BUSINESS & INDUSTRY COLLECTION
Our business and industry collection includes records from the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, Menninger Foundation, Fred Harvey and Harvey Houses, Hyer Boot Company, Darby Corporation, Eicholtz & Sons undertaking, Smith Automobile Company, Longren Airplane Factory, John Brinkley medical hospital, Garvey businesses, and banks, farms, media companies, retail, churches, professional offices, and fraternal organizations.
Business & Industry Collection
Menninger Foundation
Dr. Charles Frederick, known as C.F., had a dream of operating a medical facility with his sons Karl and William. Through Karl's interest in mental health, the clinic focused on specializing in psychiatric treatment.
The first clinic opened in 1919, then expanded, moving to a farmhouse in 1925,. The clinic offered a sanitarium for long-term in-patient care. Menninger's moved to a larger campus facility in 1959.
The Menninger Foundation developed innovative approaches in patient treatment becoming a leader in the industry. It initiated programs to train psychiatrists working with veteran's hospitals and law enforcement agencies Karl Menninger became a nationally celebrated author and authority on mental health issues.
Our collection contains more than 2,500 cubic feet of records tracing the history of Menninger in Topeka. Materials include the foundation’s research in the field of mental health, correspondence between family members and notable people around the world, and documents related to public health from 1774. Institutional records, governing board, central administrative, departmental records, plus photographs and audiovisual materials are among the records in this collection.
Menninger partnered with the Baylor College of Medicine and the Methodist Hospital and moved to Houston, Texas, in 2002, taking along the patient records.
Some restrictions apply to these records. Selections can be seen on Kansas Memory.
Kansas Memory
Find samples in our online digital archives
How to Access this Collection
Select items from this collection are available in Kansas Memory. New entries are continually being added.
Much of the collection can be viewed in person in the Research Room in Topeka.
Find descriptions of the photograph collection in the Archives Catalog.
How to Purchase Copies in this Collection
Copies of many items in this collection can be purchased.
Please use this online order form.
How to Donate to this Collection
We rely on generous donations of business materials that tell the story of Kansas history, or the loan of items for duplication.
