A Call to Service by Bill | May 1951

The Alcoholic Foundation | General Headquarters — Alcoholics Anonymous

Offered here is an original May 1951 Alcoholics Anonymous service document titled A Call to Service, written by Bill W. and issued from The Alcoholic Foundation, General Headquarters — Alcoholics Anonymous in New York.

This two-page communication was sent during one of the most important transitional moments in A.A. history. Just weeks earlier, the first General Service Conference of Alcoholics Anonymous had met in New York. In this letter, Bill reports directly to the Fellowship on that historic gathering, the financial condition of A.A.’s General Headquarters, and the developing transfer of responsibility for A.A.’s worldwide services from its founders and early trustees to the Fellowship itself.

“A.A. Accepts Its Third Legacy”

One of the most important passages appears under the heading:

“A.A. ACCEPTS ITS THIRD LEGACY”

Bill explains the significance of the first General Service Conference and writes that A.A. was beginning to take responsibility for its own affairs. He describes the moment as the point at which the Fellowship’s Third Legacy of Service began passing from Dr. Bob and Bill W. to A.A. as a whole.

The document provides an unusually immediate view of the General Service Conference while the new service structure was still being tested and established.

Bill notes that the first Conference consisted of 37 delegates from approximately half of the states and provinces of the United States and Canada, meeting with Alcoholic Foundation trustees and members of the General Office and A.A. Grapevine staffs.

The First Conference and A.A.’s Financial Challenges

Much of the letter reports what those first delegates discovered after examining A.A.’s national service operation.

Among their findings:

• The delegates believed the services provided by the General Office were essential and should not be curtailed.
• They considered the financial condition of the Alcoholic Foundation “very unsound.”
• Bill reports that only about one-third of A.A. groups were contributing financially to the Foundation.
• The Conference proposed temporarily increasing the suggested contribution from $1 per member per year to $1 every six months.
• The delegates discussed losses being experienced by The A.A. Grapevine and the need to increase subscriptions and direct sales at A.A. meetings.
• The document records the rapidly increasing administrative demands created by A.A.’s extraordinary growth.

Bill also describes the organization’s financial difficulty during the preceding year, noting that the Foundation had faced the possibility of running approximately $45,000 in the red before contributions from the Fellowship helped avert a serious crisis.

Historical Importance

This is much more than an early fundraising appeal.

A Call to Service documents the creation of the system that would eventually become one of the defining features of Alcoholics Anonymous: a Fellowship governed through collective responsibility rather than through permanent control by its founders.

The first General Service Conference had convened only the month before this letter was written. Bill was therefore reporting on events essentially as they happened, while A.A.’s service structure was still evolving.

For collectors of early Alcoholics Anonymous history, the document offers a particularly important connection to:

Bill W.
Dr. Bob
The Alcoholic Foundation
The first General Service Conference
A.A.’s Third Legacy of Service
The General Service Office
The A.A. Grapevine

Publication Details

Title: A Call to Service
Author: Bill W.
Date: May 1951
Issued by: The Alcoholic Foundation
Letterhead: General Headquarters — Alcoholics Anonymous
Address: P.O. Box 459, Grand Central Annex, New York 17, N.Y.
Format: Two-page service communication

Condition

Original two-page document showing age toning and light handling wear consistent with its age. Both sheets retain the original three-hole punches along the left margin. There are small edge tears/notches and minor creasing, most noticeably along the margins. The first page has “1951” handwritten at the top.

The document remains complete and highly legible, with the printed text strong throughout.

Please review all photographs carefully for the most accurate representation of condition.

Collector’s Note

Early A.A. material relating directly to the creation of the General Service Conference is especially significant because it documents the Fellowship’s transition from founder-led organization to the service structure that would carry A.A. forward after Bill W. and Dr. Bob.

This May 1951 Call to Service captures that transition almost in real time and stands as an exceptional piece of early Alcoholics Anonymous service history.