Christian Recovery Radio Interview of
Jim H. of Auburn Washington by Dick B. on Jim’s More than 800 Slide-Show
Photographs of the Entire Vermont A.A. History Research and Discoveries
On
Dick B.
Copyright 2012
Anonymous. All rights reserved.
Though yet to be organized, labeled, and indexed, the Jim H. Vermont
A.A. History Slide-Show Photographs are available for view on the web right now.
See the links below and enjoy them as a preview of what’s to come soon
The Second Interview of Archivist Jim H. on September 24, 2012
Our guest will be Jim H. of Auburn, Washington. He
participated in and photographed every phase of the International Christian
Recovery Coalition’s Alcoholics Anonymous History and Christian Recovery
Movement workshops and studies of the beginnings in the State of Vermont. His
interview covers his recollections, photography work, slide-show photographs,
and comments on the workshops. The subjects are listed below. The links to the
slide-show photographs are set forth
below. And these are the topics that are the subject of Jim’s interview:
______________________________________________________________________________
Vermont
A.A.’s Treasure House of Christian
Beginnings
A Project of
International Christian Recovery Coalition
By Dick B.
© 2012 Anonymous. All
rights reserved
In Appreciation and in Summary
We all deeply appreciate the effort and devotion of A.A.
Archivist Jim H. of Auburn, Washington. Jim traveled and researched with us,
and drove us around Vermont to St. Johnsbury, Northfield, Manchester, East
Dorset, Rutland, East Dorset, Emerald Lake, and Burlington. He also drove us to
Gill, Massachusetts, where the Moody Mount Hermon School. Jim took pictures and
even some video throughout our trip, and has now posted on the Web hundreds of
pictures of cities, towns, schools, churches, academies, libraries, books,
articles, pamphlets, wall plaques, photos, histories, manuscripts, newspapers,
participants, hotels, motels, restaurants, and inns in every place our cadre of
recovery leaders and workers held workshops. There are still more photos to be
gathered from participants. There is still processing in progress and work to
be done on labels. But Jim’s efforts constitute the greatest single assemblage
of visual history of the role God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible played
in the origins, history, founding, original program, and astonishing successes
in Alcoholics Anonymous history and the Christian Recovery Movement in New
England. Those photographed items show the stage set for the Christian
upbringing of A.A. cofounders as well as the “Christian fellowship” they
founded in Akron, Ohio, in June, 1935.
Preliminary Presentation of Vermont Historical Slide Show Photographs
http://goo.gl/U3cYE
http://goo.gl/11QJt
http://goo.gl/3xJkp
http://goo.gl/gx19v
http://goo.gl/hi8O7
http://goo.gl/a9mTS
http://goo.gl/0aXlo
http://goo.gl/xRGNL
http://goo.gl/AlFqd
Among the Historical Slide-Show Pictures Included:
As indicated, there is lots of work still to be done in
labeling, describing, identifying, etc. And there are many more photos to be
added from the work of other Workshop participants.
The following subjects and others are or will be included:
Burlington, Vermont: our arrival and kickoff of the
workshops on Sept. 2.
St. Johnsbury, Vermont: center of Dr. Bob’s boyhood
Christian upbringing, Sept. 3-5
Fairbanks
Inn--many historical photos
Fairbanks
Scales Plant--many photos and paintings
Fairbanks
family members, homes, patents, and gifts
Dr. Bob’s
boyhood home at 20 Summer Street (now 297 Summer Street)
Summer
Street School--where Dr. Bob attended
North
Congregational Church--where the Smith family attended
Pictures
of participants with Pastor Jay Sprout
Pictures
of the Dr. Bob Core Library and the resource binder subjects
Pictures
at dedication of the library by Pastor Sprout
Pictures
of the sanctuary, baptismal font, pews, organ, pulpit, and windows
Pictures
of the church itself--located on Main Street
Fairbanks
Museum--location of thousands of historical records, papers, and manuscripts
Young Men’s Christian Association
building and activities (building destroyed by later
fire)
Courthouse
where Bob’s father, Judge Walter P. Smith, was Probate Judge
Firehouse
and public offices across the street--where we obtained Bob’s birth certificate
Athenaeum--beautiful
library containing newspapers on microfilm and many items
St.
Johnsbury Academy and Grace Orcutt Library
Photos of
workshop participants and the restaurant where they dined together.
Village Welcome
Center and new location of Town Offices
Panoramic views of village, signs, and well-known historical
locations including banks, hotels, and railroad
The importance, significance, influence, and activities
involving the “Great Awakening” of 1875 in St. Johnsbury, Evangelists, the
YMCA, the Salvation Army, Congregationalism, churches, and the United Society
of Christian Endeavor are thoroughly covered and documented in Dick B. and Ken
B., Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His
Excellent Training in the Good Book as a Youngster in Vermont; and their
new book, Bill W. and Dr. Bob, The Green Mountain Boys of Vermont: The Roots of Early A.A.’s Original
Program
Northfield, Vermont--location of Norwich Military Academy
attended by Bill W. and Ebby Thacher--September 6
Kreitzberg Library--filled with
pictures, plaques pamphlets, records, books, histories,
curricula, religious emphasis,
chapel data, and more.
More data
pertaining to Bill W. still to arrive.
Gill, Massachusetts--location of Dwight L. Moody schools and
Mount Hermon home—Sept. 6
Schauffler Library--filled with
archives and books about the schools, the teachers, Vermont people and
evangelists and students who attended, visited, taught, or spoke. YMCA
activities; Christian Endeavor; school news; and Moody speeches and events
Place where Dr. Bob’s foster
sister, Amanda Carolyn Northrop, taught,
Place where Professor Henry
Drummond taught and delivered his famous talk on
1
Corinthians 13. Extensive material by him.
Place where Colonel Franklin
Fairbanks of St. Johnsbury, Vermont frequently visited, held meetings, and
became a trustee of the school where F. B. Meyer, the evangelist and Christian
Endeavor-YMCA leader spoke.
Place where Dr. Robert E. Speer,
author of The Principles of Jesus
(origin of A.A.’s Four
Absolutes),
taught and later became Vice President.
“Launching pad” from which Dwight
L. Moody and his partner Ira Sankey visited and
held revivals and meetings in
Burlington, St. Johnsbury, and other Vermont locations.
Manchester, Vermont--Sept 7-8
Location of
Burr and Burton Seminary, attended by Bill Wilson, Ebby Thacher, Bill’s
girl-friend Bertha Bamford, and
Reverend Perkins’s son Roger.
Location of
the home of Rev. Sidney K. Perkins, pastor of the First Congregational
Church where Ebby boarded with Rev.
Perkins and got to know his son Roger quite well.
Location of First Congregational
Church of Manchester, where Burr and Burton “scholars” (i.e., students)
attended each Sunday and for special events; and whose members actually help
found the East Dorset Congregational Church where Bill Wilson and his family
attended.
Location of the huge Burnham
“summer home,” where Lois Burnham, her brother
Rogers, her father
Dr. Clark Burnham, and other family members lived half of
the year as “summer people” and
then went on to spend much time at their bungalows at Emerald Lake, Vermont
(quite near East Dorset) where Bill met Lois and became engaged to her, and
where the Thacher family became good friends.
Location of the adjacent, large,
George Thacher “summer home,” where the Thacher
family
(including Ebby Thacher) lived half of the year; where Ebby got to know his
Oxford Group mentors Rowland Hazard, Shep Cornell, and Cebra Graves; and where
the Thachers also summered at Emerald Lake near the Burnham bungalows.
The Manchester Journal newspaper contains
many articles about these personalities
The Mark Skinner Library is where
our workshop people did a good deal of research on
Manchester, Burr and Burton, the
Congregational Church, Bill Wilson, Rev. Perkins, and the Burnhams, Thachers,
and Bamfords.
Zion Episcopal Church, where Bertha
Bamford’s father was rector; where there is a
memorial plaque
about Bertha and her death; and where Bill Wilson and Roger Perkins were pall bearers
at Bertha Bamford’s funeral.
The Manchester period, people, and events are well covered
in the Dick B. and Ken B. Book, Bill W.
and Dr. Bob, the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont; Dick B., The
Conversion of Bill W.: More on the Creator’s Role in Early A.A.; and some
excellent histories of Burr and Burton, First Congregational Church, and
Vermont people.
East Dorset and Emerald Lake, Vermont—Sept. 7 and 8
The East Dorset Congregational
Church, the Wilson House, the Griffith House and Library, and nearby Mount
Aeolus all played important roles in the Christian upbringing of Bill Wilson,
the church and Bill’s parents, the church and Bill’s grandparents, and the
Sunday school itself, as well as Bill’s Bible studies with his maternal
grandfather (Gardner Fayette Griffith) and his friend Mark Whalon.
The events are well covered in Dick
B., The Conversion of Bill W.; and
Dick B. and Ken B., Bill W. and Dr. Bob,
the Green Mountain Boys, as well as Dick B., The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed. (2010).
More photos
and reports are yet to come.
Rutland, Vermont—Sept. 8
This is the town to which Bill’s parents, Bill, and his
sister moved and where they lived from about 1902 to 1905.
We have photos of the Wilson home on Chestnut Street, the
Longfellow School where
Bill attended.
We also have photos of the nearby Grace Congregational
Church and are working with its pastor and others to see if there are records
of attendance or activity by any of the Wilsons during the period of their
Rutland residence.
Burlington, Vermont—Sept. 9: We researched extensively at
the Bailey Howe Library on the Central Campus of the University of Vermont at
Burlington. The library contains a wide variety historical records on Moody,
Congregational Churches, and other locations.
Gloria Deo
