Richard Fidler (2)

Fourteen short essays--and a short biography--on aspects of Traverse City history, mostly provoked by the author encountering an odd fact or artifact. We learn about folks who protested World War I, poor houses, Park Street's missing park, and similar matters. Several of the essays and the biography are about medical care; two of those explore James Decker Munson's evolving views about treating mental illness (Munson ran the Northern Michigan Asylum for many years).

Fidler's usual approach is to quote from or summarize century-old documents, and try to put them into both then-contemporary and current context. Usually this approach works well, though the discussion of the Asylum probably is more distracting than informative (I would like to see him examine the issue in greater depth).

The biography's of early TC doctor Augusta Louise Rosenthal-Thompson. It's short, but interesting.

A good, short book about Traverse City. Like all of Fidler's books, worth your time.… (altro)

Exceptionally well done local history.

Sixteen essays on Traverse City topics; the typical pattern is that Fidler describes an event, then puts it into state or national context, and finishes by drawing conclusions about the importance of the topic. Various chapters discuss the Ku Klux Klan, the evolution of local newspapers, early baseball, labor relations at the largest local employer, and so forth.

Fidler cautions us, unnecessarily, that he's not a historian by training and that the book is not serious history. But it's extremely well-researched, well-written, and interesting. In that sense, this is serious history. A wonderful read.

This review is also available on a dabbler's journal.… (altro)