Series I - Leake and Watts Orphan House in the City of New York/Leake and Watts Children's Home, Inc., 1831-1983 (bulk 1831-1949)

The series contains Minutes of the Board of Trustees 1831-1949 (35 volumes and 11 folders), followed by Minutes of the House Committee 1850-1914 (6 volumes). Minutes of the Leake & Watts Association, an alumni organization, may be found in Series I.6 - Records of Children, Clubs and Activities.

The series consists of two volumes and about 4 boxes of reports, arranged in the following order:
I.2A - Annual Reports, 1916-1949
I.2B - Treasurer's Reports to the Board of Trustees, 1851-1914
I.2C - Auditor's Reports to the Board of Trustees, 1912-1949
I.2D - Superintendent's Reports to the Board of Trustees, 1844-1935
I.2E - Monthly Reports to NYC Department of Public Welfare, 1941-1947
I.2F - School Reports, 1844-1913
The collection of annual reports is incomplete. Most reports from the 1930's and 1940s are missing.

The subseries contains administrative correspondence, memoranda, and legal documents arranged chronologically. Much of the correspondence is addressed to (or sometimes composed by) the Treasurer, the Board of Trustees, or the Superintendent. The subseries includes by-laws from 1857, 1883 and 1911. The final four folders in the subseries, housed in Box 8, include material separated by subject -- one folder on cemeteries, three folders related to the administration of the school.
Additional administrative correspondence and legal documents may be found in Subseries I.4 - Numbered Files from the Office of William A. Kirk.

William A. Kirk Esq. served as Clerk, later known as Secretary, of Leake and Watts, from [circa 1916-1955?]. He chaired the Real Estate Committee and handled legal matters. This subseries consists of files he maintained and grouped in the following order:
I.4A - Mergers
I.4B - Trusts, Wills and Bequests
I.4C - Real Estate
I.4D - Wards of Leake and Watts
The files are arranged according to numbers Kirk assigned to each file, roughly chronologically. All original labels have been kept, although his non-archival folders have been replaced.

The subseries contains 119 account books, grouped together by type, and arranged chronologically within each type. The volumes are followed by 2 folders of miscellaneous financial documents.

The subseries consists of 25 volumes and 2 boxes of documents related to children and their lives and activities at the Leake and Watts Orphan House/Leake and Watts Children's Home, and records of the alumni association, the Leake and Watts Association. Materials include admissions registers, documents recording the names of children at the home, infirmary records, records of visitors to the home including visitors to children and visits of returning alumni recorded in the same volume, records of the alumni association, and, at the end of the subseries, records of other clubs and activities. Volumes are arranged first, followed by documents in boxes.

Some additional documentation of clubs and activities may be found in Subseries I.8 - Printed Materials. Additional school material may be found in Subseries I.3 - Administrative Records (box 8).

Noteworthy material in this subseries includes a "Punishment Book" from 1843 (Volume 169). This volume records the good and bad behavior of individual boys, and the consequences that resulted.

The subseries includes deeds, rental agreements, and other legal documents related to real estate interests of the Leake and Watts Children's Home ca. 1822-1960 arranged chronologically and by subject in four boxes. Documents had been bound in bundles with ribbon, and are arranged in their original groups. The ribbon remains in the folders with the documents.

These four boxes are followed by two folders (one half box) and one oversize folder containing building specifications (contractor's plans), architectural drawings and related correspondence, property surveys, and land use maps of Leake and Watts properties.

These materials are followed by five bound volumes of Leake and Watts real estate documents, including materials of the Leake and Watts Realty Corporation and the 264-266 First Avenue Corporation.

This subseries of printed materials includes two scrapbooks of pamphlets, programs, and forms produced by Leake and Watts. The scrapbooks are followed by nine folders arranged in chronological order containing a variety of printed materials including forms, certificates, programs, reports, invitations, fundraising materials, booklets with biographical and historical sketches, newsletters, blank stationery, and ration slips.

The subseries contains three boxes of photographic prints, photomechanical reproductions, and negatives, depicting activities, groups of children, and landscapes at Leake and Watts ca. 1910-1983, and some portraits of alumni or others. Most of the images of Leake and Watts were taken for publicity purposes. The photographic prints are in various sizes and formats including loose prints, prints mounted on board, and prints in bound and disbound scrapbooks. They are arranged chronologically, and also by size, photographer (when known), or format, along with the photomechanical reproductions and negatives. The subseries also includes two boxes of printing blocks used for printing images, arranged at the end of the subseries.