It's The Journey...: "Origins Tour"

Flowers from the yard at 855 Ardmore Avenue, Akron, Ohio

2016 marks 81 years since the founding of the 12 Step Program, Alcoholics Anonymous. June 10, 1935 is regarded as the founding date and Akron, Ohio as the birthplace of AA. The Akron Area Intergroup Council annually hosts Founder's Day Weekend. This year I attended along with 3 friends from Bloomington and nearly 8,000 others from around the U.S. and Canada

Founder's Day Weekend is held on the campus of the University of Akron. We stayed in the dorms, ate meals 'en masse' at the Student Union and attended activities in the basketball arena, the football stadium and other campus locations.

From left: Delinda, Karma & Maureen


From left: Karma, Maureen & Mary

The Akron community (AKA: Rubber City") graciously opened it's doors to the locations of the "historical coincidence" that led to the founding of AA and the 12 Step way of life. On Saturday we visited the places that are featured in the story of AA's pioneering days. There are those who dispute the truth of the Mayflower Hotel portion of the story I will relate. But whether it is all truth or part truth/part rich folklore, it is the origin story that forms the basis of Founder's Day weekend.

And so the story goes: The two individuals credited with the founding are Dr. Robert Smith, Akron physician, and Bill Wilson, businessman and resident of New York State. (Their wives, Anne Smith and Lois Wilson played no small part and are due some credit.)

In May of 1935 Bill Wilson, an unemployed stock broker who had recently established a period of sobriety in his home state of New York, traveled by train to Akron. He came in hopes of establishing himself as President of the National Rubber Machinery Company. However, his efforts failed and he was left with no job, little money and uncertainty about where to turn next. Bill Wilson told the story that he found himself with $10 to his name in the lobby of the Mayflower Hotel in downtown Akron. He was at a turning point: go to the bar or make a phone call for some help. He made the call.

The Mayflower Hotel is no longer the most elegant lodging in Akron, far from it. But the pay phone and the Church Directory are still in place.

Maureen at the Pay Phone

As the story goes, Bill used the Church Directory next to the pay phone. He made contact with Reverend Walter Tunks of St. Paul's Episcopal Church who put him in touch with members of the Oxford Group in Akron.

In particular he was put in touch with Henrietta Seiberling, Oxford Group member and daughter-in-law of the founder of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. Separated from her husband, she lived with her two children at the Gate Lodge at Stan Hywet Hall.

Gate Lodge

On Mother's Day, May 12, 1935, Henrietta Seiberling arranged for Dr. Bob Smith to meet Bill Wilson at her residence. Dr. Bob (who was still drinking and suffering a hangover) agreed to come for a short "15 minutes only" meeting. Henrietta served dinner and then at around 5:00 PM ushered the two men into the Library for privacy.

Aware that both men struggled with alcoholism, she introduced them in hopes that they would find a way to help one another and others. The meeting lasted until nearly 11:00 PM.

The meeting of Dr. Bob and Bill W. has been described by some scholars as one of the most significant events of the 20th Century. The meeting ultimately led to the founding of AA.

As a result of the leadership role she played in the formation of AA, Henrietta Seiberling was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in October of 1998.

From Left: Maureen, Delinda & Karma at Gate Lodge

At the time of the Gate Lodge meeting, Dr. Bob and his wife, Anne Smith, lived at

855 Ardmore Avenue in Akron.

In late May of 1935, Anne Smith asked Bill W to reside with them and help her husband stay sober. June 10, 1935 was the start of sustained abstinence from alcohol for Dr. Bob. This date is considered the founding date of AA and the founding took place in the home on Ardmore Avenue.

While waiting on line to view the interior of the house, we could enter the garage. It turns out Dr. Bob was quite the "car guy". The garage is full of large blow-ups of Dr. Bob and his various rides.

Bill Wilson lived with the Smiths from May until the Autumn of 1935. It was in this home that the principles of AA were clarified and a start was made on the First Edition of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Dr. Bob as a young physician.

The bathroom and Dr. Bob's multi-purpose laundry chute!

Anne & Dr. Bob's bedroom.

And the Ardmore Avenue coffee pot....

In 1984 Wesley Parrish of Pompano Beach, Florida spearheaded the idea of creating a non-profit foundation to purchase and maintain Dr. Bob and Anne's home as a historic site. In May 1985 the home was officially incorporated as a non-profit and gained a zoning variance to allow for the designation as a "museum".

In October 1985 the home received designation as a State Historical Site. At the same time and through the efforts of U.S. Congressman John Sieberling, Henrietta's son, the home was listed on the registry of National Historical places.

In May of 2011 an internal restoration project was completed. On October 17, 2012 Dr. Bob & Anne's home received the prestigious designation of National Historical Landmark.

******************************

And to close the day on Saturday, we attended an evening meeting at the University of Akron football stadium. Most of the 8,000 were in attendance.

We met up with friends Sharon and Lisa (with Maureen)

In closing, no tour of AA history in Akron is complete without mention of

Sister Ignatia.

On August 16, 1935, Sister Ignatia Gavin, a frail but feisty Catholic sister in charge of admissions at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, admitted the first alcoholic patient under the diagnosis of acute gastritis. She was assisted by Dr. Bob Smith, thus making St. Thomas Hospital the first hospital in the world to treat alcoholism as a medical condition.

Soon, she provided a ward for men to sober up and St. Thomas Hospital became the first religious institution to recognize the rights of alcoholics to receive hospital treatment. Today, many of AA's practices -- including the use of tokens to mark milestones in sobriety -- find their origins with Sister Ignatia. She was also an early advocate of lots of coffee for those in recovery!