Anna Joseph and Madeline Hodges
Group website
Junior division
1170 Student Composed Words
500 Words in Process Paper
Group website
Junior division
1170 Student Composed Words
500 Words in Process Paper
Our Thesis Statement
Beginning in 1885, a psychiatric hospital opened up for Northern Michigan. It’s founder, Dr. James Decker Munson, lead the Traverse City State Hospital for 39 years. James improved the lives of patients and how they were treated. He practiced in a completely different form of medicine and treatment, using farming and flowers to treat his patients. James believed that “Beauty is Therapy.” He was seen as a great man and doctor in his days, and he still is today. His legacy is still remembered today in the way that we named one of the leading hospitals in Michigan after him. Munson Hospital treats its patients with the same care and respect used many years ago by Dr. Munson. For these reasons, Dr. James Decker Munson is one of the most important psychiatric doctors of all time.
" I doubt that he ever went on a vacation . . . until he retired." - E. F. Sladek, M.D.
Dr. Munson, Before the Hospital
Dr. Munson was born as James Decker Munson, on June 1848, on a farm in Oakland County, Michigan. At the age of twenty-five, he graduated from the University of Michigan in 1873. He was a well known humanitarian, horticulturalist, and medical scientist. Munson had an exceptional talent in medical school, starting his reputation in the Detroit region, where he practiced medicine in neurology and psychiatry. Only five years after graduating from college, Munson was appointed as the Chief Medical Assistant of the newly-constructed Eastern Michigan Asylum, in Pontiac, Michigan. Later on, in 1881, Munson opened up a new asylum in Traverse City, Michigan, where he was selected as superintendent in 1885.
Dr. Munson, Beginning an Iconic Hospital
In 1881, the state of Michigan chose Traverse City as the new location for the next asylum. Doctor Munson was a part of this plan for a new asylum. Munson always had an interest in community and the medical profession, and so, because of this interest, he immediately fixed up a cottage located on 11th Street and Elmwood in Traverse City, Michigan. After being finished with renovating the cottage to its proper needs, Dr. Munson gave it to the doctors of the community to use as a hospital in 1915. Eventually that one small building became an entire hospital for many people in need of medical care,. and is known today as Munson Medical Center.
The Other Side of Dr. Munson
Outside of his hospital, Munson was a hardworking man. Growing up on a farm in southern Michigan, Dr. Munson was used to long hours, and often never took a break. He had two wives in his married life. His first wife died after a few years of marriage. Munson went on to marry again, marrying Mary Sutherland Munson in 1843. He had only one child in all his married life. He later lost his only son, Ted, due to an illness caught in the war. The harsh blow of losing his only child really motivated Munson to work even harder in his last few years before retirement. With his son in mind, he worked hard, and some people say that they never actually saw him on a break until after he retired! Doctor Munson just loved what he did with his life, and really, there wasn't much you could do at the time to take him away from his work.