Davis Articles on A.A.

In 1939, Clarence S., the founder of Cleveland’s first A.A. group, decided to promote the local Fellowship by inviting a freelance reporter named Elrick B. Davis to attend the group’s meetings and write a series of articles about his experience for *The Cleveland Plain Dealer*. History records that Davis may well not have been an alcoholic himself and Clarence was soundly criticized by his fellow A.A.’s for what some saw as a sneaky and unprincipled trespass on their right to privacy. But the Davis articles sparked an unprecedented influx of alcoholics into the fledgling A.A. community in Cleveland. Within one month, the founding members of the first Cleveland group claim to have fielded at least five hundred calls from alcoholics seeking help and within a year, the number of local A.A. groups numbered between 20 and 30 with hundreds of members. This month, the HACO Archives presents the entire series of seven articles penned by Davis.