Mary Benedict Cushing
{{Short description|American socialite, philanthropist and art collector. (1906–1978)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mary Benedict Cushing
|image = KN-C19648. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy's tea for the Special Committee for White House Paintings.jpg
| caption = Cushing (back row, fourth from left, in the red dress) at the White House in 1961
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1906|1|27}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1978|11|4|1906|1|27}}
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|William Vincent Astor|1940|1953|reason=div}}
- {{marriage|James Whitney Fosburgh|1953|1978|reason=died}}
}}
| parents = Harvey Williams Cushing
Katharine Stone Crowell
| relatives = Betsey Cushing (sister)
Barbara Cushing (sister)
}}
Mary Benedict Cushing Astor Fosburgh (January 27, 1906 – November 4, 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, was the first person to describe Cushing's disease, and, along with Ernest Sachs, is known as the "father of neurosurgery."{{cite news|last1=Witters|first1=Lee A.|title=A Diligent Effort|url=http://dartmed.dartmouth.edu/winter07/html/diligent_03.php|access-date=May 31, 2016|work=Dartmouth Medicine|date=Winter 2007|page=3}}
Her two sisters, also prominent socialites – the Cushing Sisters were renowned in their time – were Betsey Maria Cushing (1908–1998), who was married to James Roosevelt II and later to John Hay Whitney, and Barbara Cushing (1915–1978),{{cite news |author=Elisabeth Bumiller |author-link=Elisabeth Bumiller |title=Betsey Cushing Whitney; The Last Princess |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/03/magazine/the-lives-they-lived-betsey-cushing-whitney-the-last-princess.html?pagewanted=1?pagewanted=1 |work=New York Times Magazine |date=January 3, 1999 |access-date=2010-06-06 }} who married Stanley Grafton Mortimer, Jr. and later William S. Paley.{{cite news |title=Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney, 89, Socialite |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1998/03/29/betsey-cushing-roosevelt-whitney-89-socialite/|work=New York Times in the Chicago Tribune |date=March 29, 1998 |access-date=2010-06-06 }} She also had two brothers, William Harvey Cushing and Henry Kirke Cushing.{{cite news |title=Dr. Cushing Dead; Brain Surgeon, 70. A Pioneer Who Won Fame as Founder of New School of Neuro-Surgery. Discovered Malady Affecting Pituitary Gland. Was Noted Teacher and Author |url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30915F73C5A177A93CAA9178BD95F4D8385F9 | work= The New York Times |date=October 8, 1939 |access-date=March 21, 2010 }}
Philanthropy
Cushing was a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York City Center, and was on the board of the Yale Art Gallery. She was also a major supporter of the American National Theater and Academy and the Henry Street Settlement. During World War II, she was a leader in the Ship Service Committee and New York City War Fund.
Personal life
File:Mary Cushing Fosburgh House, NYC, NY.jpg
In 1940, she married for the first time to William Vincent Astor (1891–1959), son of Colonel John Jacob Astor IV and Ava Lowle Willing. It was Astor's second marriage, his first to Helen Dinsmore Huntington, ended in divorce, also in 1940.{{cite news |title=Vincent Astor Dies In His Home at 67 |url=http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/vincent-astor-dies-his-home-at-67.html |work=New York Times |date=February 4, 1959 |access-date=2010-06-06 }}{{cite news |title=Mary Cushing Wed to Vincent Astor. Daughter of Surgeon Becomes His Second Wife in Ceremony at Long Island Estate. No Advance Announcement Is Made and Few Are Present. Couple Sail on Yacht. Only Relatives at Wedding. Bride's Dress of Soft Wool |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/09/28/archives/mary-cushing-wed-to-vincent-astor-daughter-of-surgeon-becomes-his.html |work=New York Times |date=September 28, 1940 |access-date=2010-06-06 }} They were divorced in 1953.
Later in 1953, she married her second husband, the painter James Whitney Fosburgh (1910–1978).{{cite news |title=Married |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,819102,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222113904/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,819102,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 22, 2008 |work=Time magazine |date=November 2, 1953 |access-date=2010-06-06 }} Together, they amassed a significant art collection known for its paintings, including works by Paul Cézanne, Winslow Homer, William Nicholson, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Walter Sickert, and Pavel Tchelitchew.[https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/25/archives/james-w-fosburgh-67-painter-collector-and-art-adviser-is-dead.html?_r=0], 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, just almost 4 months after her youngest sister Babe died.{{cite news |title=Mary Fosburgh, 72. One of Cushing Sisters And a Leader in Arts. Raised Funds During War |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/06/archives/mary-fosburgh-72-one-of-cushing-sisters-and-a-leader-in-arts-raised.html |work=New York Times |date=November 8, 1978 |access-date=2010-03-21 }}
References
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Category:20th-century American women
Category:Socialites from Philadelphia
Category:People from the Upper East Side
Category:Philanthropists from New York (state)
Category:American art collectors