{"id":285934,"date":"2026-07-03T15:35:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T15:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/285934\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T15:35:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T15:35:09","slug":"america-250-telling-the-stories-of-eliza-hamilton-and-the-nyc-orphanage-she-founded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/285934\/","title":{"rendered":"America 250: Telling the stories of Eliza Hamilton and the NYC orphanage she founded"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the line in the Hamilton finale, \u201cWho Lives Who Dies Who Tells Your Story<\/a>,\u201d that tends to choke the audience up, as Eliza Schuyler Hamilton tells her late husband what she\u2019s \u201cproudest of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI established the first private orphanage in New York City<\/a>,\u201d Eliza says. \u201cI help raise hundreds of children, I get to see them growing up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first private orphanage in New York City, and Eliza\u2019s legacy, lives on today in\u00a0Graham Windham<\/a>, known as Graham since 2024. The Manhattan-based nonprofit that supports children, young adults and families through a variety of services, including mental health intervention, youth coaching and community centers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They also advocate for legislation that benefits the families they serve and focus on combating racial injustice.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

This year, Graham is celebrating 220 years of service. It originated<\/a> in 1806 as the Orphan Asylum Society (OAS), and was founded by Eliza Schulyer Hamilton, Sarah Hoffman and mother-daughter team Isabella Graham and Joanna Bethune.<\/p>\n

Today, the organization continues to be led by inspirational women, including President and CEO Kym Watson, who started working at Graham in 2010 and began her current role in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She emphasized that, although she is the CEO of Graham, her work is centered on what her team and families need.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe partner with communities around helping families and obviously young people and children achieve their dreams and have a thriving life,\u201d Watson explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the past two centuries, OAS \u2014\u00a0which fed, clothed and educated children at their greatest time of need \u2014 developed<\/a> into the Graham of today. The organization was renamed Graham Home for Children in honor of its founder in 1950, and it became the first child welfare service to care for children regardless of their religion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 1977, Graham merged with Windham Children\u2019s Services, creating the nonprofit that currently exists.\n<\/p>\n

Watson added that Graham is not solely a child welfare organization, instead centering the community.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is most of our work is community-facing,\u201d she said. Such work includes their afterschool and community school programs in the Bronx and Harlem, a mental health clinic,\u00a0<\/p>\n

The family support program and SLAM, a youth coaching program.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Graham\u2019s attitude towards their offerings is to listen and respond to what families need.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a practice model and philosophy called Helpful Help<\/a>, which is providing the help that folks identify that they need, as opposed to the help that we diagnose that they need,\u201d Watson highlighted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Eliza Hamilton as a trailblazer for women\u2019s leadership<\/p>\n

Graham also prioritizes innovation and evolution in their service, a continuous thread throughout its long history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were not content with the status quo, but have always been willing and courageous to make changes that needed to be made, when even others in our sector were not inclined to do so,\u201d Watson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She noted, \u201cWe\u2019re an organization that\u2019s evolving to be far more community integrated and far more community involved because that\u2019s what the times require.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watson attributes this spirit of evolution and Graham\u2019s longevity in the community to the organization\u2019s founders. She especially emphasized Hamilton\u2019s role as a trailblazer for female leadership.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She explained that during Graham\u2019s inaugural years, it was entirely new for women to start their own organization and fund it through philanthropic work. This bold step for the time period set the tone for Graham\u2019s future mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it took to start that organization, the spirit of innovation, the spirit of curiosity, really wanting to understand what the problem is, how to help and support the ones that they were helping required them to do something that continues in Graham today,\u201d Watson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to being a female-founded organization, Graham also has an enduring focus on uplifting families of all backgrounds in New York City.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

When it opened, Graham assisted Welsh and Scottish immigrants, an unpopular move at the time. They also began serving all children, regardless of their faith background.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During the same period that Graham was established, Hamilton was<\/a> also involved in the African Free School, an organization her husband founded before his death that provided education to Black children.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Watson shared that today, Graham serves mainly Black and brown communities, and that there has been \u201cno change in the level of commitment or interest in making sure children have a thriving future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

When asked about Graham\u2019s legacy in the coming decades, Watson explained that she hopes Graham\u2019s initial spirit of innovation and service continues.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI think 30 years from now I would hope that legacy continues, that we are ever evolving, ever being and becoming whatever it is that our neighbors need us to be, what our communities need us to be, and that we\u2019re giving relevant and helpful help in whatever capacity that we\u2019re needed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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