The board of the Blackstone Parks Conservancy notes with sadness the passing of Anna Browder in November 2024. Anna was a founding board member of the Conservancy, and wore many hats. At clean-ups, she could be found wading into York Pond, wielding customized long-handled tools to scoop out hard-to-reach trash. She wrote grants that made many projects possible, personally planted and monitored native shrubs and trees, and played an important role in adding hundreds of trees in both Blackstone Boulevard Park and the Blackstone Park Conservation District. While serving as President from 2007 to 2010 she oversaw the restoration of the Trolley Shelter on Blackstone Boulevard and the creation of updated gardens there. Earlier, as a science teacher at Lincoln School, she often brought her classes into the Blackstone Park woods to observe and learn. She was a skilled leader of large and small groups of volunteers, including the Appalachian Mountain Club trails team, City Year youth, and groups from local schools.
Anna’s dedication to healthy ecosystems led to significant habitat restoration efforts – you can see one example along York Pond and another in the large upland project along Angell Street. Throughout (and before, and after) her time with the Conservancy she steadfastly focussed on a goal central to the Conservancy’s mission: improving the health of both parks. Visitors to these treasured green spaces are the beneficiaries of her success.
This fall the Conservancy will plant a tree on Blackstone Boulevard in Anna’s honor.
Kirsten A. Bagaglia, CRPC