Many of us are familiar with the events following the “counting of noses” which took place in Akron during the second week of October 1937. ¹

    Bill was introduced to Willard Richardson, one of John D. Rockefeller’s closest associates, by his brother-in-law Dr. Leonard Strong. After several meetings with Rockefeller’s advisors, Frank Amos made a visit to Akron in mid February of 1938 to get a first hand look at Dr. Bob and the group of recovered drunks. His account of that visit, which was titled “THE NOTES ON AKRON, OHIO SURVEY by FRANK AMOS” is well documented in Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers² and to a lesser extent in Alcoholics Anonymous Comes Of Age³ and Pass It On.⁴

    The account of Amos’s Akron visit given in Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, as well as the other publications, omits one very important detail, that a list of the early Akron members was attached to The Amos Report.   The likely reason for this key omission is because the list was not attached or included with The Amos Report filed in the GSO archives. A copy of this list, which was written by Dr. Bob on his office stationary, has recently been found, authenticated, and has been provided to the Archivist at GSO.

    This list of the pioneering Akron members, which we have dubbed “The Amos Roster”, is described below in an excerpt from a copy of The Amos Report.⁵  It may prove to be the first written list of members ever produced by one of our co-founders.

Alcoholic Group
    There are now some fifty men, and, I believe, two women former alcoholics, all considered practically incurable by physicians, who have been reformed and so far have remained teetotalers. A list of some of them is attached giving their business, the length in months they have been “dry”, the period in years they were drinking, and their present age.

    We expect this list will be of great interest to A.A. historians and we hope and pray it may shed light on many details regarding the early Akron Fellowship.
                                                                                                                                    Just Another Layman
                                                                                                                                                                             on
                                                                                                                                                      The Golden Road of Devotion

Notes:

1. Chapter IV, The Golden Road of Devotion
2. DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, pages 128-134
3. Alcoholics Anonymous Comes Of Age, pages 148-150
4. Pass It On, pages 181-187
5. 2/23/1938 (B)
 

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