I was elated to learn that my article on care for Boston’s sick poor in the early republic was selected for the Whitehill Prize for 2025! This prize, established in memory of Walter Muir Whitehill, for many years Editor of Publications for the Colonial Society, is awarded annually by the Society “for a distinguished essay on early American history.” The article will be published in the December 2025 issue of the New England Quarterly.

My article explores the plight of poor “consumptives” — those afflicted with the wasting disease of tuberculosis — in the the critical era when Boston officially transformed from town to city. Why consumptives? Because the disease reduced up to 30% of its victims to chronic dependence and suffering. Why at this critical moment? Because it reveals the essential — but changing — role of community in mediating the plight of the poor sick. The study is based, in part, on a database of hundreds of consumptive inmates who died in the Boston Almshouse between 1820 and 1825, and seeks to recover their personal stories. Why does that matter? Because we still struggle to hear the narratives and see the needs of the most vulnerable in our communities.