Beauty is Therapy: Memories of the Traverse City State Hospital

From horse-drawn wagon rides to school through five decades of tending majestic trees at the gothic Traverse City State Hospital, Earle Steele colorfully and compassionately shares tales of life and how it was lived at The Asylum, a city-within-a-city that once housed 3000 mentally ill patients.Steele's first affiliation with the hospital was at age nine when his father began employment at the institution. Ten year's later, the younger Steele began his own employment with the hospital. At the time of his retirement in 1984, Steele was the Superintendent of the Grounds Department. Between 1984 and 1989 he helped continue the development of the hospital museum and served as curator until the closing of the institution in 1984. The book contains black and white photos retrieved from the local historical society as well as illustrations by Steele.