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William Griffith Wilson (26 November 1895–24 January 1971) (commonly known as Bill Wilson or Bill W.), was a co-founder of the society Alcoholics Anonymous. The other co-founder was Dr. Bob Smith. Bill's wife, Lois Wilson became the founder of Al-Anon, a group dedicated to helping the friends and relatives of alcoholics. Dr. Bob's wife, Anne Ripley Smith, worked with Wilson and Smith during the founding days of 1935, developed a journal which she shared with Wilson, AA members and their families, and formed the first women's group in 1936.
Descent into addiction
Bill was born on 26 November 1895 in East Dorset, Vermont to Gilman Barrows Wilson and Emily Griffith. In 1918 Bill married Lois Burnham. Bill began drinking in the military during World War I. Upon his discharge from the military Bill became a stock speculator in New York City. Over the next several years his drinking progressed and became more serious. He had to be locked up in a psychiatric hospital several times under the care of Dr. William D. Silkworth at the Towns Hospital. He was told that he would either die from his alcoholism or have to be locked up permanently due to alcoholic insanity.
Bill's conversion
One day, an old drinking friend named Ebby Thacher phoned Bill wanting to visit with him. Expecting to spend a day drinking and re-living old times, Bill was instead shocked by Ebby's refusal to drink. When Bill asked Ebby why he wasn't drinking, Ebby said, "I've got religion." Ebby had gotten sober 2 months before under the guidance of Roland Hazard of the Oxford Group, which was an evangelical society. They spoke for hours about Ebby's religious awakening and newfound sobriety. Bill had long held contempt toward organized religion, and upon this revelation Ebby asked him, "Why don't you choose a God of your own understanding?" This simple statement opened the door for Bill and gave him a whole new outlook on spirituality. Bill did not stop drinking that day, but this conversation stuck with him.
Shortly after his visit with Ebby, Bill set out for Towns Hospital for the last time; and while laying in bed recovering from his drinking bout, in depression and despair, he cried out, "if there be a God, let Him show Himself! I'll do anything! Anything!". He then had what he later called a "hot-flash experience". His obsession to drink vanished at once. Bill spoke about his experience with Dr. Silkworth, who told him that he didn't know what had happened to Bill, but he'd better hold onto it. Ebby went to the hospital to visit Bill and walked Bill through some of the basic tenets of the Oxford Group. Upon his release from the hospital, Bill was told to seek out and bring the message of his recovery to others as Ebby had done for him.
A new spiritual program for recovery
Bill joined the Oxford Movement, and set out trying to help other alcoholics. He had no success in helping anyone get sober because, as he later stated, he was telling them of his spiritual experience in the hospital. When he lamented to Lois about this, she gently pointed out that he was staying sober. Bill visited Dr. Silkworth who told him to try talk to alcoholics about the grave nature of their disease, about the allergy and the obsession, and about his own experience with alcohol. Shortly after, in 1935, he made a trip to Akron, Ohio for a business deal. The transaction failed and in a state of frustration he was tempted to drink again. He concluded that his only hope in remaining sober was to help another alcoholic. So instead of drinking, he camped in a phone booth at his hotel and started calling the phone numbers on a church directory. The last number on the directory put him in touch with Henrietta Seiberling, who had prayed with Dr. Bob Smith and other members of their church for a solution to Bob's drinking problem. Bill was proclaimed by Henrietta to be "manna from heaven." She arranged a meeting with Dr. Bob, who was a general surgeon and was also a member of the Oxford Group. Dr. Bob had been unable to stay sober on his own, so he was skeptical that Bill would be able to help him, but he agreed to give Bill 15 minutes nevertheless. Fifteen minutes turned into 4 hours as Bill and Bob each spoke freely of their own personal experiences and Bill told Dr. Bob of the solution he had found. Shortly after, Dr. Bob had his last drink. This new approach worked so well that Bill and Dr. Bob decided to try it with another alcoholic.
The first AA meeting
Using the same approach Bill had used with Dr. Bob, the two men went to a hospital to talk to another alcoholic named Bill D. The approach they used was based on the idea that, because experience brings credibility, one alcoholic can help another alcoholic as nobody else can. Bill D. sobered up and now there were three men carrying this new message of recovery. This became the actual founding of the first group of Alcoholics Anonymous (although it would not be so named until a few years later). The three men then carried the message to another alcoholic, and so the fellowship began. Bill soon returned to New York and began to carry the message there. This bore fruit and soon there was a second group in New York City.
A manual of recovery for AA
In 1938, after about 100 alcoholics in Akron and New York had sobered up, the fellowship decided to write a book that described the program of action that had helped them to recover from alcoholism. In so doing, they hoped their message would reach more alcoholics who were in a state of helplessness and hopelessness. Because Bill had such good writing skills, the group allowed him to do the honors. The book was designed and written in such a way to carry the message in the same manner that a face-to-face meeting would. The Twelve Steps appeared in the fifth chapter entitled "How It Works." These steps were not new to mankind. Some of the Oxford Groups basic tenets were used, as well as many spiritual principles that are basic and common to most religions. The only difference was that these alcoholics had found a way to put these ideas into practical application in a way that kept them sober. After grappling for a proper title for the book, the title "Alcoholics Anonymous" was selected, and the new movement took the same name. The book was printed in 1939 and the fellowship was about to take off in a way that everybody had hoped, but nobody had expected.
AA's growth and growing pains
In 1939 An article titled "Alcoholics and God" was written by Fulton Oursler for Liberty, which brought many inquiries to the small fellowship. By the end of 1939, the fellowship had grown to about 800 alcoholics. This was followed in 1941 with an article by Jack Alexander for the Saturday Evening Post. By the end of 1941, there were about 8,000 members.
As Alcoholics Anonymous (or A.A.) continued to grow at an astounding rate, problems began to appear among individuals and groups which threatened the integrity of the purpose of A.A., which was to carry the message of recovery to the still suffering alcoholic. They also learned of the fate of a group called the Washingtonians, whom had destroyed themselves by getting involved in social and political contoversy. It was surmised that they had forgotten what their primary purpose was.
Authoring the twelve traditions
Based on these lessons, Bill wrote the "Twelve Traditions" to serve as basic constitution and to protect the groups' singleness of purpose —"to carry the message of recovery to the alcoholic who still suffers."
Before the twelve traditions were in place, Wilson was not shy about personal publicity. He later became an anonymous member and would later state that the principle of "public anonymity" was the greatest "spiritual principle" advanced by A.A. Bill refused numerous honors during his life, including an honorary degree from Yale University, and refused to allow himself to be on the covers of magazines.
Bill's death and legacy
Wilson died of emphysema and pneumonia on 24 January 1971 in Miami, Florida.
Bill Wilson's story and his eventual founding of AA was dramatized in the 1989 TV movie My Name is Bill W., starring James Woods and James Garner.
Time magazine named Wilson to their "Time 100" list of "The Most Important People of the 20th Century" .
See also
- Alcoholics Anonymous
- Twelve-step program
- Twelve traditions
- Alcoholism
- Addiction
- William Duncan Silkworth
- Sam Shoemaker Dr. Samuel Moor Shoemaker, DD, STD
Literature
- Bill W. (2004). The A.A. Service Manual combined with Twelve Concepts for World Service (2004-2005 Edition ed.). New York: Alcoholics Anonymous.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - Susan Cheever. My Name is Bill, Bill Wilson: His Life and the Creation of Alcoholics Anonymous. New York: Simon & Schuster/ Washington Square Press. Template:Auto isbn (paperback).
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - Bill W. Alcoholics Anonymous. The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism (4th ed. new and rev. 2001 ed.). New York: Alcoholics Anonymous. ISBN 1-893007-16-2, Dewey 362.29 A347 2001. ('Big Book')
- Bill W. Alcoholics Anonymous Comes Of Age. New York: Alcoholics Anonymous. ISBN 0-916856-02-X, LC HV5278.A78A4, Dewey: 178.1 A1c.
{{cite book}}: Text "1990" ignored (help) - Bill W. (1967). As Bill Sees It. New York: Alcoholics Anonymous. ISBN 0-916856-03-8, Dewey 616.861 ASB.
- Bill W. (2000). My First 40 Years. An Autobiography by the Cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Center City, Minnesota: Hazelden, 55012-0176. ISBN 1-56838-373-8, Dewey B W11w 2000.
- Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers. New York: Alcoholics Anonymous. 1980. ISBN 0-916856-07-0, LCCN 80-65962, LC HV5278.D62 1980.
- Hartigan, Francis (2000). Bill W. A Biography of Alcoholics Anonymous Cofounder Bill Wilson. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 0-312-20056-0, Dewey B W11h 2000.
- Kurtz, Ernest (1979). Not-God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous. Center City, Minnesota: Hazelden. ISBN 0-89486-065-8 or ISBN 0-89486-065-8 (pbk.), LC HV5278, LCCN 79-88264, Dewey 362.2/9286 or 362.29286 K87 1979.
- Pass It On: The story of Bill Wilson and how the A.A. message reached the world. New York: Alcoholics Anonymous. 1984. ISBN 0-916856-12-7, LC HV5032 .W19P37x 1984, LCCN 84-072766, Dewey 362.29/286/O92.
- Thomsen, Robert (1975). Bill W. New York: Harper & Rowe. ISBN 0-06-014267-7, Dewey 362.29 W112t.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. New York: Alcoholics Anonymous. 1953. ISBN 0-916856-01-1.
External links
- Bill Wilson: TIME magazine biography (100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century)
- Unofficial Alcoholics Anonymous history site
- Private AA History pages
- Extensive directory of AA pioneers
- Stepping Stones, Lois and Bill Wilson's Bedford Hills, NY home