Cushman, Harriette Eliza, 1890-1978

Harriette Cushman was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on December 6, 1890. She grew up in New York, attended Mt. Holyoke College, and obtained her degree in chemistry and bacteriology from Cornell University in 1914. She later earned a special certificate in poultry husbandry from Rutgers. Cushman worked as a bio-chemist but eventually began to work in the poultry industry. She worked in Idaho and later at the University of California. In 1922, she accepted a position at Montana State College. She worked as Extension Poultry Specialist until 1955. Harriette Cushman was one of the first women in her field. She led the formation of Montana's cooperative turkey marketing pools, worked to spread poultry production in the Indian reservations, and helped upgrade state poultry flocks and improve egg marketing. Along with other awards and recognition, Cushman was given the honorary degree of Doctor of Agriculture from Montana State University in 1963. During her retirement, Harriette worked with 4H, the Montana Institute of the Arts, the Friends of the Library, the Museum of the Rockies, assisted Indian youth through Montana State University, and worked to benefit Montana's natural resources. She died in 1978.

From the guide to the Harriette Eliza Cushman Papers, 1893-1978, (Montana State University-Bozeman Library, Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections)