Did you know Akron is the birthplace of Alcoholics Anonymous? This weekend — June 7-9, 2024 — marks the 89th Founders’ Day celebration.
Friday kicks off a weekend of festivities. The Akron Area Intergroup Council of Alcoholics Anonymous will hold events Friday through Sunday at the University of Akron, and Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens will hold self-guided tours, among other activities. Here’s a sampling of the many events scheduled:
AA 12 Step Panel
June 7: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the University of Akron
A discussion of one step per hour.
Actors Guild Play, “Snow White and The Seven Character Defects”
University of Akron
Catch the show Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at noon and 2:30 p.m.
AA historic sites bus tours
June 8: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the University of Akron
Two buses will continuously loop, leaving from Bierce Circle. Stops on the tour include the AA Archives at the Akron Area Intergroup.
Motorcade to Dr. Bob’s grave
June 9: 7:30 a.m.
A motorcycle procession and graveside memorial tribute to Dr. Bob and his wife, Anne.
Summa Health events
June 7: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; June 8: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Visit the Heritage Center, Reflection Center and Serenity Garden at Summa Health’s Akron campus located at 45 Arch Street, ground floor. View the shuttle schedule to catch a ride from the University of Akron to Summa Health’s Juve Family Behavioral Health Pavilion.
The Heritage Center pays tribute to the history of Sister Ignatia and the treatment of alcoholics as well as the relationship between Dr. Bob and the founding of AA. Meanwhile, the Reflection Center, overlooking the Serenity Garden and featuring 12 granite benches representing the 12 steps of recovery for AA, is a non-denominational chapel offering space for visitors to reflect and pray.
Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens
June 7-9: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Go on a self-guided tour of the Gate Lodge at Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens. The Gate Lodge offers an immersive exhibit, Henrietta Seiberling: A Spark for a Movement, commemorating the hours-long meeting of Bill W. and Dr. Bob that led to the founding of AA.
A full list of Founder’s Day events are available here.
Who started AA and why?
Founded in 1935, Bill Wilson (also known as Bill W.) and Robert Smith (also known as Dr. Bob) met through Henrietta Seiberling at her home at Stan Hywet’s Gate Lodge.
At the time, Wilson and Smith were each on their own sobriety journeys.
Smith and Wilson had each gotten to know Seiberling through the Oxford Group, a religious fellowship organization. On Mother’s Day 1935, the two men met for the first time at Seiberling’s home. This initial meeting is what launched the identifying principles that would later become Alcoholics Anonymous.
Akron is home to several historic sites that played a role in the founding of AA. From the home of T. Henry and Clarence Williams off of Palisades Drive, where the “Drunk Squad” of the Oxford Group met originally; to King Community Learning Center, the first AA meeting location; to Smith’s home on Ardmore Avenue and his gravesite at Mt. Peace Cemetery.