This portrait photograph of Ruth E. Cushman (1892-1965), from the Cushman family collection, was taken by Ruth’s sister, Margaret.

Ruth lived at 325 West 22nd Street in Chelsea. Ruth and Margaret were granddaughters of 19th-century real estate developer Don Alonzo Cushman (see here). Don, the first in his family to enter the real estate business, founded D.A. Cushman Realty Corp in the 1850s and was instrumental in the Chelsea neighborhood’s development, most famously including ‘Cushman Row’ on West 20th Street in Chelsea, (see here and here), considered the finest row of Greek Revival houses in New York City after Washington Square North (see here). One of Don’s sons was John Clydesdale Cushman, who founded Cushman & Wakefield with Bernie Wakefield, his brother-in-law. Cushman & Wakefield is one of the largest private real estate company in the world and still operates under the Cushman family.