As Bill W. said, “Good old Bert is the guy who hocked his then-failing business to save the book Alcoholics Anonymous in 1939.” Renamed the Manhattan Group, this group continues to meet today at Intergroup's offices and is New York's oldest.

AA dates its founding to 1935 with Bill Wilson's (Bill W.) and Bob Smith's (Dr. Bob) first commiseration alcoholic-to-alcoholic. Meeting through AA's immediate precursor the Christian revivalist Oxford Group, they and other alcoholics there helped each other until forming in 1937 what became AA.

A.A.'s Seventh Tradition states: “Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.” This means that only A.A. members contribute financially to A.A. – and even A.A. members are limited in the amount they can contribute.

James Burwell (March 23, 1898 – September 8, 1974), known as Jim B. or Jimmy B., was one of the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) founding members. He was among the first ten members of AA on the East Coast, and was responsible for starting Alcoholics Anonymous in Philadelphia and Baltimore.