Process Paper
When we first got this history project in November, Anna and I had no idea who we were going to write it about. We both had completely different ideas, I suggested Walt Disney, Anna thought that we should do someone from the Traverse City area. After doing some research, we decided to do it on Dr. James Decker Munson, the founder of Munson Medical Center and the first superintendent of the Northern Michigan Asylum. Growing up in Traverse City, with both of our parents working at the hospital, we already knew who Dr. Munson was, but nothing else. Both of us wanted to learn more about the man who started the Munson Medical Center in Michigan. And so, we created a website on him and his career as a doctor, because it seemed like a unique and different choice to display our work.
In the beginning, Anna and I wanted to make an exhibit. It was simple, easy, and practically everyone else already was doing that. Then we thought everyone was making an exhibit because they felt the same way. So we switched to a documentary, thinking that leaving two clumsy girls with a video camera and computer was a good idea. Although, then we remembered that we have no idea how to put together a documentary. So that didn't work either. Then Anna suggested that we create a website on Doctor Munson. It was a creative, fun, and different idea for a project. I had never created a website before this one, and I must say it was quite a challenge. Although I do think that it turned out really well.
When we first started researching Dr. Munson, there wasn't much to find besides that he was a doctor in Michigan. So, we moved on from the internet and onto the local library. There we found very few books, but there were many articles on Doctor Munson and the asylum in their archives. Many of the facts that you’ll find on our website came from those articles, and one book titled “Beauty is Therapy” written by Earle E. Steele. It took a lot more time than I predicted to find all of that information, but it was worth the time to create our website.
In many ways throughout his career, Doctor Munson was a great leader, not only to other people, but to his patients and staff at the hospital. He was against the way the mentally challenged were treated. Any type of restraint or harmful therapy was strictly forbidden in his hospital. Instead, Dr. Munson preferred to use more gentle ways of medicine, things like letting the patients take walks in the springtime, and garden flowers, fruits, and vegetables in the summer along with the rest of the staff. Dr. Munson allowed the workers to socialize with the patients, something that, at the time, was quite rare. Over the years, Dr. Munson became known as a kind man and wonderful leader with a talent in the medical field.
In the beginning, Anna and I wanted to make an exhibit. It was simple, easy, and practically everyone else already was doing that. Then we thought everyone was making an exhibit because they felt the same way. So we switched to a documentary, thinking that leaving two clumsy girls with a video camera and computer was a good idea. Although, then we remembered that we have no idea how to put together a documentary. So that didn't work either. Then Anna suggested that we create a website on Doctor Munson. It was a creative, fun, and different idea for a project. I had never created a website before this one, and I must say it was quite a challenge. Although I do think that it turned out really well.
When we first started researching Dr. Munson, there wasn't much to find besides that he was a doctor in Michigan. So, we moved on from the internet and onto the local library. There we found very few books, but there were many articles on Doctor Munson and the asylum in their archives. Many of the facts that you’ll find on our website came from those articles, and one book titled “Beauty is Therapy” written by Earle E. Steele. It took a lot more time than I predicted to find all of that information, but it was worth the time to create our website.
In many ways throughout his career, Doctor Munson was a great leader, not only to other people, but to his patients and staff at the hospital. He was against the way the mentally challenged were treated. Any type of restraint or harmful therapy was strictly forbidden in his hospital. Instead, Dr. Munson preferred to use more gentle ways of medicine, things like letting the patients take walks in the springtime, and garden flowers, fruits, and vegetables in the summer along with the rest of the staff. Dr. Munson allowed the workers to socialize with the patients, something that, at the time, was quite rare. Over the years, Dr. Munson became known as a kind man and wonderful leader with a talent in the medical field.