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The 1930's

Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 6 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.04

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    Al-Anon, counseled, normalcy, religious-based, drinker, sober, alcoholic, alcoholism, birthplace, formation, alcohol, finding, recovery, frustration, direct, immediately
     content words:    Alcoholics Anonymous, William Griffith Wilson, East Dorset, World War I., Lois Burnham, Wall Street, William Silkworth, Ebby Thatcher, Oxford Group, Henrietta Seiberling

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Alcoholics Anonymous
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     A person who drinks too much alcohol is called an alcoholic. Alcoholism occurs if that person is unable to control the drinking or stop altogether. Alcoholism is a disease. It affects the physical and mental state of the drinking person. It also affects the lives of those who live and work with the drinker.
 
2     Before the 1930's, alcoholics were thought to be weak minded. People thought that an alcoholic should be able to stop drinking anytime. It was just a matter of making up one's mind to stop. That idea started changing in 1935 with the formation of a group called Alcoholics Anonymous.
 
3     William Griffith Wilson was born into trouble. His birthplace was a room behind a bar in East Dorset, Vermont. His father left the family in 1905. Bill struggled to complete a high school education. He fought briefly in World War I. He married Lois Burnham and settled down to a normal life with a job on Wall Street. His dreams of normalcy were dashed with the stock market crash in 1929.

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