Manufacturer
Centurion, 1912–1952
Born 15 May 1871 in New York (Manhattan), New York
Died 19 March 1952 in New York (Manhattan), New York
Buried Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum
, Manhattan, New York
Proposed by Frederick Trevor Hill and John Huston Finley
Elected 2 November 1912 at age forty-one
Century Memorial
Jim Cushman was born in New York, and when he was eighty years old, he died in the City. His long life was filled with a truly astonishing variety of interests, including the ownership and active management of an exceedingly profitable stationery business.
But Jim was much more than a successful merchant. When he was young, he was a first-rate tennis player, and for many years he was Chairman of the Tennis Committee of the Newport Casino—all through the Golden Age when the international matches were played there and one had to be criminally rich or belong to the decadent nobility of Europe to get a seat. Jim had a wonderful time, and he was so amusing and pleasant and competent that everybody liked him and had confidence in him.
He got warmed up about the difficulty “white collar” men and women had in finding suitable places to live, and in 1916 he founded the Allerton chain of moderately priced club hotels in New York, Cleveland, and Chicago. The chain was named for a Mayflower ancestor of Jim’s, Mary Allerton. This was an entirely unique undertaking, and Jim was given well-deserved credit for it.
He did a lot of other generous things, too, including continual labor for the blind, for the East Side Settlement House, and for other welfare projects. But he will be remembered mostly because he was a decent, reliable man, most excellent company, and the kindest person in the world.
George W. Martin
1953 Century Association Yearbook
