You are capable of more than you know. Persist! -E.O. Wilson
To read Dr. Wilson's entire letter, please click here.
We are fortunate to have, at this late hour, the support of world-renowned biologist, conservationist and author Dr. Edward O. Wilson, who has written a marvelous letter to the hospital leadership in favor of preserving the Prouty Garden.
Dr. Wilson won the National Medal of Science in 1976 and is known as "the father of sociobiology" and "the father of biodiversity." He introduced and popularized the concept of "biophilia," a hypothesis which suggests that there is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems. He is a Professor Emeritus of Entomology at Harvard University and two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction (for On Human Nature in 1979 and The Ants in 1991).
On the Prouty Garden, Dr. Wilson writes:
I believe that what you plan will put you on the wrong side of history. Scientific evidence, obtained in both Europe and the U. S., support the claims made for the healing powers of natural environments adjacent to and within hospitals. The Prouty Garden has more than just great practical value in medicine. It is also a source of comfort for patients and their families. Further, it has become a symbol of those values for which Boston is famous.
To read Dr. Wilson's entire letter, please click here.
Friends, now more than ever, we need your support. The hospital is on the verge of removing our beloved Dawn Redwood tree and closing the gates of the Prouty forever. If you know or have a close tie to a celebrity other such expert or influencer who may be open to supporting the Prouty Garden and addressing the hospital leadership directly, we urge you to email us right away! We can provide a letter and supporting documents for reaching out to this individual and informing them of our important cause.
Donations are also still needed to help support our legal counsel, who continues to inform the Attorney General's office of our efforts and developments while she considers our petition on the issue of Olive Higgins Prouty's gift "in perpetuity" in her will, as well as other concerns including the BCH bylaws which require the hospital to be responsible to the needs of patients, families and staff, and the potential conflict of interest in W. Mason Smith's approval of the project.
This is still not over! In the words of Dr. Michael Rich, current BCH physician, "Many of our patients drew some of their last breaths in our garden and many more drew the first breaths of the rest of their lives there. Our garden has comforted frightened children, consoled grieving parents, and restored depleted caregivers. Once Prouty Garden is gone, it is lost forever, taking with it the memories and meaning of many lives lost and saved at Children’s."
For the sake of those lives, we urge you to keep fighting with us for this important cause.