Between 1935 and 1939, Alcoholics Anonymous was very small. There were only two active groups in existence, located in Akron and New York. During that early time, Dr. Bob's wife, Anne Smith, kept a careful personal list of the first 100 AAs. Rollie Hemsley was number 77 on that historic list. His sobriety date was April 16, 1939.

This historic audio recording was captured at the 23rd Anniversary of the Cosmopolitan Group in Washington, D.C. The presentation begins with a member reading a brief history of the Cosmopolitan Group. Rollie Hemsley then takes the podium to share his story. He details how and when he began alcoholic drinking, followed by his adventures as an alcoholic playing professional baseball and the aggressive attention newspaper photographers paid to his antics.

Before finding recovery, one of the baseball teams Rollie played for paid for him to undergo "a cure." Rollie gives a detailed, firsthand account of exactly how this medical aversion therapy worked. His powerful testimony shows that while aversion therapy failed to keep him sober, the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous succeeded.

During 1939, the Cleveland AAs were still regularly commuting to Akron for their weekly meetings. Two of these early members, Lloyd Tate and Bill Jones, brought Rollie to Akron City Hospital. It was there that he first met Dr. Bob and began his recovery journey.

From the spoken text:

"So, I went into the hospital and met Dr. Bob and he said, Rollie, What the hell are you doing here?"

"And I said, well, I don't know, but these two fellas here says that you can help me with my alcohol problem."

"Well, he said, I believe I can because I'm one of 'em."

"So they put me in bed and he asked me if I wanted to drink and I said, no. I said, I came here to stop. And I says, I don't want any."

"He said, well, if you can stand it, why more power to you? And I said, I'll stand it."

"So anyway, he'd come in and he'd sit there and talk to me and told me some of the things that he did when he was drinking."

The first edition of the Big Book played a critical role in Rollie's final decision to get sober. He spent his early days in the hospital reading the newly published literature and identifying with the pioneers of the movement.

From the spoken text:

"So, after listening to the stories for about four days of these people and reading the red book (First Edition Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous). The Alcoholic Anonymous stories in it..."

"I said to myself, well, if they could quit drinking, I can quit drinking."

"So, I went back the next day or four days later, went back and joined the ball club, and I had a pretty good year that year."