Sunday, August 28, 2016

Matt Talbot Wagon Club in Cleveland (1939)


wagon


 
"Clarence Snyder (who got sober in 1938, was sponsored by Dr. Bob, and started AA group #3 in Cleveland, Ohio) wrote in a letter to Ruth Hock (the first secretary of A.A.) on December 12, 1939, that the “Matt Talbot Wagon Club” now had 88 members and “is doing a wonderful job.” The “wagons” were used to collect old furniture, which members reconditioned and sold. As Clarence put it, they “had caught fire from the Liberty article and the Plain Dealer.” (See http://www.barefootsworld.net/aalibertymag1939.html)


“We are working closely with them. They have no benefit of hospitalization or home setup. All are transients, stumblebums, and social outcasts. There are nine of them working now. They are using our stuff and following much the same pattern in every way that it can be applied to their needs and setup.”


Source:  http://recoveryspeakers.com/december-1939-aa-history-matt-talbot-wagon-club/