The Battle creek Sanitarium was founded as the Western Health Reform Institute of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Battle Creek Michigan. In 1875 John Harvey Kellogg was named medical superintendent of the Institute and a year later it was renamed the Battle Creek Sanitarium.
The Sanitarium gained national prominence as "a place where people learn to stay well." Kellogg used the Sanitarium as a testing ground for the application of his "Battle Creek idea" on the effect of diet, exercise, correct posture, fresh air, and rest on the health and fitness of individuals. The program did enhance health. Kellogg and the Sanitarium prospered, despite policy differences with the Seventh Day Adventists, a 1902 fire which destroyed the building, and receivership debt due to overbuilding, until the 1930s Depression cut down patronage. In good times, Kellogg traded heavily on the celebrity of the Sanitarium's clientele to sell his health reform ideas. In hard times, he relied on the strength of the science which girded his system to keep pushing health. Throughout his sixty-seven year association with the Sanitarium, Kellogg never wavered in his faith in the rectitude of the "Battle Creek idea."
From the guide to the [Miscellaneous brochures, pamphlets, etc.], ca. 1880-ca. 1950, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)
