Harvey Cushing: A Journey Through His Life
Marriage and Family
The Cushing Family
After a long courtship, Harvey Cushing married Kate Crowell on June 10, 1902 in Cleveland. They had known each other from childhood. The couple moved into No. 3 W. Franklin St., Baltimore, next door to William and Grace Osler, whose company they thoroughly enjoyed. They were saddened when Osler was named Regius Professor at Oxford in 1905.
By the time the Cushings moved to Brookline, Massachusetts in 1912, they had four children. The last child, Barbara, was born in 1915. As Harvey focused on his surgical career to the point of workaholism, Kate, a highly competent woman, was left to manage the household and raise five children largely on her own.
Harvey Cushing lived long enough to see his second daughter Betsey marry James Roosevelt, son of Franklin Roosevelt, and become the mother of two daughters, Sara and Kate.
Family Boat Trip up the Great Lakes in 1898 Left to right: Betsey Maria Cushing (HC’s mother) holding Edward H. (Pat) Cushing (infant son of HC’s brother Ned), Harvey Cushing, Kate Crowell, Melanie Harvey Cushing (wife of Ned) and Dr. Ned Cushing.
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Harvey Cushing and Kate Crowell |
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Kate Crowell (right) from a Daguerreotype of 1892 The other woman was possibly Kate’s friend, Mary Goodwillie. They both saw Cushing when they visited Boston in 1892. |
Kate Cushing with the Cushing Children William Harvey (Bill), born 1903, Kate, Mary Benedict (Minnie), born 1906, Betsey, born 1908, Henry Kirke, born 1910. Not pictured: Barbara (Babe), born 1915. |
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The Cushing Home in Brookline, Massachusetts The Cushings lived at 305 Walnut Street in Brookline from 1912, a Boston suburb, until they left for New Haven in 1933. |
Harvey Cushing to Kate Crowell, ca. 1898 Manuscripts & Archives, Sterling Memorial Library
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Henry to His Father, and Harvey Cushing’s Reply, 1918 Manuscripts & Archives, Sterling Memorial Library
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Kate Cushing and Children Betsey, Kate Cushing, Henry, William, Mary
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The Cushings at Their Summer Cottage, 1921 The Cushing Family spent summers at Little Boar’s Head on the shore of New Hampshire, though typically Kate Cushing would take the family while her husband remained at work or traveled abroad. This is the one picture we have showing Harvey Cushing with his family. Front: Henry, Kate Cushing, Barbara |
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Barbara Cushing
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- Introduction
- Family and Childhood
- Education at Yale, Harvard, and MGH, 1887-1896
- The Johns Hopkins Years and Becoming a Neurosurgeon
- Marriage and Family
- Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and War Service
- At the Height of His Career, 1920-1932
- Back to Yale, 1933-1939
- Gallery of Portraits and Drawings of the Brain