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| Flowers from the yard at 855 Ardmore Avenue, Akron, Ohio |
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.
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| From left: Delinda, Karma & Maureen |
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| From left: Karma, Maureen & Mary |
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.
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| Maureen at the Pay Phone |
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.
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| Gate Lodge |
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.
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| 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. 
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".
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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!
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| Photo not mine; attributed to Google! |
Ignatia Chapel, St. Thomas Hospital
Akron, Ohio
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Grant us the serenity
To accept the things we cannot change,
The courage to change the things we can,
And the wisdom to know the difference
Signing off with gratitude to my travel companions, Delinda, Karma and Maureen.
(All full face photos are posted with permission.)
