A gift from Jessie Bancroft Cox (1909 – 1982) laid the foundation for cancer care and research at Massachusetts General Hospital.
In 1970, her husband William died of cancer at the hospital. That year, in memory of her husband, Jessie made a substantial gift for what was to become “the new cancer treatment center.” Five years later, the Cox Building was dedicated and for three decades, it was the home for cancer care at Mass General.
Today, the Cox Building houses radiation oncology, outpatient care for hematological malignancies, the offices of radiation oncology faculty, and the Edwin L. Steele Laboratory, which was established in 1975 with a gift from Jessie’s sister, Jane B. Steele Cook. The Cox Building remains integral to cancer research and patient care at Massachusetts General.
