Dr. Mary Cushman Circle
The purpose of the Dr. Mary Cushman Circle is to support the Trinitarian Congregational Parish of Castine, Maine and to actively support local, national, and international missions. In 2022, The Dr. Mary Cushman Circle distributed more than $11,000 in funding to support organizations near and far that address the issues of global and community health and wellness to which Dr. Cushman devoted her professional life.
Membership
Members of the Dr. Mary Cushman Circle come together to use their diverse skill, creativity, and volunteer time to help raise support for special needs of the Trinitarian Congregational Parish and for the wider mission of people in need in our region, the nation, and the world. We offer hospitality and friendship to church and community members in times of need; we provide educational programs of interest to the community; and we organize two annual church fairs that provide the source of funding for our mission giving.
Membership in the Circle is open to any person who supports our purpose, and members may join at any time of year. We ask members to contribute five dollars for annual membership dues.
About Dr. Cushman
MARY FLOYD CUSHMAN, M.D.
1870-1965
Dr. Cushman was a resident of Castine from 1885 until 1901 when her father, Reverend John P. Cushman, was minister of the Congregational Church. She graduated from the Eastern State Maine Normal School at Castine, with honors in 1888. She then attended Boston University's School of Medicine, where she received the M.D. degree in 1892.
From 1893 until 1922, Dr. Cushman was engaged in hospital and private practice in Massachusetts and Maine. While she was in general practice in Farmington, Maine, Dr. Cushman was appointed to the State Medical Board. She was the first woman to be so honored.
In 1922, Dr. Cushman accepted an appointment as a medical missionary from the predecessor of the United Board for World Ministries. She was 52 at the time, and her mission was to establish a hospital in Chilesso, Angola, West Africa, which she accomplished. The U.S. Embassy in Luanda is making inquiries to determine whether the hospital survived the many years of internationalized civil war and political turbulence in the area.
Dr. Cushman's autobiography was published by Harper Brothers in 1944 under the title, Missionary Doctor. It is the inspiring story of an able and courageous pioneer who worked under great difficulties in the foreign missionary field for more than thirty years. Dr. Cushman died in Laconia, New Hampshire in 1965 at the age of 95.