Aerial view of Menninger east campus in Topeka, Kansas

Summary: An aerial view of Menninger East Campus. The Children's Unit is in the left background and Topeka State Hospital is in the upper right background. Arguably, the major contribution of Menninger may be that at a time when custodial care or the asylum were the only alternatives for the mentally ill, the Menninger's brought a positive commitment to psychiatry when they opened the doors to their sanitarium in 1925 and admitted its first 13 patients. They did not believe that the fate of mentally ill people was to be warehoused; they believed mental illness could be treated. The Menninger's brought hope for troubled persons everywhere. In May, 1925, The Menninger Sanitarium Corporation purchased the 20 acre farm and the farmhouse became the clinic and the surrounding 20 acres were developed with buildings and gardens to become the "East Campus" of the Menninger Foundation. In 1982, the "West Campus", a much larger area was developed west of Topeka. In 2003, the Menninger Foundation was moved to Houston, Texas.