Traverse City State Hospital

"Traverse City State Hospital," by Chris Miller, is the most recently published book about the subject. It is published by Images of America and is a favorite because of its broad historical overview and up-to-date content in photo/caption layout.

Here's what the publisher says about it:

Northern Michigan Asylum, which opened in 1885, was known during most of its years as Traverse City State Hospital. It was run during its first decades by Dr. James Decker Munson, who left his legacy in the landscaped grounds and the medical center that today bears his name. Traverse City State Hospital served the mental health needs of a large part of Michigan for 104 years until its closure in 1989, housing a population as large as 3,000 in its many buildings.

This book traces the history of this great institution, from the local and mental health context in which it was founded, through its growth, development, and decline, and finally to its renovation and preservation as a vital part of the Traverse City community.

Gallery Fifty sells signed copies of "Traverse City State Hospital" for $19.99. Call for more information or to have a copy sent to you, 231-932-0775.

Did you know? Chris Miller was a founding member of the Committee to Preserve Building 50, a grass roots organization responsible for preventing the demolition of this important historical landmark.

Beauty is Therapy

For those who love memoirs, we recommend "Beauty is Therapy," by Earl Steele and his granddaughter Kristen Hains. This paperback is an easy read and includes some wonderful personal insights. It is published by Kris' business, Delani & Co.

Here's what Judy's Book has to say about it:

"If anyone has ever held a stigma towards the psychiatric institutions of yesteryear I highly advise that you READ this book! 'Beauty is Therapy' will certainly dispel many of the myths that are associated with them. Earl Steele invites us to share in his personal experiences at Traverse City State Hospital where he followed in his father's footsteps and becameHead of the Garden and Floral departments.

He reveals the softer side of internal activities between the patients and the staff. Kristen's wording holds your attention and makes one beg for more. I could not put this book down once I began to read."

The paperback is always available at Gallery Fifty and costs 10.95. Call for more information or to have a copy sent to you, 231-932-0775.

Angels in the Architecture

"Angels in the Architecture: A Photographic Elegy to an American Asylum," by Heidi Johnson is one of the best selling books we carry. It is published by Wayne State University Press and doubles as an important historical record and beautiful coffee table book.

Here's what the publisher says about it:

In the nineteenth century, perhaps no approach to mental illness was more compassionate than that of hospital administrator Thomas Story Kirkbride, whose asylum designs integrated beauty and nature as a method to treat patients. The Northern Michigan Asylum in Traverse City, Michigan, was one of the last of nearly two hundred such architecturally intriguing asylums.

Founded in 1885 under the principle “beauty is therapy,” the Northern Michigan Asylum closed in 1989 and today stands as a haunting reminder of this lost era. Angels in the Architecture is a photographic study of this institution’s one-hundred-year history. Heidi Johnson’s photographs of the building today are juxtaposed with rare images from private collections and state archives. Johnson has captured Kirkbride’s spirit of compassion—of angels in the architecture—in a book that conveys the human element of mental illness with beauty and integrity.

The hardcover edition is out of print, but we carry the paperback for $29.95. Call 231-932-0775 for more information or to have a copy shipped to you.