Hanging by a Thread in Akron
Every AA knows the thread of coincidences that led to the famous conversation between Ebby T. and Bill W. How Ebby had been rescued from the court by some Oxford Group members. That connection with the Oxford Group led to the creation of AA.
We are less familiar with the back story of the Oxford Group and the Akron connection to Dr. Bob. Just how did Henrietta Seiberling become so connected to Dr. Bob and the Oxford Group? Why did the non-AA couple, T. Henry and Claryce Williams of Akron, Ohio host so many early AA meetings?
Akron, in the day, was home to all the major U.S. tire companies. The Firestone Tire Company was one of the largest. The owner, Mr. Firestone Sr., came to know Mr. Newton, an Oxford Group leader. Mr. Firestone was impressed by Mr. Newton. He tried to recruit him to be a senior manager in the Firestone company and asked him to come to Akron.
As well as running a significant company, Mr. Firestone Sr. had another problem. His son Bud was an alcoholic. Bud was Mr. Newton’s age, and when Mr. Newton came to Akron, they became friends. Mr. Newton took Bud on a long trip to Colorado, and when they came back to Akron, Bud had sobered up. He stayed sober. Mr. Firestone’s affection for Mr. Newton and the Oxford Group soared. The reputation of the Oxford Group in Akron was enhanced with this high-profile recovery story.
By 1933, Firestone Sr. had become a major Oxford Group supporter and organized a rally to promote the Oxford Group in Akron. One of the events was a dinner to introduce to Akron, some Oxford Group leaders, including Rev. Shoemaker, who would later become such an influence on Bill Wilson and AA.
Henrietta Seiberling (of Seiberling tire company fame) bought a table for the dinner, and she invited two other couples to join her. One couple was T. Henry Williams and his wife Claryce, and the other was Dr. Bob Smith and his wife, Anne.
Dr. Bob and T. Henry Williams met at the dinner, sponsored to promote the Oxford Group in Akron. They became friends and kindred Oxford souls.
The dinner cemented the Oxford Group presence in Akron. T. Henry Williams and Dr. Bob formed an Oxford Group with Henrietta Seiberling, and many meetings were held.
After Dr. Bob admitted to a drinking problem, his Oxford Group began to focus on his drinking. They prayed as a group and asked for guidance on how to help Dr. Bob. At one meeting, in the spring of 1935, Henrietta led a prayer meeting, focusing exclusively on Dr. Bob’s drinking. Three days later, Bill Wilson called looking for someone with a drinking problem. Henrietta immediately called Anne Smith, who dragged Dr. Bob over the next day.
Bill met Bob. They talked. They started sobering up other drunks.
And the friendship of non-alcoholic T. Henry Williams came into play. He had a large home, able to handle a growing number of drunks. The first meetings of the Akron Alcoholic Squad of the Oxford Group met weekly in the home of T. Henry and Claryce Williams.
We often refer to the delicate thread of events that connected Dr. Carl Jung in Switzerland to Bill Wilson in New York through the Oxford Group. This Akron delicate thread of history shows how we also should recall, with gratitude, God’s arrangement of affairs in Ohio.
