Loosening the Grip: A Handbook of Alcohol Information

by Jean Kinney

Another group briefly flourished. The Washington Temperance Society began in Chase’s Tavern in Baltimore in 1840. Six drinking buddies were the founders, and they each agreed to bring a friend to the next meeting. Within a few months, parades and public meetings were being held to spread the message: “Drunkard! Come up here! You can reform. We don’t slight the drunkard. We love him!” At the peak of its success in 1844, the membership consisted of 100,000 “reformed common drunkards” and 300,000 “common tipplers.” A women’s auxiliary group, the Martha Washington Society, was dedicated to feeding and clothing the poor. Based on the promise of religious salvation, the Washington Temperance Society was organized in much the same way as the ordinary temperance groups, but with a difference. It was founded on the basis of one drunkard’s helping another, of drunks telling their story in public. The society prospered all over the East Coast as far north as New Hampshire. A hospital, the Home for the Fallen, was established in Boston and still exists under a different name. There are many similarities between the Washington Society and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA): people helping each other, regular meetings, sharing experiences, fellowship, reliance on a Higher Power, and total abstention from alcohol.

The early AA