Also: Bostonâs first and only Black hospital â in the brownstone where I lived [View in browser](   Â
[❤️]( February 12, 2023 Dear Cog reader, Boston is a city known, in part, as a place to experience American history. When tourists come to town, they walk the Freedom Trail, visit Old Ironsides, climb Bunker Hill. But many of us who live here are so used to walking by Old North Church (home of the famous [âone if by land, two if by seaâ signal]( or through the Public Garden (the nationâs first public botanical garden, established 1839), we barely notice the markers of Americaâs earliest days. Itâs worth a reminder that thereâs always more to learn. Enter Lisa Gordon. Lisa is a fiction writer and an editor at a health care journal. She moved to Boston from San Francisco, and rented an apartment in the South End after âseeingâ it on FaceTime (as you do). It wasnât until after she moved in that she noticed the plaque affixed to the outside of the three-story brownstone, noting it was the location of Plymouth Hospital, Bostonâs first and only Black hospital, founded in 1908. âLooking around my apartment, I couldnât fathom how this small building had functioned as a hospital,â she writes. She set out to learn more about Plymouth and its brilliant founder, Dr. Cornelius Garland. Lisa submitted a piece chronicling what she found through our open submissions process (see the guidelines [here](. Editor Sara Shukla picked it up, and over many weeks, she and Lisa worked together to create this [fascinating piece]( that shares an important part of Black history few in Boston seem to know about. The essay is also an example of a writer following her curiosity. During her research, Lisa connected with Dr. Garlandâs descendants, including his great-grandson, Dan, and granddaughter, Joan, who at 91 years old remembered her famous grandfather well. The family shared many of the documents and photographs featured in the piece. We hope youâll spend some time with it. Also: a personal essay about the gaps in our health care system when it comes to end-of-life care. This is a topic weâve covered before: I think of the essays Grace Segran wrote [near the end of her life]( or the [series of reflections]( Julie Wittes Schlack wrote as her mom moved from independent living to assisted living to a chronic care hospital. This week, Sarah Romanelli, a nurse practitioner who specializes in primary care for geriatric patients, shared her familyâs story. âAs my grandmother lay at home during her final days, we felt so grateful for the paid caregivers that became family,â she [writes](. âBut at the end of it all, I couldnât help thinking, what will be the final bill?â Take good care, Cloe Axelson
Senior Editor, Cognoscenti
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[Bostonâs only Black hospital was founded in 1908 â in the South End apartment building where I lived](
Lisa Gordon didnât notice the plaque on her South End apartment building at first. It marked her new home as the historic site of Plymouth Hospital, âthe first and only Black hospital in Boston." âLooking around my apartment, I couldnât fathom how this small building had functioned as a hospital,â she writes. [Read more.](
[Bostonâs only Black hospital was founded in 1908 â in the South End apartment building where I lived](
Lisa Gordon didnât notice the plaque on her South End apartment building at first. It marked her new home as the historic site of Plymouth Hospital, âthe first and only Black hospital in Boston." âLooking around my apartment, I couldnât fathom how this small building had functioned as a hospital,â she writes. [Read more.](
[My grandmother died at home, just as she wanted. It cost $145,000](
Many of us envision our final days like my grandmother did, being comfortable at home surrounded by friends and family, writes Sarah Romanelli. What a lot of people donât know is that dying at home can cost a small fortune. [Read more.](
[My grandmother died at home, just as she wanted. It cost $145,000](
Many of us envision our final days like my grandmother did, being comfortable at home surrounded by friends and family, writes Sarah Romanelli. What a lot of people donât know is that dying at home can cost a small fortune. [Read more.](
[Hate is in 'navy blue' Mass. too: It's time to 'raise the volume' on loveÂ](
Jamaica Plain, Cambridge, Stoughton, Newton, Wellesley: those are just some of the places where adults are targeting kids of color and those who identify as LGBTQI. Safety only exists if we actively fight for its existence, writes Neema Avashia. [Read more.](
[Hate is in 'navy blue' Mass. too: It's time to 'raise the volume' on loveÂ](
Jamaica Plain, Cambridge, Stoughton, Newton, Wellesley: those are just some of the places where adults are targeting kids of color and those who identify as LGBTQI. Safety only exists if we actively fight for its existence, writes Neema Avashia. [Read more.](
[Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool. But in the climate fight, humans still reign supreme](
Machine learning is producing impressive results, and, for better or worse, researchers are now using it to address the climate crisis, writes Frederick Hewett. [Read more.](
[Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool. But in the climate fight, humans still reign supreme](
Machine learning is producing impressive results, and, for better or worse, researchers are now using it to address the climate crisis, writes Frederick Hewett. [Read more.]( What We're Reading "Racism can reside not just in the heart of a killer but also within the skeleton of the system that produces him." "[Why There Was No Racial Reckoning]( The Atlantic. "Every new version of Madonna was both a look and a commentary on looking, a statement about the artifice of beauty, and about her own right to set the terms by which she was seen." "[Madonnaâs New Face Is a Brilliant Provocation]( The New York Times. "Although men do report feeling like impostors, the experience is primarily associated with women, and the word 'impostor' has been granted special feminized forms â'impostrix,' 'impostress'â since the sixteen-hundreds." "[Why Everyone Feels Like They're Faking It]( The New Yorker. "How much will your death cost you and your family? Can you afford it?" âSarah Romanelli, "[My grandmother died at home, just as she wanted. It cost $145,000]( ICYMI
[Until he was 5, my son lived in âa world where no one knew he was blindâ](
My son Henry is a child on the blindness spectrum who makes others feel seen, writes Rachel Bennett. Still, I constantly wonder what could be different now, if weâd found the right resources sooner. [Read more.](
[Until he was 5, my son lived in âa world where no one knew he was blindâ](
My son Henry is a child on the blindness spectrum who makes others feel seen, writes Rachel Bennett. Still, I constantly wonder what could be different now, if weâd found the right resources sooner. [Read more.]( If youâd like to write for Cognoscenti, send your submission, pasted into your email and not as an attachment, to opinion@wbur.org. Please tell us in one line what the piece is about, and please tell us in one line who you are. 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up [here](. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📧 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. [Check out all of our newsletter offerings.]( Support the news Â
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