Let’s
meet the woman Bill Wilson and others
frequently called the "Mother
of A.A." (See Dick B., Anne
Smith’s Journal 1933-1939: A.A.’s
Principles of Success, 3rd
ed, pp. ix, 10, 54, 137, 139; Sue
Smith Windows and Robert R. Smith,
Children of the Healer, pp.
29, 43, 152; Women Pioneers
in Twelve Step Recovery, Hazelden,
1999, p. 2).
I’d
been going to A.A. meetings regularly
for about four years and had never
heard Anne Smith’s name mentioned.
In fact, when I went to the Seattle
Convention in 1990, I never heard
it mentioned by the diligent historians
and archivists attending archives
meetings there. I had been advised
to read DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers, and she was mentioned
there. However, I was to learn from
Dr. Bob’s son that even this mention
occurred under strange circumstances.
A.A.’s New York archivist suggested
to Niles P. that he interview oldtimers.
When Niles approached Dr. Bob’s
son, the son asked, "Are you
going to write about my mom?"
The answer was, "No."
Smitty then said he wouldn’t tell
the staff writer anything at all,
and he asked his sister Sue to do
likewise. Later, the staff member
returned and picked up such facts
as did wind up in the Conference
Approved biography of Dr. Bob that
was published by A.A.W.S. in 1980.
Now
I’ve been to Akron several times
to interview Dr. Bob’s daughter,
to attend Founders Day Conventions,
to interview archivists and historians
and oldtimers there, to visit the
Intergroup office and Dr. Bob’s
Home where A.A. was born, the King
School Group which was A.A.’s first
group, and to interview early participants
in the founding years of A.A. such
as former Congressman John F. Seiberling,
son of A.A. co-founder Henrietta
Seiberling. Despite all those visits,
I have yet to see any significant,
specific, account of Anne Smith’s
contribution to early A.A. Her precious
journal is not present. On the stage
at the Conference are pictures of
Bob, Bill, and Sister Ignatia; but
there was none of Anne Smith on
the occasions I attended. So, like
so many other quests for our history
that I undertook, this one had to
begin outside the borders of my
own fellowship.
On
the plane to Akron for my first
interview with Dr. Bob’s daughter,
I was preparing by reading Ernest
Kurtz’s Not-God: A History
of Alcoholics Anonymous. In
an obscure reference in footnote
32, on page 275, of the 1979 edition,
Kurtz cited an "extensively
annotated copy of Anne Smith’s OG
"workbook" in A.A. archives."
Oddly, Kurtz stated in another footnote,
"This writer [Kurtz] was struck
in his interviews of 6 and 7 April
1977, that both Lois [Wilson] and
Henrietta Seiberling stressed that
Anne Smith’s role in the beginning
of A.A. has been much underrated"
(footnote 15, pp. 264-65). Kurtz
seemed to give little attention
either to the Bible, Quiet Time,
Shoemaker, the Oxford Group, or
early A.A. literature; and that
may explain why he did not publish
any significant information about
Anne Smith, her role, or her vitally
important journal (which Kurtz called
a "workbook"). Whatever
the reason, I did not yet grasp
the significance of Anne Smith at
that point.
Later,
as I was reading pages 115-16 of
Mary Darrah’s Sister Ignatia:
Angel of Alcoholics Anonymous,
I saw a reference to Anne’s "Oxford
Group journal." Darrah seemed
to have inspected a portion or portions
of Anne’s "journal;" observed
its relevance to A.A.; but then
moved on with her rendition of Akron
history. Not surprisingly, she focused
on her own view of Ignatia’s importance,
and Anne’s journal received no significant
attention.
Only
later did I realize the treasure
that needed to be unearthed. Working
with author Bill Pittman, A.A. archivist
Frank Mauser, Wilson’s former secretary
Nell Wing, Paul L. who was the archivist
at Stepping Stones, and Dr. Bob’s
daughter Sue Smith Windows, I resolved
to obtain Anne’s journal and to
learn as much of the specifics about
her as possible. Sue wrote a letter
to A.A. General Services requesting
that a copy of Anne’s Journal be
provided to me. Frank Mauser submitted
the request to the Trustees Archives
Committee. Approval was granted.
And I obtained from GSO a copy for
myself to use in my Anne Smith’s
Journal, a copy for Dr. Bob’s
Home, a copy for Bill Pittman, and
a copy for Sue Smith Windows. Sue
believes that many pages are missing
from New York’s document, and I
believe I recently may have found
some of them.
The
important thing in this introductory
part is to introduce you to Anne
Smith. So let’s begin with these
facts. Anne came from the Chicago
suburb of Oak Park, Illinois. She
was one of four children. Her son
Robert informed me of the brilliance
and business successes and accomplishments
of her brothers. Anne herself won
a scholarship to Wellesley College.
After graduation, she returned to
Oak Park, Illinois where she taught
school. She met Dr. Bob at a dance
at St. Johnsbury Academy where Bob
was a senior. Her son likes to say
that they finally married after
a "whirlwind courtship"
culminating many years later with
their marriage on January 25, 1915.
She returned with Bob to Akron;
and I have been told they first
lived down the street from their
ultimate home at 855 Ardmore Avenue,
in Akron, now called the "birthplace
of Alcoholics Anonymous–where it
all began."
Anne
died before Dr. Bob did. The date
was June 1, 1949. Bill Wilson asked
for letters from fellowship people,
telling some of the Anne Smith story.
Bill promised to publish them–something
he never did. But Anne’s daughter-in-law
Betty Smith obtained those letters
and graciously provided them to
me for inclusion in my Anne Smith
book, and some were!. Regrettably,
almost every discussion of Anne
has talked more about Dr. Bob, about
the fellowship, and about their
love for each other, than about
Anne’s specific importance and contribution
to A.A. I have now revised my book
on her journal three times. See
Dick B., Anne Smith’s
Journal, 3rd ed.,
and I hope to publish the actual
contents of journal itself in full
before very long. I know it will
provide immense assistance to those
in A.A. who really want to know
and understand what early AAs heard
and read and were taught.
Each
morning, in the developmental days,
AAs came to the Smith home at the
crack of dawn for what they joshingly
called Anne’s "spiritual pablum."
Anne had a Quiet Time with "the
guys," as her daughter put
it, every morning. On those occasions,
they would read the Bible, pray,
seek God’s guidance, and sometimes
consult a devotional such as The
Upper Room. Of great significance
is the fact that Anne shared the
contents of her journal with the
men and invited discussion.
From
1933 to 1939, Anne was writing down
materials from the Bible, from the
literature she and Bob were reading
about the Bible, Jesus Christ, prayer,
healing, the Oxford Group, and Sam
Shoemaker’s views. Her journal is
64 pages, some written in her own
hand and some typed for her by her
daughter. As a recent chapter on
Anne said (apparently paraphrasing
my material in Anne Smith’s Journal):
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