Lynn Carroll, founding leader of Hazelden, was also first counselor
Recovery evangelist and counseling pioneer influenced millions
By Jeremiah Gardner
When Lynn Carroll left his law career to start the nonprofit Hazelden Foundation in 1949, he not only took a big pay cut but leapt into the unknown of a profession that didn’t yet exist — addiction counseling.
Today, hundreds of thousands of people work in addiction care: physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, recovery coaches and more, including more than 100,000 licensed counselors in the U.S. alone.
But 75 years ago, it was simply an idea. Carroll and his co-founders asked: What if we turned a Minnesota country estate into a place where people could get away from liquor stores, bars and the pressures of everyday life; learn about the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.); experience dignity, respect and compassion; and discover hope and healing through the fellowship of others?
For Carroll, any fear of taking a risk personally or professionally was overwhelmed by gratitude for the sobriety he had found himself in A.A. seven years earlier, and a deep desire to help others recover from alcoholism, too.
“Dad never cared about money,” said his daughter Lynn Mary Carroll of St. Paul. “More than anything, he loved and cared about people. And he was devoted to living and breathing the A.A. program, which meant being of service.”
As the founding general manager, board member and first employee of Hazelden, Carroll developed the counseling aspect of his job on the fly, relying on his keen intuition. In time, the experiment near Center City, Minn., proved wildly successful. Hazelden went on to pioneer a multidisciplinary approach to healing the body, mind and spirit. It became a driving force in the development and growth of addiction care as a profession — providing a long-sought alternative to jails and psychiatric wards, and advancing a new public narrative: addiction is a disease, people can and do recover, and they are worthy and deserving of professional help.
“It’s inspiring to know that the profession Hazelden Betty Ford propelled — the one that helped save my life — can trace its roots back to Lynn Carroll and others in recovery, who were motivated in deeply personal ways to help others and lead the way,” said national recovery advocate and author William C. Moyers, vice president of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation — as the organization has been known since the 2014 merger of Hazelden and the Betty Ford Center. “Because addiction is so easily misunderstood and stigmatized, the illuminating voice and spirit of recovery was crucial then and now, and must always remain at the center of this work.”
After decades of innovation, influence and growth, Hazelden Betty Ford is still breaking through, empowering recovery in many ways. Today, it is the nation’s leading nonprofit system of substance use treatment, mental health care and family services — with sites and services across the U.S. — and also includes an acclaimed graduate school, publishing house and research center, with a global reach and reputation.
When Hazelden Betty Ford celebrated its 75th anniversary at a gala held Sept. 13, 2024, in Minneapolis, Ms. Carroll and other members of the organization’s founding families — including the Fords, Butlers and McGarveys — were recognized on stage.
“I’m so proud of everything my Dad did,” said Ms. Carroll, who was 14 when Hazelden was founded. “It’s hard to comprehend how many millions of people have been helped since those early days. It meant so much to be at the 75th anniversary and see how the impact continues to grow.”
Carroll was the most consistent and prominent figure in the conceptualization, planning and operational launch of Hazelden, and the face and voice of the organization for nearly two decades. As general manager, he did it all — from intake to educational lectures and counseling; to follow-ups in the community, results-tracking and other record-keeping; to grocery shopping, marketing, public advocacy and fund-raising.
He even cooked on occasion, including the first Christmas at Hazelden, when only one patient was on-site. Carroll stayed overnight — as he usually did — and made a holiday meal for the two of them while the regular cook — Ma Schnaible, employee #2 — enjoyed time off with her family.
“Carroll’s contribution was long-term and substantial,” wrote Damian McElrath in Hazelden: A Spiritual Odyssey. “He set the course of Hazelden’s treatment program and guaranteed its adherence to a fundamental, philosophical, and pragmatic approach. He had a mission to help alcoholics recover, and he guaranteed Hazelden’s participation in that mission at great personal sacrifice.”
Carroll was born on July 8, 1898, in Minneapolis. His father died when he was just 2. After high school, not yet 18, Carroll and his older brother William joined the Royal Canadian Air Force so they could fight for the Allies in World War I. With the Wright Brothers having flown the first powered airplane in 1903 and Charles Lindbergh’s famous flight across the Atlantic still a decade away, the Carrolls were among the world’s first generation of pilots. After the war, William continued to blaze new trails by joining the U.S. Post Office as it started to experiment with using planes to transport mail.
Unfortunately, William — who established a short-lived record of 3 hours and 22 minutes flying from Minneapolis to Chicago — died in a fiery crash on Feb. 9, 1921, while continuing to test flight paths between the two cities. Lynn, just 22 at the time and a law student, successfully led the charge — along with older brother Gerald — in demanding state and federal investigations into the crash, claiming the Post Office knew the plane — an all-metal German Junker — was unsafe. Lynn’s advocacy in memory of his brother led to extensive media coverage nationwide and healthy scrutiny as the U.S. government moved forward with air mail. Lynn’s response to the tragedy also proved to be an early example of his leadership potential.
William, one of 43 air mail pilots to die in crashes between May 1918 and August 1927, became a notable part of air mail history. And Lynn’s grandson Richard Sedgwick, a longtime pilot for Target Corporation, is now leading an effort to get both William and Lynn inducted into the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame.
A bit of a Renaissance man, Lynn Carroll worked as a golf pro in the Twin Cities as he earned his way through law school. While experiencing success as an attorney over the next two-plus decades, Carroll also lived with the trauma of losing his father and brother. His drinking progressed along the way, ultimately developing into alcoholism.
By 1938, Carroll’s legal practice had deteriorated and his wife Evelyn was also struggling with the situation, drinking more herself. Eventually, authorities separated Lynn and Evelyn from their three young children — Kathleen, Susanne and Lynn Mary — who each moved to live with separate relatives. On April 11, 1941, Mr. Carroll was confined to the psychiatric ward at General Hospital in Minneapolis. Three days later, after his discharge, he sought the help of A.A. which had launched in Minnesota just a few months earlier. He struggled off-and-on initially but, with the help of a new mentor, Pat Cronin — the founder of A.A. in Minnesota — Carroll took his last drink on Feb. 2, 1942. Soon after, he and Evelyn — who also chose the sober lifestyle of A.A. — were reunited with their children.
“Being separated was a really painful and frightening time for me,” said Carroll’s youngest daughter Lynn Mary. “I was so happy when the family came back together and proud of both mom and dad.”
Thereafter, Carroll — imbued with empathy and enthusiasm — committed himself to helping others, sponsoring many men and teaching at 2218 1st Avenue South in Minneapolis, home of the first A.A. club in Minnesota and still a vibrant recovery meeting hub today. He also began to talk throughout the Upper Midwest and, within six years, was a highly respected speaker and well-known figure in A.A. circles.
“I have lots of memories of him going out to do talks,” said Ms. Carroll, who quit drinking herself years ago, after recognizing warning signs and knowing she had an elevated genetic risk. “I also remember lots of calls to the house at all hours. Dad would take them and then head out to help another person. He never hesitated, no matter the time or situation, and always got up to go to work the next day.”
She describes her father as kind, optimistic and blessed with an Irish sense of humor that kept him from taking himself or life’s everyday challenges too seriously. She says he also was an avid reader and someone who rarely wasted time. A good listener, too, despite a broken ear drum.
Not only did Carroll’s sobriety empower a second career and restore his family, but all three daughters went on to enjoy professional success of their own:
- Lynn Mary, a vocational rehab counselor for the state of Minnesota and college instructor who helped people with disabilities develop work skills and get jobs;
- Kathleen (Kay), an attorney (summa cum laude and the only woman in her law class) who married newscaster Harry Reasoner of 60 Minutes fame; and
- Susanne, a prominent appellate judge (appointed by Minnesota Gov. Rudy Perpich) who married attorney and banker Alfred Sedgwick.
As the only full-time counselor for three years, Carroll lived at Hazelden in the early 1950s, returning to the family home in Minneapolis or hitting the speaking circuit only when local A.A. members volunteered to stay overnight and be with the guests at Hazelden.
In addition to the main estate, which later came to be known as the Old Lodge, the 200+ acre property purchased from the Charles Power family and named after its matriarch, Hazel, included a cottage, an old school building, and an adjacent house rented in the early years to farmers who continued to raise livestock there.
“My dad was the mastermind of everything, and he was always there and active,” his daughter Lynn recalls of those early informal days. “I’d sometimes go up and stay. Our family would occasionally visit for Sunday dinner, too. I remember keeping myself busy by exploring the property. Knew it by heart. It was a fascinating place.”
While running Hazelden and mentoring many in the community, Carroll also traveled throughout the region to spread the good news that alcoholism could be managed and overcome. By all accounts, he was a great speaker.
“Carroll seemed to be everywhere and presided with an almost messianic presence,” McElrath wrote in Hazelden: A Spiritual Odyssey.
Two of Carroll’s earliest patients were Dick Caron and Patrick Butler, who each made a pair of trips through Hazelden. Carroll not only treated them but — in those experimental, boundary-less days — also was their A.A. sponsor. Butler went on to become the first president of Hazelden, serving and financially backing the nonprofit for four decades as it grew into a sustainable force of healing and hope nationally; and Caron went on to found the Caron Foundation in Pennsylvania, which became a leading treatment system in its own right.
“Lynn never let me forget that I was an alcoholic, and that I had to do something about it — not him,” said Caron, according to the book The Magic Mountain. “I didn’t think I could stay sober. But I worked at the program, just one day at a time, and 365 days later I suddenly realized I had been sober a full year.”
From the start, Carroll personally kept track of patients and their outcomes after they left, with the help and watchful eye of others in the Twelve Step community. Reporting to the Hazelden board in January 1951, he said 156 men had been treated thus far, with 124 (79%) recovered and/or demonstrating marked progress; 14 (9%) continuing to drink; three dead; one insane; and 14 unlocatable. (Note: seven years into Carroll’s tenure, Hazelden also began treating women — one of the first organizations to do so — at a new facility called Dia Linn in Dellwood, Minn.)
Carroll’s tracking methods wouldn’t survive scientific scrutiny today but showed a missional focus on recovery outcomes, which eventually led to the establishment of the Butler Center for Research. Today, the Butler Center publishes the most robust treatment outcomes in the field.
“I think we all agree that the effectiveness of the treatment at Hazelden is due, to a large extent, to the unusual skill of Lynn Carroll,” wrote A.A. Heckman — another of Hazelden’s founding board members — in an early report to the board. “If it can be discovered that Carroll’s techniques and skills are transmittable to others through teaching and understudying, then steps should be taken to develop several understudies — not only for the sake of Hazelden but to aid other programs.”
Heckman’s call, and Carroll’s leadership, led to the establishment in 1963 of Hazelden’s counselor training program, which evolved in 1999 to become the Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School. Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and the National Addiction Studies Accreditation Commission, the Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School today offers multiple masters programs in integrated substance use and mental health counseling, preparing leaders to work across the industry and globe.
“Addiction counselors now comprise a professional, licensed workforce that continues to grow amid the challenges of the modern world, and we owe a debt of gratitude to Lynn Carroll and the other pioneers who paved the way with their ingenuity and helping spirit,” said Kevin Doyle, EdD, president and CEO of the Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School. “I wish Lynn Carroll could be here to see how highly skilled and resourceful our graduates are today, and how the seeds of his intuition have grown into a robust, in-demand counseling profession here in the U.S. and globally.”
In the mid-1960s, Carroll’s dedication to the Twelve Steps — at the exclusion of other possible treatment elements — began to seem rigid to new leaders at Hazelden, most notably psychologist Dan Anderson, who joined the organization as a vice president in 1961. Anderson embraced the Twelve Steps but also began introducing new elements that Carroll thought distracted from the core program. For example, the two famously butted heads over Anderson’s implementation of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), a psychological test that helps identify personality traits and mental illnesses.
Such tensions are natural and healthy as progress is pursued and best practices evolve, and they have continued throughout the history of addiction treatment. What it meant at the time, however, was that Carroll decided to move on in 1966, after 18 years of leadership at Hazelden.
Carroll’s skepticism of medicine and psychology may have been rooted in his own experiences with health care — and those of many others he knew. In one internal Hazelden interview, Carroll recalled of his final year in active alcoholism: “They would not take an alcoholic into any hospital that I knew of at that time — I remember at one time that I was down to Mankato (Minn.), and was doing quite a lot of drinking. I went up to a Catholic hospital and wanted to get in and they told me to sit down. Then the priest came down and told me to get the hell out of there or he’d call the police. That’s what they used to think of the alcoholic.”
As mentioned earlier, Carroll also had been admitted to the psychiatric ward at General Hospital but did not achieve sustained sobriety until he found and stuck with A.A. “I think I finally found something that will work,” Carroll wrote enthusiastically in a letter to his wife after first getting involved with A.A., daughter Mary Lynn recalled.
For his part, Dr. Anderson also rejected the environment of neglect and indifference that was in the health care system of the day, and his innovative spirit was largely inspired by people in recovery, like Lynn Carroll, who began to make breakthroughs by helping each other.
Building on Carroll’s initial approach to healing the body, mind and spirit, Dr. Anderson went on to refine the multidisciplinary, team-oriented Minnesota Model of care that spread around the world.
Meanwhile, Carroll also began to extend his impact, starting an addiction treatment program at St. Vincent Hospital’s Rosary Hall in Cleveland and then working with others to establish and run three new treatment centers, including two named in his honor:
- Lynnville, near Jordan, Minn., which launched in 1969;
- Carrollton, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which launched in 1973; and
- Keystone, in Canton, S.D., which also launched in 1973.
Carroll also served as the first acting director of South Dakota’s Community Committee on Alcohol Abuse (CCAA), which was later renamed the Carroll Institute in his honor. The Carroll Institute still operates today in Sioux Falls, S.D., and Keystone, where Lynn was the founding director from 1973 to 1981, is still the most prominent treatment center in South Dakota. Carroll lived his last years in Canton with second wife Mavis (also known as Mitzy), who was in recovery, too.
More than a decade after leaving Hazelden and Minnesota, in 1979, Carroll was so missed that Minnesota’s largest newspaper, the Star Tribune, saw fit to publish a column entitled, “Lynn B. Carroll isn’t missing, he’s helping folks in South Dakota.”
Carroll’s influence in South Dakota, in fact, began even earlier. Glenn Jorgensen, who founded South Dakota’s first treatment centers in 1970, under the name River Park, cited Carroll as a mentor. Jorgensen also went on to run a remarkable public access TV show, It’s Great to Be Alive, on which national celebrities shared the hope of their own recoveries.
To anyone who studies this early era of A.A., addiction treatment, and the recovery movement, Carroll’s impact is unmistakable and incalculable.
Everywhere he went — speaking at symposiums and other events nationwide — Carroll seemed to inspire more addiction treatment and A.A.
“Carrolisms”
After Carroll passed away in 1982, friends compiled an informal book of sayings and mantras he had shared over the years in talks, meetings and conversations. Entitled “Carrolisms,” the book was an effort to preserve his presence in the recovery community he had helped build. Some samples:
“Resentment is the non-acceptance of something that has already happened.”
“We must try to live quietly within the chambers of our own minds.”
“Look for the good in other people, and don’t forget the good in yourself.”
“D.L.T.B.G.YD. (Don’t let those bastards get you down.)” — sign on his desk
“The whole AA program is a program of love and service.”
“We do not see clearly what we are seeking until we are sober — and then not immediately.”
“Be yourself and let others be themselves.”
“Do not run away from life; seek it.”
“We drank to feel better. We stopped drinking to feel better.”
“If you can just be yourself, you will live in peace.”
“Humility is teachability and the willingness to learn.”
In the introduction to “Carrolisms,” an anonymous fellow traveler, G.A.T., wrote: “Lynn is a deeply spiritual man. His willingness to listen, his gentleness, kindness, his understanding of the illnesses of alcoholism, as well as his sound advice has endeared him to the hearts of thousands of men and women whom he has counseled over a period of thirty years and who are now living happy, constructive lives.”
Carroll’s daughter, Lynn Mary, concurs. “He had a really good working relationship with God,” she says. “Never just said goodnight, but always goodnight and God bless.”
More than those words, though, it’s the spirit of love and transformative hope he poured into others that best define his legacy.
“He opened doors for people,” his daughter says, “and taught them that the world is your friend.”
Jeremiah Gardner is the former director of communications and public affairs for the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and an occasional ongoing contributor.
