Dr. Bob Smith Signed Hand Written Letter Alcoholics Anonymous AA – COA JSA

Description

Presented is a handwritten and signed letter by Dr. Bob Smith. After a chance meeting with William Wilson (Bill W.), and a soon friendship with fellowship and support, Alcoholics Anonymous was developed. Their 12-step recovery program and fellowship support for members continue to this day. Dr. Bob was a vital contribution to AA: without him the Big Book might never have been published and AA as it is known today may have never been the program it has become.

The handwritten letter on his letterhead includes the envelope which dates it to 1949. It summerizes as a nice note to a dear friend, Sarah.

Robert Smith also known as Dr. Bob, was an American physician and surgeon who cofounded Alcoholics Anonymous with Bill Wilson (more commonly known as Bill W.).

Smith started drinking as a young adult and continued to drink heavily during the early years of his marriage and professional career. As his alcoholism progressed steadily, he began a desperate search for an answer to his problem. With strong encouragement and support from his wife, Anne R. Smith, he started attending meetings of the Oxford Group, a Christian evangelical fellowship, founded by Dr. Frank N. D. Buchman in 1919 and considered to be a forerunner of AA because of its emphasis on self-examination, acknowledgement of character defects, restitution of harm done, reliance on God, and working with others.

In May of 1935, Smith, still struggling with alcohol addiction, met William G. Wilson (“Bill W.”), who was on a business trip to Akron, Ohio and on the verge of a relapse into alcoholism. The two became friends and were able to support one another in their struggles with alcohol addiction. They began reading the Bible together, offered each other support, engaged in long discussions and reviewed Oxford Group ideas, all of which were influential in the development of AA and its pioneering 12-step recovery program.

Alcoholics Anonymous is an international fellowship of men and women who meet in groups to share their experiences and common problems, and to help each other recover from alcoholism. It was the first 12-step recovery program and continues to be the source and the model for all similar recovery groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous and Al-Anon/Alateen. Founded in 1935 by Robert Holbrook Smith and William G. Wilson, it was the first organization run by and for alcoholics, and the first to offer sustained support of alcoholics regardless of their financial standing. It continues to be recognized and supported by the psychiatric, medical, and clerical communities.

Authentication: JSA Full Letter

Dr. Bob Smith Signed Hand Written Letter