Leake and Watts Services

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The original Leake and Watts Orphanage on Amsterdam Avenue, photographed here in 1934 after acquisition by the Cathedral of St. John the Divine
"Leake and Watts Orphan Asylum" redirects here. For the current use of the original asylum building, see Cathedral of St. John the Divine § Ithiel Town Building.

Leake and Watts Services, Inc. is a not-for-profit social services agency in New York City that provides services for children and families in the areas of foster care, adoption, special education, Head Start and other related subjects.[1] It has facilities in Yonkers in Westchester County, New York, and in the Bronx and upper Manhattan in New York City. The agency began as the Leake and Watts Orphan Asylum in Manhattan.[2][3][4]

In 2018, Leake and Watts Services was rebranded as Rising Ground. A description of the organization today is available at Rising Ground.

History

John George Leake (1752–1827) was a New York lawyer who had no children or siblings.[3] He died on June 2, 1827, at his home on Park Row in Manhattan. His estate, which included personal property valued at about $300,000 and real estate worth an additional $86,000,[5] he left to Robert Watts, the son of his best friend John Watts, with the stipulation that Robert Watts change his name to "Robert Leake."[6] Watts made the change, but died a few months later, leaving no will. The Leake fortune would then have passed to his father, John Watts, but considering the circumstances Watts was uncomfortable with receiving the money.[6]

In the legal papers of John Leake was an unsigned and undated draft of a will in his handwriting, in which he left money to create a home for orphaned children, and assigned his friend, John Watts, to administer the home.[3] Watts petitioned the court to put the money to this use.[6] The Public Administrator of New York took charge of the estate, ruling that Leake had died intestate. After a court decision the cash was released to the orphanage but his real estate was kept by New York State.[5]

Originally located at Trinity Church,[2] a new building for the orphanage at West 112th Street in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, was completed in 1843, designed by Ithiel Town and constructed by Samuel Thomson in the Greek revival style.[3][4] The site of the orphanage was purchased in 1891 by Bishop Henry Codman Potter for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine,[7] and the building was to be torn down. However, the building was preserved as part of the cathedral close, renovated in 2006, and is the oldest building still standing in Morningside Heights.[6]

The Leake & Watts Board of Trustees purchased a 40-acre in Yonkers, New York, in 1888.[8] In 1890 the orphanage opened in Yonkers.[9]

In 2012, a 16-year-old student named Corey Foster died at Leake and Watts while being restrained by the institution's staff after refusing to leave the basketball court. The institute's practices, which include solitary confinement and punitive restraints, have been criticized.[10] However, the Westchester County District Attorney led a three-month investigation into the incidence and concluded that no criminal charges were warranted.[11][12]

In 2018, Leake & Watts changed its name to Rising Ground.[13]

Timeline
  • 1827 – Death of Leake[3]
  • 1831 – Leake & Watts Orphan House is founded in New York City for "the maintenance and education of helpless orphan children" by John Watts, according to the terms of a bequest by his brother-in-law, John George Leake.
  • 1838 – Cornerstone for new building laid[3]
  • 1843 – The Leake & Watts Orphan House moves to the current site of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Upper Manhattan.[3]
  • 1850 – Leake & Watts Orphan House opens its doors to girls.
  • 1890 – The Home is moved outside the city to the 40-acre (160,000 m2) farm of Edwin Forrest, the grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.[3]
  • 1921 – The "cottage system" is implemented at Leake & Watts. First implemented for girls, the system featured six cottages with cottage parents, housing 10-30 girls each on the Yonkers campus.
  • 1937 – A Social Services Department with trained social work staff is established.
  • 1944 – The Foster Home Department is established.
  • 1947 – Leake & Watts merges with the Orphan Home and Asylum of the Episcopal Church and the Sevilla-Hopewell Society of Brooklyn.[14]
  • General source:[2]

References

Notes

  1. "Who We Are: Overview" on the Leake and Watts Services website
  2. "History" on the Leake and Watts Services website
  3. Gray, Christopher (June 24, 1990). "The Leake & Watts Orphan Asylum. A Castoff in the Path of a Growing, Great Cathedral". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 25, 2008. The researcher, Geoffrey Carter, found that the Greek Revival-style orphanage was designed by Ithiel Town, a major New York City architect. ... John George Leake was a leading lawyer in early 19th-century New York but had no children or siblings. According to the Rev. J. F. Richmond's 1872 New York and Its Institutions, Leake searched for other relations, but finally 'experienced the sadness of knowing that, of all the scattered millions of Earth, not one existing was bound to him by ties of consanguinity.'
  4. Dunlap, David W. (December 9, 2004). "A Giant Takes Steps to Rebuild Its Smaller Neighbor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 25, 2008. The former Leake Watts Orphan House, one of the most monumental Greek Revival temples in New York City, still stands after 161 years as a poignant testament to social history and to the transformation of Morningside Heights from suburb to city. ... Now, reversing the course of demolition by neglect, the cathedral is restoring Leake & Watts, renamed the Town Building in honor of its architect, Ithiel Town.
  5. "Leake Heirs Sue The State. Seek to Recover $86,608. How They Trace Their Relationship to John George Leake". The New York Times. December 18, 1900. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 25, 2008. The State Court of Claims met yesterday in the City Court Building and took testimony in the claims of the heirs of John George Leake against the State. The action is to recover $86,608.35, the amount realized by the State from the sale of the property of Mr. Leake, which escheated to the State because he was supposed to have no heirs.
  6. Nevius, Michelle & Nevius, James (2009), Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City, New York: Free Press, pp. 82–83, ISBN 141658997X
  7. White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 492. ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7.
  8. n/a, n/a. "Leake and Watts Services, Inc. Photograph Abum 1903-1907". Westchester Archives. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  9. "People Rise Above Adversity with Help from Rising Ground". Rising Ground. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  10. "Death at School: Parents Fight Back Against Deadly Discipline". ABC News. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  11. "Corey Foster". newyork.cbslocal.com. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  12. Bernstein, Nina (August 2, 2012). "No Charges in Death at Yonkers Center for Youths (Published 2012)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  13. Simpierre, Aimée (April 26, 2018). "This Is Why Leake and Watts has become Rising Ground". NYNMedia. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  14. "Leake and Watts and Orphans' Home and Asylum Receive Mayor's Praise for Action". The New York Times. June 19, 1947. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 25, 2008. Two of the oldest child-caring institutions in New York City announced yesterday their merger and at the same time released a letter from Mayor O'Dwyer congratulating them on the step.
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