The Akron AA Archives has been blessed with stewardship of a substantial, rare collection of recorded speaker “leads” dating back to the early days of our fellowship. Currently there are over 400 of these talks representing a treasure of early AA history that have been passed on to us by members and treated with loving care. Below you will find links to listen on-line or download the actual voices of some of the “first one hundred” members of our fellowship.
Voices From the Past
Al L.
Akron old-timer who was good friends with Bill W. Al was the recipient of the “depression letter” authored by Bill W. and displayed in the Akron Area AA Archives.
Julie M.
Akron member who took her last drink on March 22, 1962 at 10:30 pm in Rosary Hall in Cleveland.
Harmon V.
Founded the N.U.T.S. (Not Using The Steps) Big Book Study in Akron. Harmon was an integral member of the annual Founders’ Day Committee for many years.
Norm Y.
Norm Y. was a blind old-timer who helped get the Big Book translated into Braille.
Mose Y.
Mose Y. was the first Amish AA member in the Akron area. Many of his beloved sayings are recorded in the pamphlet Grateful Thoughts.
Bill D.
Bill D. was Alcoholics Anonymous member #3. His story is in the Big Book as “Alcoholics Anonymous Number Three.”
Ethel M.
Ethel M. was the first AA woman with continuous sobriety. Her story appears in the second edition of the Big Book as “From Farm to City.”
Ebby T.
Ebby T. was Bill W.’s sponsor. Bill never gave up on Ebby even though he drank. Bill always called Ebby his sponsor.
Clarence S.
Clarence S. wrote the first known pamphlet on sponsorship. His early efforts enabled AA in Cleveland to grow faster than Akron and New York.
Archie T.
Sobriety Date: September 3, 1938
Archie came to Akron in September of 1938 and stayed for 10½ months with Dr. Bob and Anne Smith before returning to take A.A. back to Michigan. He appears in “Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers” on pages 115-116, 182.
Danny K.
Sobriety Date: Sometime during World War II
A minister’s son from Barberton, Ohio and physically handicapped from childhood, Dan describes his journey on the “road to hell”. He came to St. Thomas Hospital under the care of Dr. Bob and Sister Ignatia during WWII. He appears in “Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers” on pages 192, 224-225, 233, 275, 281-282, 296.
Ann C.
Sobriety Date: April 1, 1948
The daughter of a lay minister, teetotaling Ann was living in Akron, teaching Sunday School and working as a waitress at the lunch counter of the 2nd National Bank Building. She watched the doctor with a perpetual hangover and wonder why he didn’t “just quit drinking”. She saw him again years later at the podium of the King School group, not knowing he was “the” Dr. Bob, co-founder of the program that saved her life. She appears in “Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers” on pages 34, 245, 333, 342.
Bruce M.
Sobriety Date: October 1945
A graduate of both Duke and Yale law schools, by early 1945 Bruce found himself about to lose his wife, his children and his job. Two members of a Canton AA group answered his desperate call for help in October of that year. His achievements, awards, and citations over the next 40 “sober” years are testament to the power of unity, service, and recovery in AA. He was recently remembered as #129 in a November 21, 2005 Canton Repository story called “200 Helped Shape Canton.” He appears in “Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers” on pages 276-277.
Ed B.
Sobriety Date: August 8, 1944
Ed’s service to the Akron area spanned nearly three decades. He is perhaps best remembered as editor of the Akron Intergroup News. He appears in “Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers” on pages 148, 150, 224, 228-230, 271, 274-275, 325-326.
Dr. John P.
Sobriety Date:
Dr. John P. was a professor at Kent State University. His story in the Second Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, “The Professor and the Paradox,” contains the Four Paradoxes of sobriety.