From left to right: Herbert P. Dane, BTHS Treasurer; Ann-Marie Carroll, BTHS President; Julie Marcus, Brookline Community Foundation Board of Trustees President; Jenny Amory, Brookline Community Foundation Executive Director. Photo by Leise Jones
The fund: The endowed field-of-interest fund at the Brookline Community Foundation, called the Brookline Tuberculosis and Health Society Fund, was established to provide grants to the town’s Health and Human Services Department and nonprofits working to improve the health and wellbeing of Brookline residents.
Legacy: In the transfer of assets, Ms. Carroll sought to honor the commitment of predecessors Dr. Denny, Annie Townsend, Raymond Eldridge and her father, Connor Carroll: “So many people labored for so many years for the health of the people in Brookline. We wanted to make sure that the values of the Society continued and the assets remained in Brookline for the benefit of its residents.” Mr. Dane agrees, adding, “There are always going to be new public health needs. Our hope is that Brookline Community Foundation will be there to rise to those occasions and continue to support Brookline with health related causes.”
Gift: The 110-year-old Brookline Tuberculosis and Health Society (BTHS) has just established an enduring legacy at the Brookline Community Foundation to support the health and wellbeing of Brookline residents with its first of its kind single charitable donation of $575,000.“We’re honored by this transformational gift,” said Foundation Executive Director Jenny Amory, “and we look forward to building on the BTHS legacy with strategic grants that help make Brookline a stronger and healthier community.”
Mission: BTHS (originally, the Brookline Anti-Tuberculosis Society) was established in 1907 by civic minded Brookline residents including Dr. Francis Parkman Denny, Dr. Carlton S. Francis, and Mr. Philip Parker to “combat the spread of tuberculosis in the Town of Brookline, Massachusetts” and promote its understanding and prevention. Over time, the mission expanded to include pressing public health concerns of the moment, as tuberculosis had been at its founding. BTHS counted numerous town leaders and health experts among its members; recent grantees include the Rogerson Communities, Easter Seals Massachusetts, and the Town of Brookline Health Department.
History: This is not the first time the two organizations have collaborated to support the wellbeing of Brookline residents. According to Brookline Friendly Society 1878 to 1993 by Linda Morse Shoemaker, the Anti-Tuberculosis Society, the Brookline Friendly Society (our predecessor) and the Brookline Health Department opened a “first of its kind ‘fresh air’ day camp” for children with tuberculosis in 1908. Twenty to thirty children attended the camp each summer for “light outdoor activities including gardening, croquet, and basket-making and were instructed in the use of the toothbrush and other cleanly habits”.