Mary Anne Ponds Braswell Cushman photograph collection

Collection — Box: 1, Folder: 1-6

Collection number: MSS-003

Scope and Contents

In addition to photographs of Cushman, her husband, and the Braswell family, the collection includes a letter that Cushman sent her father, Earl Braswell, in 1929, written on Atlanta Biltmore stationery, and a photocopy of the second of two articles that she wrote in 1944 for Journal Magazine while working at the U. S. Embassy in London. Some of the photographs were taken in the years immediately after the Second World War when she lived and traveled in Europe with her husband.

Dates

ca. 1890-ca. 2000

Language of Materials

English

Conditions Governing Access

This collection has no restrictions. This collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required. Apply in the Heritage Room for access.

Biographical / Historical

Mary Anne Ponds Braswell Cushman, born on March 15, 1922 in Athens, Georgia, was the daughter of Earl B. Braswell and Johnie H. Braswell; Earl Braswell was an esteemed member of the community as president, publisher, and co-founder of the Athens Banner-Herald. After graduating from the University of Georgia in 1943, she served as a correspondent for Journal Magazine in London. Her brother, John C. Braswell, died in an airplane crash at Camp Campbell, Kentucky, on April 29, 1943, while serving in the United States Army.

Mary Anne Braswell met Lieutenant Colonel Edwin P. Cushman while she was in Europe; they married in Athens, December 8, 1945. She lived with him after the war in Berlin, where he was assigned to the Office of Military Government, United States, which administered the portion of Germany controlled by the United States Army. When his assignment ended, the Cushmans returned to Athens.

In Athens, Mary Anne Cushman was a member of the Clarke County Republican Women’s Club, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. Her husband died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, July 12, 1973. Her nephew, John C. Braswell, Jr., died, May 13, 1999. She lived in Athens until her death, January 30, 2006, and is buried at Oconee Hill Cemetery.