A brief history of Al-Anon in Austin
On November 3rd 1948 the first Al-Anon meeting was held in Austin. The group called themselves Non-Alcoholics Anonymous or N.A.A. Meetings were Friday evenings at 8pm in the AA Club House, located at 7th and Rio Grande Street. Al-Anon has grown from this weekly meeting to over 100 meetings a week in the greater Austin area.
In 1950 Bill W., co-founder of AA, suggested to his wife Lois that she open a service office in New York to support the 87 groups of families of alcoholics then registered with the AA Alcoholic Foundation.
Bill and Lois observed during their travels many groups of families of alcoholics that met regularly and were attempting to live the same spiritual principles used by AA.
In May of 1951, Lois and Anne B. sent a letter to these 87 groups expressing the desire to unify these groups under a single organization. The letter asked for their approval to adopt the AA 12 Steps and the suggested name AA Family Groups. From around the country, 48 groups responded. By July, 145 groups had registered. During this time the organization began using the name Al-Anon, which is a contraction of the title of AA's Big Book titled Alcoholics Anonymous. At the start of 1952 Al-Anon Family Groups opened a Clearing House in an unused upstairs room of the AA 24th Street Clubhouse in New York City with Lois and Anne as the officers and office staff.
Today there are over 26,000 Al-Anon/Alateen groups in 115 countries. Al-Anon/Alateen literature is written by members and translated into 30 languages. Meetings are non-professional, free, and confidential.
The Austin Non-AA Group eventually decided their name could imply a negative attitude towards alcoholics. The group changed their name to Al-Anon and adopted the 12 Steps of AA. The Austin group registered with the Al-Anon Family Groups Clearing House in 1952. Below is an early version of the N.A.A. 12 Steps used by the Austin group during this time.
THE TWELVE STEPS
These Twelve Steps, adapted nearly word-for-word from the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, have been a tool for spiritual growth for millions of Al‑Anon/Alateen members. At meetings, Al‑Anon/Alateen members share with each other the personal lessons they have learned from practicing from these Steps.
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
© Al-Anon’s Twelve Steps, copyright 1996 by Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. Reprinted with permission of Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc.
More information on the history of Al-Anon
Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual (P-24/27)
Alateen Hope for Children of Alcoholics (B-3), pages 105-116
How Al-Anon Works for Families & Friends of Alcoholics (B-22), pages 124-132 and "Lois’s Story," page 135
The Al-Anon Family Groups-Classic Edition (B-5), page 12 and entire text
Lois Remembers (B-7), Entire text and timeline on page 197
Al-Anon’s Cofounders (P-87)
Anne’s Story: Cofounder of Al-Anon Family Groups (P-66) – Out of Print
Al-Anon: Then and Now (a brief history) (AR-2) .