found success in Canada after the stock market crash in 1929, his drinking caused him to lose the job. For the next four years, Wilson relied on his wife's income while he was unemployed and drinking heavily. His health deteriorated and from 1933-1934, he was admitted to Charles B. Towns Hospital on four separate occasions. He was told he had two choices – he could be locked up in a sanitarium or, he could do nothing and die. Nonetheless, after he was released he resumed drinking. However, a visit from an old Burr & Burton Academy schoolmate would soon change the direction of his life.
The arrival of this schoolmate, Edwin Thacher or Ebby T., marked the beginning of the rest of Wilson's life. Ebby T, having experienced the grip of alcoholism, introduced Wilson to the Oxford Group with its strong spiritual values and emphasis on self-examination. A self-proclaimed conservative atheist and skeptical at first, Wilson experienced an epiphany, which helped him recognize that what Ebby T. had done for him he would, in turn, do for others. In 1935 in Akron, Ohio, he sought out the local Oxford Group; it was here that Wilson met a man named Dr. Robert H. Smith.
Robert Holbrook Smith was born August 8, 1879, in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. He had a religious upbringing, which he rebelled against upon leaving home for college. Smith's downward slide, resulting from alcohol, showed some of its first physical symptoms while he was in medical school. Smith's "jittery hands" and "morning jitters" began to affect his work and he left school in his sophomore year. After spending a month drying out on a friend's farm, he returned to complete his exams but was asked to transfer to another school. In his junior year he resumed drinking and as a result, repeated two quarters. The school issued an ultimatum; Smith chose to control his drinking and was able to graduate.
After medical school, his hospital internship left little time for drinking. Smith continued his pursuit of a medical career and eventually opened his own practice. When he developed severe stomach pains, he eased his discomfort through alcohol. He fought insomnia with high-powered sedatives. His dependency on alcohol escalated and he voluntarily committed himself to several sanitariums. Smith's father brought him back to New England and put him under a doctor's care.
Months later Smith was able to return to his practice where all went well until Prohibition. Through bootleggers and medical suppliers the availability of alcohol increased and Smith, once again, found that his addiction was controlling his life. After a 15 year courtship, Smith married Anne Ripley and his medical practice continued. As his alcoholism progressed, he found himself scheduling patients around his bouts of drinking. At times he would cancel all appointments and disappear for days. Eventually, he and his wife were ostracized by friends and colleagues.
Smith, unable to fulfill his promises of reform to his wife and children, sought desperately for a way to control his addiction. Then, like Wilson, he was introduced to members of the Oxford Group. He was attracted to their humility, health, and happiness, which they attributed to their spiritual lifestyle. His wife's interest in this group and its philosophy helped to sustain Smith. He credited her with saving his life.
Introduced by an Oxford Group member, Smith and Wilson developed an immediate affinity for one another. Wilson's story and his healthy appearance prompted Smith to stop drinking. His abstinence lasted only until a business trip when he lapsed into his old, familiar habits. Wilson came to find Smith and on that day, June 10, 1935, Smith marked his first day of life-long sobriety. This date would eventually mark the birth of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Smith's medical background and contacts in Akron allowed the two recovering addicts to begin working with other alcoholics in the City Hospital. In the fall, Wilson returned to New York and by mid-1936 he had a small but determined group of recovering alcoholics who met weekly at his home. A year later, between New York and Akron there were 40 alcoholics staying sober. More than 20 had been sober for a year; many of which had been considered hopeless cases. A move away from the aggressive evangelism of the Oxford Group began in 1937 for this fellowship of recovering alcoholics who would become Alcoholics Anonymous. As Wilson went on to spread the word nationally, Smith continued the work with the original AA groups.
By 1939, Wilson had codified and published the famous "Twelve Steps" to recovery. The core of this philosophy is admitting powerlessness over alcohol and learning to trust your fate to a higher power. The higher power, that of each individual's understanding, is central to Wilson's solution. The next step involves taking a moral inventory and admitting defects and faults to your higher power, yourself, and your friends and family. In doing so, the alcoholic makes direct amends to the people they have hurt. Finally, the alcoholic promises to reach out to others in need and carry the message of AA to those suffering from the disease. Techniques such as meditation, prayer, and sharing experiences, are all used to achieve these goals. Meeting regularly with fellow alcoholics is essential to the recovery process. A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization, or institution and it firmly upholds its commitment to preserve the anonymity of its members.
Funded by friends of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., an Alcoholics Federation Board was established and a headquarters was opened in New York. News articles in Liberty Magazine (1939) and the Saturday Evening Post (1941) also helped spread the word. By 1950, Wilson and Smith had carried the AA message for 15 years to over 10,000 men and women who had maintained sobriety for over a decade. The fellowship of AA was a proven success. Smith died in 1950, the same year that the First International Convention of AA was held in Cleveland. By 1951, AA had expanded its services and publications. Eventually, the organization grew so large it required a more formal leadership structure. Member delegates to a General Services Conference were elected and the trusteeship now became accountable to its members. At the International Convention held in 1955, Wilson formally turned over leadership of the organization he and Smith had created to the Conference delegates and trustees. By 1957 AA's membership reached more than 200,000 in 7,000 groups in 70 different. Today, although AA has never attempted to keep formal membership records, the estimated numbers have reached approximately 1,160,000 in the United States, and another 1,000,000 in other foreign countries.
After Smith's death, Wilson continued to be active in helping fellow alcoholics. He traveled and spoke to groups of alcoholics both affiliated and unaffiliated with AA. He made himself available to help fellow sufferers. In 1971, at the age of 76, Wilson died of pneumonia in Miami Beach, Florida.
At their lowest points in life, Wilson and Smith could never have imagined the impact their journey to sobriety would have on the lives of other alcoholics and addicts who use the Twelve Step program. They reached out to each other and rose from despair to face the disease that was destroying their lives. As alcoholics, their lives had become unmanageable and they desperately sought a means of recovery. Humble beginnings and simple ideals laid the groundwork for AA. Today, AA maintains the same values and principles it did when it was created by Wilson and Smith. The only requirement for membership continues to be a desire to stop drinking.
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