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1946 |
Relatives of Alcoholics Anonymous members in Phoenix began to
get together in the 1940’s. At that time most AA members were
men and the relatives were usually the wives.
Here are the words of an Arizona wife describing these early
meetings: "The wives' group just kind of evolved – there was
nothing really planned about it. At that time, to the best of
our knowledge, there was no group anywhere for the
[non-alcoholics] of the family. The men would drop their wives
off at our place, just for company, and the conversation most
naturally was about our men, their problems with the bottle, and
all that went with it. We gradually found ourselves awakening to
the fact that WE had problems, too. So we decided to have our
own meeting every week. We . . . used the A. A.. 12 Steps for
ourselves – just changing that 1st step. We had to admit we were
powerless over an alcoholic! At that time, our group was known
as Triple A – Alcoholics Anonymous Auxiliary.” |
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1948
|
The family members moved their
meetings from member homes to the Adams Hotel in downtown
Phoenix, the same location as the AA meetings held on Tuesday
evenings.
In April 1948, Lois
and Bill W. visited the meeting in Phoenix and attended a
luncheon held in their honor. Lois stressed the need to continue
the family groups and increase their number.
The first
literature for the family group was brought from California.
This literature included The Twelve Steps, the Serenity Prayer,
and a brief introduction to the Steps. |
|
1949 |
By
this time, the Triple A family group had outgrown the meeting
room at the Adams Hotel and moved to the Westward Ho Hotel.
Subsequent moves were made to the Phoenix Women’s Club and the
Trinity Cathedral. This first family group became known as the
Pioneer Triple A Group. |
|
1951 |
Two wives of New York A. A. members, Lois W. and Anne B., formed a
Clearing House Committee to coordinate the family groups that
had informally sprung up around the country. Starting with 87
initial inquiries, they sent out questionnaires and received
responses from 56 groups. As a result of the questionnaires, the
name Al-Anon Family Groups was chosen and the groups adopted The
Twelve Steps of AA. In Arizona new groups were forming in Tucson
as well as in Phoenix. |
|
1951 |
Tucson groups published the Triple A booklet that included The
Twelve Steps, the Serenity Prayer and an introduction to the
Steps. |
|
1955 |
Al-Anon’s first book,
The Al-Anon Family Groups, A Guide for
the Families of Problem Drinkers, was published. |
|
1956 |
The World Directory of Al-Anon listed 7 groups in Arizona with 1
proposed group. |
|
1962 |
The first state assembly of Al-Anon was held in Phoenix on
January 21 at the Desert Hills Hotel. 28 members
represented 13 groups. Arizona’s first delegate to the World
Service Conference was chosen. State officers were selected to
coordinate the flow of information from groups throughout
Arizona. |
|
Today |
Al-Anon Family Groups have continued to grow. Today there are
more than 300 Al-Anon and Alateen groups throughout Arizona. |
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