| Headquarters | Sewickley, Pennsylvania, US |
|---|---|
| D. T. Watson Home for Crippled Children | |
| PHMC dedicated | October 19, 2018 |
| Website | thewatsoninstitute |
The Watson Institute, previously known as theD. T. Watson Rehabilitation Hospital and theD.T. Watson Home for Crippled Children, is an organization dedicated to providing for people with special needs inSewickley, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1917, it was one of the first sites to test theJonas Salk vaccine forpolio in 1952.
David Thomas Watson, a lawyer, and his wife Margaret owned a 140-acre (57 ha) estate named "Sunny Hill" in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. Thompson had done business withWilliam Henry Vanderbilt andAndrew Carnegie, and worked on theAlaska Purchase.[1][2][3] They specified in their wills that upon their deaths, their property would be made into a home for young girls.[1] After they died, the D.T. Watson Home for Crippled Children was formally founded in 1917 as a residential school for children with disabilities. It began accepting students in 1920.[1]
Jessie Wright became the chief of physiotherapy at the Watson home in 1924; in 1935, she was appointed the director of physical medicine.[4] In 1943, SisterElizabeth Kenny taught students the "Kenny Method" of treating polio survivors at the Home.[5] In the 1950s, the home was chosen alongsideHarvard University,Stanford University, andNorthwestern University by theNational Association of Infantile Paralysis to provide emergency care for those without access to hospitals.[5] In June 1952,Jonas Salk reached out to Wright about testing hispolio vaccine at the Watson Home. On June 12, 1952, Salk took blood samples from forty-five child residents and twenty-seven staff. After typing the antibodies in the samples, Salk returned on July 2 and began inoculating those who had no antibodies in their system. None of those inoculated developed adverse reactions, nor did any come down with polio.[6]
Estimates place the number of children cared for between 1920 and 1970 at around 3,200.[3]
In January 1980, the name of the home was changed to the D. T. Watson Rehabilitation Hospital; at the time, around 100 children were being treated in-patient, out-patient, and as dayschool students.[7] The scope of care was expanded to adults later in the 1980s.[3]
In 1999, in order to refocus on their original mission to children, the organization sold its rehabilitation hospital affiliate toHealthSouth Corporation, including 33 acres (13 ha) of their 98-acre (40 ha) property.[8][9] Renaming themselves to The Watson Institute, they began leasing back one wing of the building to continue to use as the school until the constriction of a $15.6 million facility was completed in 2002.[10]
In 2015, the Institute announced they would be opening a new facility inSouth Fayette for the 2016 school year for 125 students.[11] In 2017, it opened a new center inBridgeville.[1]
Pennsylvania's Historical and Museum Commission placed a historical marker at the original school site in 2018.[12]
40°34′26″N80°12′18″W / 40.57389°N 80.20500°W /40.57389; -80.20500