Baptist College preceded NDC in early 1840
Printed in the Courier-Gazette
Bicentennial issue of July 1, 1976
The experimental branch of the New York Asylum for Idiots was established by the New York State Legislature in 1878. At that time, the physical plant was comprised of a four story, brick and sandstone building situated on a four and forty-six one-hundredths-acre plot of land on a high hill that overlooked the beautiful Wayne County countryside.
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The history of this structure dates back to the 1840's when the Lockville Baptist Society was active in the area. The Baptist Society and the Wayne Baptist Association promoted the idea of the development of a seminary of higher learning for young men.
A gentlemen farmer and landowner named Roderick Price donated the land on the hill when, in 1840 the plan emerged to establish the Baptist Collegiate Institute. Mr. Price also loaned the Baptists a large sum of money to enable them to commence the construction of a building on the site.
From 1840 to 1855 subscriptions for the Institute were collected, but progress was slow. Finally, support for the college deteriorated to the point where work on the building was discontinued after only two stories had been constructed. The prime investor in the project, Roderick Price, died in 1870. His wife and heirs foreclosed on the mortgage, and the half-completed Collegiate Institute was offered for sale in the Newark Weekly Courier.
The Lutheran Church later became interested in establishing a school for young men who wished to pursue the profession of the ministry. On July 1, 1872 the New York Lutheran Ministerium purchased the Collegiate Institute and founded the Newark Lutheran Academy, a prep school. This group added two more stories to the building, and the Academy formally opened in September 1873.
Quite soon after its opening, the Academy was beset by problems. Because of insufficient funds and declining enrollment, the Newark Academy was closed, and the building was turned over to its mortgage holders in 1875. Once again this property was for sale.
New York State, at that time, had one institution for the mentally retarded and was interested in locating a site for a second facility for the retarded. A staunch advocate for the establishment of such an asylum was Josephine Shaw Lowell. She was the first female member of the New York State Board of Charities and the spokeswoman for its Committee on the Condition of Poor Houses.
Mrs. Lowell suggested the creation of a special custodial institution for feeble-minded women of child bearing age. Her recommendations were the result of her investigations of county poorhouses, where she encountered promiscuous, easily influenced women, who had repeatedly born children they were unable to support. The public at that time believed these unfortunate children were destined to inherit the weaknesses and propensities of their mothers, thus becoming additional liabilities to the State.
Mrs. Lowell and her committee met with the Board of Trustees of the New York State Idiot Asylum at Syracuse, New York, and the two groups proposed that a home for these women be operated on an experimental basis. So in 1878 the New York State Legislature appropriated $18,000 "for the support and maintentince of adult idiotic and feeble-minded females, at an experimental custodial asylum, under the management of the New York State Asylum for Idiots."
A special committee was appointed to locate a building that would be appropriate. After viewing several buildings, the committee received a proposal from the owners of an unoccupied school building in Wayne County. The committee was impressed with the structure and applied for and received a two-year lease on the property. Furniture was purchased, the grounds were fenced, and a laundry was built. Early in August of 1878, a circular was issued stating briefly the object and scope of the new asylum. Copies were mailed to every Superintendent of the Poor in the State and applications for admission were solicited.
In September 1878 the asylum opened with the transfer of eighteen inmates from the Syracuse institution. They were pupils whose term of residence had expired, and who had no homes. Nine others had been admitted from other parts of the state and applications had been received for 35 more. After 16 months of operation, the census at the Newark Asylum was 88. This was the beginning of the Newark Developmental Center which reached a peak census of 4,000 residents in the 1950's.
During the period from 1961 to 1971 dramatic changes occurred in the philosophy and objectives of residential care for mentally handicapped patients. The emphasis was on identifying and providing needs relative to the individual. The role of the community agencies became the more vital factor in the treatment plan for residents prior to and during residential care.
Today the major program emphasis has been the multiple improvements and changes in an attempt to gain accreditation. Improved delivery of services to the severely and profoundly retarded, and those with multiple physical handicaps was developed. In this endeavor the Feeding Program and the Adapative Equipment Program were emphasized. An Education and Training Service was developed with an Audiovisual Center. Significant improvements in functioning of the residents has been realized.
Maple Street, the dividing line between male and female was gradually changed. At first, there was permitted intermingling, then males and females were placed on both sides. Employees were then selectively intermingled.
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