History of Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous began in 1935 when two struggling drinkers met in Akron, Ohio, and discovered they could stay sober by helping each other. From the Big Book to the Twelve Traditions, it grew into a worldwide fellowship.
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The History of Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous began in 1935 in Akron, Ohio, when two men who couldn’t stay sober alone found that they could stay sober together. Bill Wilson, a New York stockbroker newly sober himself, kept his own sobriety by sitting down with another struggling drinker, Dr. Bob Smith, an Akron surgeon. Together they discovered that one alcoholic talking honestly to another did what willpower, hospitals, and shame never could. Dr. Bob took his last drink on June 10, 1935, the date AA marks as its founding.
From that single conversation grew the most widely available recovery support in the world. The early movement came out of a Christian revival group called the Oxford Group before separating to focus only on alcoholism. In 1939 members published the book Alcoholics Anonymous, the “Big Book,” which gave the fellowship its name and laid out the Twelve Steps. What started between two desperate men is now a worldwide fellowship estimated in the millions of members across roughly 180 countries, and modern research has confirmed what those early members already knew: it works.
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- AA was founded in 1935 in Akron, Ohio, by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, with Dr. Bob’s last drink on June 10, 1935 taken as the founding date.
- It grew out of the Oxford Group, a Christian fellowship, before separating to focus solely on helping alcoholics recover.
- The “Big Book” appeared in 1939, naming the fellowship and setting down the Twelve Steps that remain the backbone of the program.
- Today it’s a worldwide fellowship, estimated in the millions of members across about 180 countries.
How Two Men Founded AA In 1935
AA was born from one conversation between two alcoholics who had each run out of other options. By the early 1930s, Bill Wilson had nearly destroyed a promising Wall Street career with his drinking. He found a measure of relief through the Oxford Group, a Christian fellowship that emphasized self-examination, making amends, and surrender to God. Bill got sober and stayed that way, and he came to believe that the surest way to protect his own sobriety was to carry the message to other alcoholics.
The Day in Akron that Started It
On a business trip to Akron in the spring of 1935, a deal fell through and Bill felt the old pull toward the hotel bar. Instead of drinking, he asked to be put in touch with another alcoholic, reasoning that helping someone else was what kept him sober.
That search led him to Dr. Bob Smith, a surgeon whose own drinking was unmanageable. The two men talked, and Dr. Bob, who had heard plenty of lectures on alcohol, found that hearing it from someone who had lived it reached him differently. He took his last drink on June 10, 1935. That date is AA’s birthday, and the principle behind it, one alcoholic helping another, has defined the fellowship ever since.
Breaking from the Oxford Group
AA’s spiritual roots run directly through the Oxford Group, and the founders never hid it. The early ideas about honest self-inventory, admitting wrongs, making amends, and relying on a power greater than oneself all carry the Oxford Group’s fingerprints. For the first few years, the alcoholics in New York and Akron met as part of that larger movement.
Over time, though, the founders saw that drinkers needed something narrower and more welcoming than the Oxford Group offered. They wanted a single purpose, helping alcoholics recover, and a wide-open door that asked nothing about a person’s religion or background.
The New York members separated first, in 1937, and the Akron members followed, gradually building meetings that belonged only to the alcoholics themselves. Keeping that single focus, and keeping the door open to anyone with a desire to stop drinking, became part of AA’s lasting character.
The Big Book and the Name, 1939
By the late 1930s the young fellowship had a method but no manual, and word of mouth could only carry it so far. So the members set out to write their experience down. In 1939 they published Alcoholics Anonymous, a book that explained how a few dozen recovered drinkers had done it and laid out the Twelve Steps as a path others could follow. The members liked the book’s title so much that they took it as the name of the fellowship itself, and to this day they call the volume the “Big Book.”
What the Twelve Steps Gathered Up
The Twelve Steps gathered the Oxford Group’s spiritual ideas into a clear, repeatable sequence: admit the problem, open to help beyond yourself, take honest inventory, make amends, and carry the message to others. The steps gave AA something it could hand to a newcomer anywhere, and they remain the backbone of the program.
The 1941 Article and the Years of Rapid Growth
For its first six years AA grew slowly, reaching only a few thousand members. That changed in 1941. On March 1, the Saturday Evening Post, one of the most widely read magazines in the country, ran a long, sympathetic article about AA by the journalist Jack Alexander. The piece described the fellowship to a national audience for the first time, and the response was immediate. Letters and phone calls poured into AA’s small office, and membership roughly quadrupled within the year.
How the Twelve Traditions Held a Growing Fellowship Together
With growth came the question of how a fast-spreading, leaderless fellowship could hold together without splintering over money, power, or publicity.
The answer was the Twelve Traditions, a set of guiding principles for the groups themselves, keeping AA non-professional, self-supporting, anonymous at the level of press, and focused on its one purpose. The Traditions were introduced through the late 1940s and formally adopted in 1950 at AA’s first international convention. In 1953 the founders published Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, which explained both sets of principles in depth.
A Timeline of Key Years
A few dates carry the story.
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1935 | Bill W. and Dr. Bob meet in Akron; Dr. Bob’s last drink (June 10) marks AA’s founding. |
| 1937 | The New York members begin separating from the Oxford Group. |
| 1939 | The book Alcoholics Anonymous (the “Big Book”) is published, giving the fellowship its name and the Twelve Steps. |
| 1941 | Jack Alexander’s Saturday Evening Post article sparks national attention and rapid growth. |
| 1950 | The Twelve Traditions are formally adopted at AA’s first international convention. |
| 1953 | Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions is published. |
From a Kitchen Table to a Worldwide Fellowship
In the decades that followed, AA spread far beyond the United States. Members carried meetings into Canada, across Europe, and eventually onto every continent, and the literature was translated into dozens of languages. Today AA estimates a presence in roughly 180 countries and a membership in the millions, gathering in church basements, community halls, and online rooms at nearly any hour. The fellowship has kept its founding shape the whole way: free to join, run by its own members, asking only a desire to stop drinking.
What’s striking is how little the core has changed. The two men in Akron built the program around honest self-examination, making amends, a power greater than oneself, and one alcoholic helping another, and those are still the load-bearing beams ninety years on.
The model AA created in 1935 holds up to the strictest modern science. A 2020 Cochrane review, the gold standard for weighing medical evidence, found that structured efforts to engage people in AA are as effective as or more effective than established therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy at keeping people continuously abstinent, with the benefit lasting for years[1]. A free fellowship started by two drinkers at a kitchen table matches or beats professional treatment on the outcome that matters most.
Why the Model Has Lasted
AA has outlived nearly every prediction of its collapse, and researchers have worked out a large part of why. When scientists tested how AA actually produces change, the most powerful pathway turned out to be social: the fellowship works largely by rebuilding the people around you, trading a drinking-centered network for a sober, supportive one, and by growing your confidence that you can stay sober in everyday life[2]. That is the same thing the two founders stumbled onto in 1935, that recovery is rebuilt with other people, only now it has the evidence behind it.
If you want the practical heart of the program the history produced, read the Twelve Steps that the Big Book set down → and the Twelve Traditions that keep the fellowship healthy →. For the fuller picture of how AA works today, start with the guide to Alcoholics Anonymous →.
If any of this lands, the next step doesn’t have to be a big one. Our treatment centers directory can point you to the right level of care. Reaching out today is a real step forward — and one you can make right now.
Frequently asked questions
When and where was Alcoholics Anonymous founded?
AA was founded in 1935 in Akron, Ohio. It began when Bill Wilson, a New York stockbroker who had gotten sober himself, met Dr. Bob Smith, an Akron surgeon who couldn’t stop drinking. Talking honestly with another alcoholic did what willpower hadn’t, and Dr. Bob’s last drink on June 10, 1935, is taken as AA’s founding date.
Who founded Alcoholics Anonymous?
AA was co-founded by Bill Wilson, known to members as Bill W., a New York stockbroker, and Dr. Bob Smith, known as Dr. Bob, a surgeon in Akron, Ohio. Bill, newly sober, found that helping another alcoholic kept him sober, and that conversation with Dr. Bob in 1935 started the fellowship. Members still mark June 10, 1935, the day of Dr. Bob’s last drink, as the beginning.
How is AA connected to the Oxford Group?
AA grew out of the Oxford Group, a Christian fellowship that stressed honest self-examination, making amends, and surrender to a power greater than oneself. The founders drew those ideas directly into the early program. By 1937 the New York members began separating, wanting a single purpose, helping alcoholics, and an open door that asked nothing about a person’s religion or background.
What is the Big Book and when was it published?
The Big Book is the nickname for the book Alcoholics Anonymous, published in 1939 by the early members. It explained how the first recovered drinkers had done it and set down the Twelve Steps as a path others could follow. The members liked the title so much that it became the name of the fellowship itself, and they still call the volume the Big Book today.
When were the Twelve Traditions adopted?
As AA grew quickly in the 1940s, the founders wrote the Twelve Traditions to keep the groups healthy, non-professional, self-supporting, anonymous, and focused on one purpose. The Traditions were introduced through the late 1940s and formally adopted in 1950 at AA’s first international convention. In 1953 the book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions explained both sets of principles in depth.
Does AA actually work, and how big is it now?
AA has grown into a worldwide fellowship estimated in the millions of members across roughly 180 countries. And the model holds up: a 2020 Cochrane review found that engaging people in AA is as effective as or better than therapies like CBT at keeping people abstinent[1]. It works largely by rebuilding a sober support network around the person[2].
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