This page is for people interested in taking their recovery a little further / deeper after working their way through the 12 Steps.
I don't recommend diving into the history, unless a person has already experienced the solution that the original 12 Steps instructions have (in the AA Big Book).
Why? Because we addicts are great rationalizers. My addict-brain is always looking for a way out of the program, an excuse to leave.
The reader of these words will make their own choice. But my recommendation is to come back here after experiencing some of the benefits first.
An exceptionally cool piece of history from the AA Historian Collection at Brown University Online. This really speaks to the humility of early AA, and how much of a shoe string operation it was.
- Historical Documents
(AA in the Desert, Ouside link) - AA History Group (Outside Link)
A cool non-GSO group of folks preserving old pamphlets and literature. A bunch of recovery nerds like me :) - 3 Talks to Medical Societies
This is a great pamphlet sharing more detail of Bill W.'s story and the origins of AA (in his own words).
For reasons unclear, it was removed from the AA website. Here it is though!
- AA Historian Collection at Brown University Online (Outside Link)
- Bob & Anne Smith Archive via Wally P's Website (Outside Link)
- Back to Basics (Wally P.) 1940's method explained (Outside Link)
An AA historian, Wally P., was given a treasure trove of letters, writings, photographs, and other personal items by Bob S's daughter, Sue Smith in the late 90's. He donated this collection to Brown University, where it can be publicly viewed online below.
