Third Annual Banquet — Alcoholics Anonymous - Tampa, Florida — January 26, 1947 - Original Program
Third Annual Banquet — Alcoholics Anonymous
Tampa, Florida — January 26, 1947 | Original Program with Clarence Snyder
Offered here is an original program from the Third Annual Banquet of Alcoholics Anonymous in Tampa, Florida, held January 26, 1947, in the Skyline Dining Room of the Bayshore Royal Hotel.
Dating from A.A.’s formative years, the program documents an early gathering of members and speakers from Florida, Atlanta, and Cleveland — including Clarence Snyder, one of A.A.’s pioneering early members and founder of the first A.A. group in Cleveland.
Also identified on the program is Roy Yeargan — printed here as “Yeargin” — as:
“Founder of the Tampa Groups of Alcoholics Anonymous.”
Clarence Snyder & Roy Yeargan
The appearance of Snyder and Yeargan on the same 1947 program creates an interesting connection in early A.A. history.
Clarence Snyder played an important role in the development of A.A. in Cleveland. Before Houston A.A. was established, Snyder gave Larry Jewell a copy of the Big Book as Jewell left Cleveland for Texas. Jewell subsequently helped establish A.A. in Houston, where Roy Yeargan became an early member.
Yeargan later became associated with the establishment of Alcoholics Anonymous in the Tampa area.
By January 1947, Snyder had traveled from Cleveland to Tampa to appear as one of three guest speakers at this Third Annual Banquet — providing a remarkable surviving record of the interconnected network through which Alcoholics Anonymous spread during its first decade.
The 1947 Tampa Banquet
The program lists:
- Clarence Snyder, Cleveland, Ohio — Guest Speaker
- Roy Yeargin — Founder of the Tampa Groups of Alcoholics Anonymous
- Verne Manley, Atlanta, Georgia — Guest Speaker
- Dr. Ashley C. Lovejoy, Jacksonville, Florida — Guest Speaker
- Dr. Fred McMullen, Clearwater, Florida — Explanation of the Alcoholics Anonymous Program
- Allene King — Program Chairman
- Lewis L. Martin — Secretary, Tampa Groups
Contemporary reporting in the February 1947 AA Grapevine independently documents the Tampa Group’s Third Annual Banquet at the Bayshore Royal Hotel.
This was still the First Edition Big Book era. Alcoholics Anonymous had been published less than eight years earlier, and the Second Edition would not appear until 1955.
Condition
The original single-sheet program remains in good condition for 1947 event ephemera.
It has historical horizontal and vertical folds with associated creasing, age toning, scattered spotting and soiling, edge wear, several small tears, and small areas of loss. Despite the wear, the program remains substantially complete and all important names and event information are clearly legible.
The illustrated Bayshore Royal Hotel design remains especially attractive, with imagery of the hotel, sailboat, seabirds, and Tampa waterfront.
Collector Significance
Original A.A. event ephemera from the 1940s is difficult to locate, particularly material documenting regional gatherings outside Akron, Cleveland, and New York.
No other example of this specific January 26, 1947 Tampa banquet program was located during our research.
The program documents Clarence Snyder’s appearance in Tampa, identifies Roy Yeargan as founder of the Tampa Groups, and preserves a tangible record of A.A.’s early expansion into Florida and the Southeast.
Item Details
Event: Third Annual Banquet — Alcoholics Anonymous
Date: January 26, 1947
Location: Bayshore Royal Hotel, Tampa, Florida
Featured Participant: Clarence Snyder
Tampa Founder Identified: Roy Yeargan (“Yeargin” as printed)
Format: Original illustrated single-sheet program
Condition: Good; original folds, toning, spotting and edge wear as photographed
