Mary Benedict "Minnie" Cushing (January 27, 1906 – November 6, 1978) was an American socialite, philanthropist and art collector.

Early life

Mary Benedict Cushing was the eldest daughter of Harvey Williams Cushing (1869–1939) and his wife Katharine Stone Crowell. Her father, a pioneering

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

, was the first person to describe

Cushing's disease Cushing's disease is one cause of Cushing's syndrome characterised by increased secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) from the anterior pituitary (secondary hypercortisolism). This is most often as a result of a pituitary adenoma (spe ...

, and who, along with Ernest Sachs, is known as the "father of neurosurgery." Her two sisters, also prominent socialites, were Betsey Maria Cushing (1908–1998), who was married to James Roosevelt II and later to

John Hay Whitney John Hay Whitney (August 17, 1904 – February 8, 1982) was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the '' New York Herald Tribune'', and president of the Museum of Modern Art. He was a member of the Whitney family. Early life Whi ...

, and Barbara Cushing (1915–1978), who married Stanley Grafton Mortimer, Jr. and later

William S. Paley William Samuel Paley (September 28, 1901 – October 26, 1990) was an American businessman, primarily involved in the media, and best known as the chief executive who built the Columbia Broadcasting System ( CBS) from a small radio network into ...

. She also had two brothers, William Harvey Cushing and Henry Kirke Cushing.

Philanthropy

Cushing was a trustee of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

and the

New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational parent of the New York City Ballet and, until 2011, the New York City Opera. and t ...

, and was on the board of the Yale Art Gallery. She was also a major supporter of the

American National Theater and Academy The American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) is a non-profit theatre producer and training organization that was established in 1935 to be the official United States national theatre that would be an alternative to the for-profit Broadway houses ...

and the

Henry Street Settlement The Henry Street Settlement is a not-for-profit social service agency in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City that provides social services, arts programs and health care services to New Yorkers of all ages. It was founde ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, she was a leader in the Ship Service Committee and New York City War Fund.

Personal life

In 1940, she married for the first time to William Vincent Astor (1891–1959), son of Colonel

John Jacob Astor IV John Jacob Astor IV (July 13, 1864 – April 15, 1912) was an American business magnate, real estate developer, investor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, and a prominent member of the Astor family. He died in the sink ...

and Ava Lowle Willing. It was Astor's second marriage, his first to Helen Dinsmore Huntington, ended in divorce, also in 1940. They were divorced in 1953. Later in 1953, she married her second husband, the painter James Whitney Fosburgh (1910–1978). Together, they amassed a significant art collection known for its paintings, including works by

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

Winslow Homer Winslow Homer (February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910) was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th-century America and a preeminent figure in ...

, William Nicholson, Pierre-Auguste Renoir,

Walter Sickert Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...

, and

Pavel Tchelitchew Pavel Fyodorovich Tchelitchew ( ; russian: Па́вел Фёдорович Чели́щев) ( – 31 July 1957) was a Russian-born surrealist painter, set designer and costume designer. Early life Tchelitchew was born to an aristocratic famil ...

.

', Russell, John. "James W. Fosburgh, 67 Painter, Collector and Art Adviser, Is Dead." The New York Times (April 25, 1978): 40. Cushing died on November 4, 1978.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cushing, Mary Benedict 1906 births 1978 deaths 20th-century American women People from Philadelphia People from the Upper East Side Astor family Livingston family American socialites Philanthropists from New York (state) American art collectors Women art collectors Cushing family