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A.A., Reverend Sam Shoemaker, and the Oxford Group: Part 2
The Special Value to AAs of Knowing Shoemaker's Role
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As Bill Wilson Saw Them: The Shoemaker Difference

Bill Wilson came to know Rev. Sam Shoemaker quite well. Bill and his wife Lois went to Oxford Group meetings led by Shoemaker. Shoemaker and Bill corresponded from the very first days of Bill's sobriety. Bill was present in Shoemaker's church in early 1936 when Shoemaker officiated at liturgical services for Ebby and with Shep Cornell. Shoemaker and Bill discussed the principles and Steps and Big Book manuscript of A.A. before they were written up. Bill and Lois met Shoemaker at Oxford Group house-parties. And all of these things occurred before A.A. had taken formal shape in the Spring of 1939. I've covered the other items–Shoemaker's articles for A.A.'s Grapevine, Shoemaker's speeches at A.A.'s Conventions, Shoemaker's own writings about the Twelve Steps and what the Church could learn from A.A., and Shoemaker's attendance at talks made by Bill in New York. But the important thing is: What can we learn about A.A. that Sam Shoemaker's role illuminated.

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The Akron Difference

Once I learned the dramatic difference between the A.A. "Program" that was developed in Akron from 1935 to 1938, outlined in the seven points reported to Rockefeller by Frank Amos, and embodied in the personal stories of the Akron and Cleveland people in the First Edition, I saw a whole new light on alcoholism. And I wrote my Shoemaker book, New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A.

In 1931, Shoemaker was the one who came to Akron and then, with the Firestones and Jim Newton, took Bud Firestone to Denver, converted him on the return train ride, and earned the gratitude of the Firestones for helping Bud achieve sobriety. Shoemaker remained in touch with the Firestone scene, and several of his colleagues came there in 1933 for the famous Mayflower Hotel events. They came also in 1934. And Shoemaker was in touch with Reverend Wright, Dr. Bob's pastor, about the successes in Akron as a result of Wilson's visit there in the summer of 1935. Furthermore, some of Sam's books were part of Dr. Bob's Library. Some were specifically recommended in Anne Smith's Journal. And Sam's book One Boy's Influence was quoted in Anne's writings. So there was a very clear Shoemaker influence in the Akron arena.

But it was not the same influence as that found in Bill's tiny circle of drunks in New York. First of all, Dr. Bob does not seem to have mentioned Sam though he certainly attended events where Sam was present. Second, we have found no correspondence between Bob and Sam in contrast to the many communications between Bill and Sam. Third, Dr. Bob said he did not write the Twelve Steps and had nothing at all to do with writing them, whereas Bill had specifically discussed them with Sam and asked Sam to write them. Fourth, years later, when I asked Dr. Bob's son to endorse my Shoemaker book (which he did), Smitty said "Who was Shoemaker?" All of which tells me that Sam did not cut a very impressive picture in the Akron birth of Alcoholics Anonymous.

What mattered in Akron were the Bible, prayer, quiet time, devotionals from several denominations, and the acceptance of Christ. And none of these figured much in the language of Bill Wilson or his wife Lois. Certainly not in their reading. For Lois started out as a non-Christian Swedenborgian and Bill started out as a conservative atheist. Neither ever joined or affiliated with a Christian church, as so many of the Akron pioneers did–joining or going to the Roman Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church, and others.

The Oxford Group/Shoemaker Connection

What Bob and Bill had in common, then, was not a Sam Shoemaker root, but rather an Oxford Group affiliation. Bob's came largely through his Akron connections with Oxford Group activist T. Henry Williams and from his friendship with Henrietta Seiberling and her interest in the Oxford Group after 1933. Bill's came largely from his connections with Oxford Group activists Sam Shoemaker, Rowland Hazard, Shep Cornell, Irving and Julia Harris, Victor Kitchen, and others in the Calvary Church circle in New York. Bob searched far and wide in the Bible and Christian literature for his spiritual answers. Bill did not. Yet in the long run, Bill virtually codified in his Big Book and Twelve Steps the Oxford Group ideas he had learned directly from Rev. Sam Shoemaker in New York. In the Big Book project, Bob focused on the personal stories of recovery–which played a different tune than that found in A.A.'s basic text. Nonetheless, the basic text and the stories appear to have been the subject of complete agreement between Bill and Bob as to content. And Shoemaker's ideas were certainly harmonious with those of the Oxford Group as the Group ideas were known by, and incorporated in, the discussions and practices of founders Bill W. and Dr. Bob.

Disorders - Alcohol Addiction