Note on Documentation of Boyhood of Dr. Robert H. Smith of Alcoholics Anonymous

The definitive work on Dr. Bob’s Christian upbringing in St. Johnsbury, Vermont is Dick B. and Ken B., Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His Excellent Training in the Good Book as a Youngster in Vermont. www.dickb.com/drbobofaa.shtml.

Complete data on St. Johnsbury and Robert Smith:

The Great Awakening of 1875
Dr. Bob’s parents Judge Walter P. Smith and Susan Holbrook Smith
The boyhood home on 20 Summer Street
The nearby elementary school on Summer Street
North Congregational Church of St. Johnsbury—in which the entire Smith family were participants
Dr. Bob’s Core Library, located in North Congregation Church of St. Johnsbury on Main Street (thousands of pages, papers, books, manuscripts telling the Smith-St. Johnsbury story)
Fairbanks Museum across the street from the church
YMCA building (now demolished) where Dr. Bob’s father was a President
Courthouse where Judge Walter P. Smith, Dr. Bob’s father, served as Probate Judge
St. Johnsbury Academy, where Judge Smith was an examiner; where Mrs. Smith had been a student and teacher
As well as school historian and member of Alumni Executive Committee

Other Dick B. books on Dr. Bob:
Dr. Bob and His Library, 3rd ed. www.dickb.com/drbob.shtml
The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous www.dickb.com/Akron.sthml
The Books Early AAs Read for Spiritual Growth, 7th ed. www.dickb.com/titles.shtml

God bless,

Dick B.
Author, 42 titles & over 500 articles on A.A. History
Exec. Dir., International Christian Recovery Coalition
Christian Recovery Resource Centers - Worldwide
www.DickB.com
DickB@DickB.com
(808) 874-4876
PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837

A Biography of "Dr. Bob," Co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous

The definitive biography of Robert Holbrook Smith, M.D., co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) has yet to be written. And we are working on that project right now.

In the meantime, here are excellent resources that tell bits and pieces about Dr. Bob of A.A. and his role in the history of A.A.

First, "Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His Excellent Training in the Good Book as a Youngster in Vermont" www.dickb.com/drbobofaa.shtml. This covers every aspect of Dr. Bob's bible training and how it was translated into early A.A. many years later in Akron. It covers Dr. Bob's boyhood house, his family, his Sunday School, his elementary school, the North Congregational Church of St. Johnsbury where the entire Smith family was active, the services and sermons of that church, the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor in that church and in which Dr. Bob was active--as were his parents Judge Walter P. Smith and Susan Holbrook Smith, his wife. It covers their activity in the YMCA--of which Judge Smith was president in St. Johnsbury. And it covers Dr. Bob's entire schooling in the Congregational Church led academy--St. Johnsbury Academy. There, Dr. Bob cut his teeth on important Christian and biblical ideas that shaped the early A.A. program. These included required daily chapel, required weekly church attendance, required Bible study, and a curriculum that covered Christian materials among many others.

Second, "Dr. Bob and His Library," 3rd ed. www.dickb.com/drbob.shtml. Dr. Bob was an avid reader and student of the Bible. And today's recovery community needs to know the vast amount of literature that Dr. Bob read, recommended, and circulated. It included books on the Bible, Jesus Christ, Christian healing, the Oxford Group, life-changing, Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, and many devotionals such as The Upper Room and The Runner's Bible--both widely used in pioneer A.A.

Third, "The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous" www.dickb.com/Akron.shtml. This book shows the real origins and founding of A.A. in Akron, Ohio, and gives proper place to the roles of Dr. Bob and his wife Anne Smith in the process. This book is endorsed by family members, and by other noted A.A. historians.

Fourth, in 1980, Alcoholics Anonymous itself published "DR BOB and The Good Oldtimers" This book is still available. And it will start any student of A.A. on the road to knowledge of exactly how Dr. Bob spoke, led, and helped others--5000 of them--in the Akron program, which he called a "Christian Fellowship." Page 131 of this book provides an exact summary of the original program that achieved so much success in the late 1930's.

Fifth, no student of Dr. Bob's life should miss the exact transcript of his last major address to AAs in 1948 in Detroit. Here is where Dr. Bob made it plain that the basic ideas of A.A. came from the Bible, that early AAs considered the Book of James, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13 to be absolutely essential to their program. This pamphlet, numbered P-53 "The Co-Founders...." is A.A. General Conference-approved literature and, despite its vital importance, is often difficult to see or obtain at ordinary A.A. meetings.

There is much more on Dr. Bob and much more to be written. The foregoing should give any inquirer a sound, accurate, foundation of material on the unusual life of this co-founder of A.A.

Getting to Know More About A.A.'s Cofounder Dr. Bob

Getting To Know More About A.A. Cofounder Dr. Bob
A Visit to Bob’s Boyhood Village Where It All Began
Dick B.
© 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved
Your Walk Around St. Johnsbury, Vermont
DR. BOB’S BIRTHPLACE AND BOYHOOD HOME; Begin at Dr. Bob’s Birthplace and Boyhood Home at 297 Summer Street.
Snap a photo of yourself and Dr. Bob’s family home.
Visit the premises.
If you like, attend one of the “open” A.A. meetings held there.
NORTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, ST. JOHNSBURY: Walk to the Smith family church at 1325 Main Street--North Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury.
Snap a photo of yourself and the beautiful, towering stone edifice.
Enter the church and view the ornate sanctuary.
Allow ample time to see, browse, and study the materials in the Dr. Bob Core Library, which has been graciously provided, and is maintained, by the church.
The Dr. Bob Core Library volumes will tell you, as to the church, where the family of Judge Walter P. Smith--Bob’s father--worshipped on Sunday morning, attended Sunday school that afternoon, and that evening heard preaching and united in prayers (and also attended such YMCA events, lectures, and concerts as were provided there). You will see where the church’s Christian Endeavor Society for young people held its meetings. You can read volumes of material on Christian Endeavor and on the history of Christian Endeavor in Caledonia County. You may learn the subject of the sermons, the Sunday school lessons, the Sunday prayer meetings, and the Wednesday evening prayer and Christian Endeavor meetings. You will see the extensive, varied, and reported details of the “Great Awakening” of 1875 in St. Johnsbury, which transformed the town, the church, and the people of St. Johnsbury; converted hundreds to Christ and impacted on community life for decades thereafter. There is much on the history of the North Church; the role of Fairbanks family members as donors, builders, office holders, and Sunday school and mission work participants. Governor Erastus Fairbanks was a lifetime Deacon to the church. There are many records of the extensive church participation by the Smith family members (including Judge Walter P. Smith, Mrs. Susan H. Smith, Mrs. Smith’s mother, Dr. Bob, and Dr. Bob’s foster sister Amanda Northrup. There is much material to assist visitors in understanding the relevance of the church and its training to the subsequent history and program of Alcoholics Anonymous, its founders, principles, and practices. You will have an opportunity to get a greater perception of the Bible roots of the Akron Christian A.A. Fellowship. And how these Vermont roots figured largely in A.A. beginnings--with its required conversions; required reliance on God; required five elements of recovery; weekly and almost daily “old fashioned prayer meetings;” stress on reading of the Bible privately and at meetings; stress on cultivation of the habit of prayer; regular seeking of God’s guidance; Quiet Time, the use of devotionals, and frequent reading of Christian literature; and persistent and continuing personal work in love and service to provide free help to new alcoholics so that they could get straightened out and live successful spiritual lives. In the language of A.A.‘s own Big Book text, the recovered pioneers were said to have become happy, joyous, and free. They had conceded to their innermost selves that they were alcoholic and could not manage their own lives; that probably no human power could relieve them, and that--when God had been sought and they had established a relationship with Him--God could and would do, and had done, for them what they could not do for themselves. They vociferously declared that they had been cured by the power of God; that the Creator had healed them of their terrible malady; and that they had unselfishly been moved to witness to others precisely how this miracle of recovery had been accomplished.
Consider dropping a donation in the box.
FAIRBANKS MUSEUM AND PLANETARIUM: Cross Main Street to the impressive Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium, donated to the Town of St. Johnsbury by Colonel Franklin Fairbanks, and containing substantial historical archives, diaries, and records.
Snap a photo.
Visit the museum.
Make an appointment, if desired, to view the historical records in their archives.
THE ST. JOHNSBURY ATHENAEUM: Walk south to 1171 Main Street to the magnificent St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, a library for the town and for St. Johnsbury Academy “scholars” (i.e., students). Built in the Second Empire style, the Athenaeum was a gift to the town from Governor Horace Fairbanks in 1871. It contains a treasure trove of books, manuscripts, photos, papers, and other historical materials. Researchers and historians, as well those in recovery, can--as we did--spend hours and hours in the comfortable library amidst its well-stocked shelves and stacks.
Snap a photo of yourself and the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum
Be sure to visit the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum. Utilize the available help from the library staff, indexes, computers, and copy facilities. There are comfortable chairs, adequate rest rooms, water fountains, and newspapers.
Consider dropping a donation in the box.
Spend substantial time reviewing the history of the Green Mountain state and the sons and daughters of Vermont. Examine the history of St. Johnsbury, the extensive role of the Fairbanks family in community affairs, the immense economic blessings emanating from the invention of the platform scale by Thaddeus Fairbanks and the long-lasting success of the Fairbanks Scales business. Look through the town directories which tell the story, year by year, of the Smith family’s great involvement in the affairs of the community. Search the Smith family genealogy; the activities of North Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury, and the town’s other churches; Congregationalism in Vermont; the YMCA in Vermont; the “Great Awakening” of 1875 in St. Johnsbury; the Christian Endeavor Society in St. Johnsbury and in Vermont; Temperance activities; and the role of women (including Mrs. Walter P. Smith) in domestic missionary work, women’s clubs, local and traveling libraries, Temperance, and the St. Johnsbury Academy.
View on the microfilm reader the complete newspaper accounts of Dr. Bob’s boyhood days in St. Johnsbury in the St. Johnsbury Caledonian (town newspaper), which is today known as the Caledonian-Record.
See the genealogies, biographies, and historical activities of the important sons of Vermont.
THE FORMER SITE OF THE ST. JOHNSBURY YMCA BUILDING (destroyed by fire in 1984 and then demolished), Eastern Avenue.
Rev. Henry Fairbanks donated the YMCA building which was constructed in 1885 and located just off Main Street at 113 Eastern Avenue (until it was destroyed by fire in 1984). Prior to the erection of the building, the state Executive Committee of the Vermont YMCA had conducted Gospel “canvasses” in St. Johnsbury (and throughout Vermont for several years beginning in 1875) and--through the work of lay evangelists--catalyzed the “Great Awakening” of 1875 in St. Johnsbury itself through “Gospel Meetings” which built on the prayers for revival and “union meetings” of the local churches of several denominations in St. Johnsbury. Even the Fairbanks Scales plant was opened at noon time for prayer meetings. Hundreds were converted to Christ during this revival work. At least one report made at the national YMCA Convention in Richmond, Virginia, in 1875, placed the number of decisions for Christ at 1,500--almost one-third of the town population. And YMCA people continued the evangelical work for some time after 1875.
Dr. Bob’s father, Judge Walter P. Smith, was president of the St. Johnsbury YMCA in 1895 and 1897. Fairbanks family members were leaders in its evangelical work, beginning no later than the annual State of Vermont YMCA Convention held in Norwich in November of 1874.
The YMCA provided Bible classes, Bible studies, Bible conversation classes, and meetings for young men. It conducted lectures, concerts, and other events in the churches and at St. Johnsbury Academy. It provided gym facilities for young men; and it worked in close cooperation with St. Johnsbury Academy, running regular advertisements in the student newspaper.
THE COURT HOUSE, Main Street, and Judge Walter P. Smith (Bob’s father)
Just across the street from the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum is the court house where Dr. Bob’s father, Walter Perrin Smith, served many successive elected terms as Probate Judge handling the settling of estates and probate of wills. The Judge is also frequently listed and recorded among the community lawyers. He served as a town agent and village auditor; superintendent of schools; State’s attorney; and representative for St. Johnsbury in the Vermont Legislature. At the North Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury, he was a Sunday school teacher for many years, a Sunday school superintendent, and a Deacon. Prior to becoming a lawyer, he taught in schools and served as Principal of Hardwick Academy. He served St. Johnsbury Academy as one of its examiners. The Judge was long involved in the local banking system as an investor, director, trustee, and officer in three of the town’s banks--Merchants National, Passumpsic Savings, and First National. He became President of Carrick Brothers Granite Company. He was a widely sought-after speaker at political events, a Republican, and a well-known Congregationalist.
ST. JOHNSBURY ACADEMY, 1000 Main Street (Mrs. Walter Smith and Bob himself)
Dominating the south end of Main Street is the campus of St. Johnsbury Academy, which was founded by the three Fairbanks brothers--Thaddeus, Erastus, and Joseph P. The details of this unusual facility can best be learned by making an appointment in advance to visit with the Academy archivist, (formerly Joanne Bertrand), who works at the Grace Orcutt Library on campus.
Snap several photos of yourself, of the Academy buildings, and of South Church next door where daily chapel was often held.
Located in the archives are many of the founding papers requiring religious training and Bible study. Academy governing papers required that trustees be members of a Congregational Church, that “scholars” attend Daily Chapel where there were Scripture readings, sermons, exhortations, prayers, and singing. All scholars were duty-bound to attend a church service and a Bible study once each week.
Important archival and library papers include school catalogs showing the textbooks, curricula, trustees, Principal, staff, teachers, and scholars in attendance. There are histories of the Academy (at least one of which was partially prepared by Mrs. Walter P. Smith), attendance cards for Bob and, earlier, his mother; photographs of Dr. Bob and of his graduating class; Dr. Bob’s commencement program which names him as Orator; accounts of Bob’s activities as Manager and member of the Glee Club; Dr. Bob’s participation in debates, a fraternity, and class offices; class notes about Dr. Bob; and many copies of the student newspaper (both at the Academy and at the Athenaeum). Papers also show Bob’s mother as an Academy student, then an Academy teacher, then an active member of the Alumni Executive Committee, presenter of a large portion of the school’s history at major celebrations, and author of two chapters of a book on the history of the Academy.
Robert Holbrook Smith (A.A.’s Dr. Bob)--who was born August 8, 1879, in the family home at 20 Summer Street in St. Johnsbury--is listed as a member and Sunday school scholar at North Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury. He himself wrote that he was active in the Christian Endeavor Society of North Congregational Church. He wrote, and records confirm, that he and his family regularly attended Sunday morning service, Sunday school, and Sunday evening service, as well as the Christian Endeavor meeting. Frequently, Bob attended the church prayer meeting on Wednesday and regularly attended Christian Endeavor meetings on Wednesday. He attended the local Summer Street School and was later a scholar at St. Johnsbury Academy from 1894 to 1898 (at which time he graduated). He attended and graduated from Dartmouth. And he received medical training at the University of Michigan and at Rush. He later received specialist training as a proctologist and practiced medicine in Akron, Ohio. Plagued with alcoholism since college days, he prayed for recovery with a small group of Christians at the home of inventor T. Henry Williams in Akron. Shortly after he thus sought God’s help, he attained sobriety. The date was June 10, 1935, regarded as the founding day of A.A. by Dr. Bob Smith and Bill Wilson of New York. From that date on, Dr. Bob personally helped over 5,000 drunks to recover, without charge to the drunk. This selfless service led A.A. cofounder Bill Wilson to dub Dr. Bob the “Prince of all Twelfth Steppers.” Dr. Bob had met Anne Robinson Ripley (his wife-to-be) at a St. Johnsbury Academy dance. He later married her at her home in Illinois and settled in the family home at 855 Ardmore Avenue in Akron where A.A. is said to have been founded. Anne Smith died first; Dr. Bob died shortly thereafter; and the two are buried in Akron. Both Dr. Bob and his wife were deeply committed to serving the Creator; were devout Christians; and were strong believers in Bible study, prayer, and seeking God’s guidance. Both widely read, recommended, and distributed Christian literature to early A.A. pioneers. And Dr. Bob assured newcomers to A.A. that--if they went to any lengths to establish their relationship with God, accept Christ, follow his teachings, abstain from drinking and temptation, diligently seek God’s help, and witness in love and service to newcomers in recovery: “Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., p. 181).
The “excellent training” Dr. Bob had received in the “Good Book” as a youngster in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, provided the foundation for the “absolutely essential” Bible-basics of the early A.A. program. That original program achieved a documented, 75% success rate in Akron [and was followed up by the documented, 93% success rate in Cleveland (under Dr. Bob’s sponsee, Clarence Snyder)] among seemingly-hopeless, medically-incurable, real alcoholics who went to any lengths to be cured. He declared that A.A.’s basic ideas came from the Bible study done by the A.A. pioneers--particularly in the Book of James, in the Sermon on the Mount, and in 1 Corinthians 13.
Dr. Bob’s mother, Mrs. Walter P. Smith (Susan Holbrook Smith--born Susan Amanda Holbrook), can--in the alumni, faculty, and other library records of St. Johnsbury Academy, in St. Johnsbury Athenaeum records, in women’s affairs records, in St. Johnsbury Caledonian newspaper articles, and in missionary records--be seen as very much involved in: (1) church service, (2) Sunday school service, (3) the Vermont Domestic Missionary Society, (4) libraries, (5) education, (6) Temperance activities, and (7) music. She was also involved in St. Johnsbury community affairs through other teaching and other religious activities, and through other Academy-related activities. Susan attended St. Johnsbury Academy and graduated from it in 1874. She then taught at St. Johnsbury Academy from 1874 to 1876. She and Judge Smith were married shortly thereafter after. Based on our intensive research over the past eight months, it seems very likely that both of Dr. Bob’s parents were impacted by the “Great Awakening” of 1875 in St. Johnsbury. Both were listed in North Congregational Church records in beginning in 1878 and became members in 1882. In the church, Mrs. Smith served as Sunday school teacher, Sunday school superintendent, Intermediate Department superintendent, president of the Women’s Club, editor of its cook book volume, member of the Vermont Domestic Missionary Society, and participant in the church quartet. She is listed as a participant in the Women‘s Christian Temperance Union. Through her activity with the International Women’s Clubs and the St. Johnsbury Women’s Club, she was singled out as the well-known and tireless worker for the free state library facilities in rural communities. She became a member of the State Library Commission.
See Dick B. and Ken B., The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010 www.dickb.com/Christian-Recov-Guide.shtml
Dick B. and Ken B., Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His Excellent Training in the Bible as a Youngster in Vermont www.dickb.com/drbobofaa.shtml
Dick B. and Ken B., “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” Class www.dickb.com/IFCR-Class.shtml
________________________________________
Dick B., PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837; 808 874 4876; dickb@dickb.com
http://www.dickb.com/index.shtml; http://www.dickb-blog.com; http://DrBob.info
Gloria Deo

A.A.'s Cofounder Dr. Bob & The Core Library

The Dr. Bob Core Library, located at the North Congregational Church on Main Street in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, was established during our two extensive research trips to Vermont a couple of years ago where we sought out the real facts about the upbringing of Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith as youngsters in Vermont. We made two different extended trips to St. Johnsbury.

Dr. Bob was born and raised in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. His boyhood home is still there. His family church--North Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury--is just a block or so away. So are the other frequently unreported and undiscussed sites in St. Johnsbury that figured so prominently in Dr. Bob's excellent training in the Bible and in his Christian upbringing. In all, the sites included the boyhood home, North Congregational Church, the Athenaeum (town libary), Courthouse (where his father was a probate judge), the YMCA building site (though the building was destroyed), and St. Johnsbury Academy where Bob attended and from which he graduated as class orator. His father was an examiner there. And his mother had been a student, then a teacher, then very active in alumni affairs, and also a historian.

Spending lots of time in these historic sites, my son Ken B. and I were able to gather some 2000 manuscripts and papers in St. Johnsbury itself; as well as many books about the Smith family and St. Johnsbury and the important institutions and events there--the Great Awakening of 1875; the Church sermons and officials and Sunday school teachings; the church positions held by Judge Walter Smith as Deacon, Sunday School Superintendant, Sunday School teacher, and member of several committes; the church positions held by Bob's mother Susan H. Smith as head of the school classes, Sunday school superintendent, Sunday School teacher, singer in the choir, historian, and member of many committees; and the church Year Books that marked the participation of the entire Smith family in so many phases of church life. Similar data was gathered as to the Fairbanks Museum, the Athenaeum library, the YMCA, the Fairbanks family and its Fairbanks Scales plant, the courthouse, the Congregational and missionary activities in which the Smiths were involved, and the many details about St. Johnsbury Academy. These and many other important, relevant, Vermont, A.A., Christian Endeavor, YMCA, revival, evangelist, conversion, and activities of the Smiths in the business world, the law, the courts, the legislature, the state library system, the banks, the schools, and Village government, are lodged there now.

But the great news is that some of the most important treasures are on their way. A generous benefactor and Christian A.A. gentleman from Ontario has raised the funds to secure the original printer's manuscript of the important A.A. General Service Conference-approved book--DR. BOB and the Good Oltimers. The manuscript shows many hand-written and other changes that were made prior to publication and uses full names just as the early AAs themselves did. This treasure will soon be in the hands of the benefactor and be preserved and copied by him with one copy to be placed in the Dr. Bob Core Library in St. Johnsbury.

And this is only one of many St. Johnsbury and A.A. historical treasures, now in the hands of Dick B. in Maui, that will be finding their way to the library--now that the DR. BOB manuscript and several other treasures are being acquired and readied by their benefactor.

My son Ken and I were not content with the several thousand historical items already placed in the Dr. Bob Core Library because these new, additional "treasures" should be, and now will be, a part of the historical banquet that awaits Christians, A.A. and Al-Anon members, historians, and writers.

See: Dick B., Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His Excellent Training in the Good Book as a Youngster in Vermont (www.dickb.com/drbobofaa.shtml).

Also The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010 (available on www.dickb.com)

Also our new class "Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery" (www.dickb.com/IFCR-Class.shtml) for many more details about Dr. Bob and his role in the founding of A.A. This class can also now be obtained through Dick B.'s website www.dickb.com

FOREWORD BY RAY G. TO NEW DR. BOB BOOK

Today’s excerpt from the soon-to-be released Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous:

Foreword

My wife and I have known, visited, and traveled with Dick B. for quite a number of years. And he has been as a guest in our Ohio home many times when he has come to Akron, Ohio, to visit, research, and speak on early A.A.’s spiritual roots and successes. We both know Dick as an AA who has not only devoted many years and many books to making the history of early A.A. more widely known, but also that Dick has had a particular interest in the wonderful contributions that Dr. Bob and his wife Anne Smith made to that recovery scene at the beginnings of A.A.

As archivist at Dr. Bob’s Home in Akron, Ohio, and as one who takes the archives all over the country so that others will be blessed with an opportunity to see and learn, I have welcomed Dick’s many books on Dr. Bob, Anne, Henrietta Seiberling, and the Akron roots.

But this new book uncovers, to an extraordinary degree, a virtually unknown and yet vitally important part of Dr. Bob’s past—his days as a youngster in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Dr. Bob had made a number of telling statements about his beginnings both in Vermont and in Akron.

He said that he had had “excellent training” in the Good Book “as a youngster.” He twice remarked that he had refreshed his memory of the Good Book in order to set forth the elements of recovery and cure. And he said many times, “We believed that the answer to our problems was in the Good Book,” and he added that old timers believed that the Book of James, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13 were absolutely essential to their program.

Dick has relentlessly pursued Dr. Bob’s library and reading, Anne Smith’s spiritual journal, Henrietta Seiberling’s papers, T. Henry and Clarace Williams’ remarks, and the original Akron seven-point program as Frank Amos reported it to John D. Rockefeller, Jr. He has put a useful picture before us all. More importantly, he showed what pioneer AAs actually did as they emerged from a seemingly-hopeless, medically-incurable state to establish their relationships with God. They achieved a documented, 75%-to-93% success rate—a real model that needs to be known today.

The loose end, the one that aids materially in understanding how and why the early AAs put together such a remarkable program, was what Dr. Bob had learned as a youngster. What Dr. Bob had meant when he said he had received “excellent training” in the Good Book. And Dick and his son Ken have not only traveled to St. Johnsbury, Vermont; assembled books and records; interviewed; and corresponded; they have produced a detailed picture of the biblical influences on Dr. Bob from his parents, his North Congregational Church, his Sunday School, his Christian Endeavor Society activities, and his matriculation at St. Johnsbury Academy. Bob was surrounded by wholesome, godly, Christian training; and he brought the results to Akron to help thousands of AAs get well as he and Bill W. fashioned their early spiritual program of recovery.

I recommend this book highly to AAs and to all those who want to know why Dr. Bob so certainly and emphatically believed he was qualified to say, “Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!” Dick shows you the sources at St. Johnsbury that produced such conviction.

Ray G., Archivist, Dr. Bob’s Home in Akron, Ohio

Be a Part of Something Great –

To the Glory of God

I would like to ask your help in fulfilling a great need and dream concerning Dr. Bob and his “excellent training” in the Bible “as a youngster” in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Particularly as 2007 closes and we look forward to a stellar 2008.

My son Ken and I were finally able to visit St. Johnsbury recently, after having wanted to do so for a long time, for investigation and research there, beginning at 297 Summer Street where Dr. Bob was born. Our trip led to the idea and conclusion that we needed to secure benefactors to enable us to buy, acquire, and assemble a first-class library of manuscripts, books, records, pictures, and other items that would accurately portray the immense amount of religious training that we could see was made available to Dr. Bob by his parents, his church, his Sunday School, the Christian Endeavor Society, revivals, Gospel meetings, conversions, and YMCA outreach. These, as well as the whole Congregational atmosphere in Vermont; in St. Johnsbury; and, in particular, at the famous St. Johnsbury Academy where Bob’s parents were involved and where Dr. Bob received further extensive training through Daily Chapel, required church and Bible study attendance, Congregationalist sermons and talks, and texts.

This plan to put Dr. Bob’s youth back in the recovery picture has enormous proportions and immense value to those who really want to know where the early Akron A.A. program came from, how its ideas were shaped by the “Good Book,” and what Dr. Bob learned in St. Johnsbury and translated to the Akron pioneer program he and Bill W. founded, and he led.

We have been assembling this history for a decade. And, since our trip to St. Johnsbury, we have worked unceasingly for over a month preparing a core library--a multi-volume set of resource binders with thousands of pages of exhibits, citations, and resources. We have also begun work on a new, companion book about Dr. Bob’s youth to accompany the core library.

We request that you (or a group of like-minded people you know) help us fulfill this dream by:

• Purchasing for $50,000.00 my “core library” of resources on early A.A.—especially including thousands of pages of materials relating to Dr. Bob’s youth in St. Johnsbury.

• Purchasing my remaining inventory of about 20,000 A.A. history books at a minimum average price of $10.00 per book—which is about a 50% discount on the book prices. Benefactors may arrange to have boxes of these historical books sent to Dr. Bob’s Home, church, and/or archives in Akron, Ohio; or to the Griffith Library at the Wilson House in East Dorset, Vermont; or to Stepping Stones; or to GSO; or to the Seiberling Home in Akron, Ohio; or to other mutually-agreed-to places which will help carry the message to those who still suffer. These would be sent as boxes of books, one or more at a time, for $400.00 per box.

In order to encourage participation in this information outreach idea by those of you who have shown a consistent interest in making known the facts concerning the documented, 75%-to-93% success rate of the pioneer AAs among seemingly hopeless, medically-incurable, real alcoholics who thoroughly followed the original path, I have decided to present to you free of charge in serial form (i.e., one by one) the Introduction and chapter highlights of the more than 20 volumes of historical information I have assembled that will form a part of the core library to be donated at no charge to the non-profit facility most willing to steward and promote the history outreach.

Please consider:

• Donating $50,000.00 (by yourself or with others as a group) to make possible the immediate placement of the entire Dick B. “core library.” As an alternative, please also consider donating $5,000.00 (or more in multiples of $5,000.00) to make possible an immediate, partial shipment of one or more of the ten (10) segments of the “core library”; and

• Donating $400.00 (or more in multiples of $400.00) to make possible the sending of one (or more) box(es) of my history books to the historical spots that AAs and other 12 Step people really cherish, hunger to see, and frequently visit—such as Dr. Bob’s Home in Akron, the Seiberling Gate Lodge in Akron; the archives in Akron; St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Akron; the Griffith Library at, and the Wilson House itself in, East Dorset, Vermont; Stepping Stones; and/or other, mutually-agreed-upon places.

Please enjoy the enclosed or attached Introduction, excerpts, or chapters from the forthcoming companion volume about Dr. Bob as they come to you. Please send your check to: Dick B., PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837; and, if you wish your contribution to be deductible for tax purposes, make your check payable to: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Akron.

For more information, please see: www.DrBob.info. Or email Dick B. at: dickb@dickb.com

** Revised on November 14, 2007 **

Gloria Deo