2021-22 Project Update
Read about what has been happening with the Murray Bowen Archives Project in 2021 and 2022.
Our Mission: For Dr. Bowen’s professional and personal papers, video tapes, photos, and personal effects to be gifted to the National Library of Medicine and made available to the world.
The Beat Goes On!
Despite closures and disruptions due to the pandemic, processing work on the Bowen Archives continued throughout 2021. To all our supporters and volunteers, THANK YOU, for your continued support of our mission. This is a monumental and complex effort that will take at least another 5 years to complete, and it is your support that fuels our progress. COVID-19 and its variants have further complicated and lengthened the process, but we are well on our way with exciting updates that are detailed below.
The Andrea Schara Photograph Collection is now Being Processed
This collection represents over 2338 photographs taken by Ms. Schara during her 13 years of working with Dr. Bowen at various conferences, symposiums, and speaking/training events. It is one of the most extensive photographic collections of Dr. Bowen’s professional activities that we have, and it offers us chronological documentation of Dr. Bowen’s association with the researchers and scientists of his day. Much thought and planning has gone into creating, organizing and identifying metadata for these photographs so that each one can be more easily indexed and searched. A User Guide is also in development that will accompany the collection. We anticipate that processing of this collection will be completed by mid-year of 2022. Copies of the materials will then be provided to the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family (the Bowen Center), the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the Bowen Family, TMBAP, and Ms. Schara. We anticipate that both the original and digitized photographs taken by Ms. Schara will be transferred to NLM by the end of 2022.
This project paves the way for how TMBAP will process future collections by informing how TMBAP collaborates with many interested parties, and by establishing needed guidelines and protocols. The successful processing of this collection is a concrete example of how your support of TMBAP truly is making a difference.
Video Tape Processing Continues
Work has continued towards establishing a cost estimate for processing the entirety of Dr. Bowen’s video tape collection, which includes approximately 1000 hours of recordings in three different formats (the ¾ u-matic, digi-beta, and VHS). Included in this effort is understanding the detailed requirements associated with the preservation, digitization, transcription, and closed captioning for each tape, and establishing a protocol for how to work with materials that have already been transferred to NLM. Fortunately, advances in digital technology over the past several years are making it easier and less costly to digitize these recordings. We are building upon our learnings from the successful processing of the Andrea Schara Photograph Collection and are developing similar procedures for processing this extensive videotape collection. We are hoping to complete all cost estimates by the end of 2022.
The Third Annual TMBAP Webinar to be held January 28, 2022
In celebration of Dr. Bowen’s 109th birthday, TMBAP invites you to join us for our 3rd Annual Webinar scheduled for January 28, 2022. This year’s event is titled “Stories & Photos from Murray Bowen, MD: What Happens When You Make Your Life into a Research Project?” and will be presented by Ms. Andrea Schara. She will describe the learnings she gleaned from her apprenticeship with Dr. Bowen as told through her rich collection of photographs and stories. Hear firsthand how Bowen’s words, phrases, and his unique approach influenced Ms. Schara’s research into her family and her own journey towards greater differentiation of self. You can register for this event on TMBAP’s website, or by clicking HERE.
Collaboration with The Bowen Center
Over the course of 2021, TMBAP has been working with the Director of the Bowen Center, Dr. Carrie Collier, to establish a process for reviewing documents that are housed there. These documents comprise three major groupings: 1) Murray Bowen Intellectual Property housed at the Bowen Center (some materials were transported from the Bowen family home to the Bowen Center after Dr. Bowen’s death); 2) Murray Bowen/Bowen Center Intellectual Property; and 3) Bowen Center institutional records. Parsing out which documents belong to which grouping has been time intensive and complex.
Dr. Joanne Bowen (representing the Bowen Family) has taken a lead role in determining how to best proceed with processing this diverse collection of documents. A meeting was held with Ms. Rebecca Warlow at NLM to discuss and plan for the processing of these materials, and an agreement was reached between the Bowen Center and the Bowen Family on how to move forward. A Memorandum of Understanding that defines how these materials will be processed is also currently being developed between the Bowen Center and TMBAP and will hopefully be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2022.
An inventory of the Bowen Center Library is also underway. This library includes many materials unavailable anywhere else, including self-published materials from the early Georgetown Family Center meetings. This collection provides a unique and historical window into the breadth of materials and scientific influences that were available to Dr. Bowen as he was developing his own theory. NLM will use this inventory to assess which items will be received into the NLM archival collection, as being historically significant in how Dr. Bowen’s theory evolved. In addition, this digital inventory itself will transfer to NLM, documenting the diversity of materials and perspectives that influenced the evolution of Dr. Bowen’s own thinking and understanding.
Going forward, Ms. Priscilla Friesen will be working with the Bowen Center as a faculty member to assist with developing policies for retaining and documenting the Bowen Center institutional records, utilizing lessons learned from the above collaborative efforts.
TMBAP’s Creation of the NLM Initiative Committee
This newly formed Committee will focus specifically on building broader awareness and visibility of TMBAP’s mission and engaging potential donors in meaningful dialogue about all necessary activities that must be completed in order to make Dr. Bowen’s archival materials available in various formats to the public. Working as a part of TMBAP’s Resource Development Team (formerly the Fundraising Committee), this committee will layout a comprehensive timeline of all activities and costs required to process the four Deeds of Gift that comprise Dr. Bowen’s professional and personal works gifted to NLM.
TMBAP Slide Presentation Near Completion
A narrated slide presentation describing the purpose and goals of TMBAP is near completion and will be used in the solicitation of large financial gifts. This slide presentation explains in layman’s terms the size and significance of the Murray Bowen archives and its importance to advancing a scientific understanding of human behavior.
TMBAP’S Growth and Maturation
The scope and number of projects currently underway at TMBAP has increased significantly over the past two years. The Board decided in 2019 to recruit additional capacity and expertise to these efforts by expanding the size of our volunteer board. You can learn more about TMBAP’s Board of Directors, including our four newest members, Ms. Teresa Edmondson, Ms. Deborah J. Crofoot-Morley, Ms. Amie Post and Mr. Jake Morrill, by visiting TMBAP’s website, or by clicking HERE.
TMBAP has continued to mature as an organization, becoming more efficient and effective in both what we do and how we do it. From streamlining processes (such as making it easier for individuals to make donations to TMBAP), to upgrading our financial systems, website, and public-facing communications, we strive always to be responsible stewards of our mission and of every dollar we raise. We are grateful to have a paid, part-time assistant, but the majority of TMBAP’s work is performed by volunteers, which includes board members and others who have donated innumerable hours to this effort since it began some years ago.
Accessing the Archives
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is currently closed for renovations and is therefore not allowing in-person access to the archives. We are anticipating NLM will re-open to the public in 2023. Although physical access to NLM is temporarily restricted, TMBAP’s collaboration with NLM in the documenting and processing of Bowen Archive materials has continued.
TMBAP would not be where we are today in all the above efforts if it were not for your ongoing support. As we close out 2021 and look forward to 2022, it is the ongoing commitment of our Volunteers and Donors that truly are helping to “make Dr. Bowen’s work available to the world.” Important work indeed.