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The Charlotte Cushman Foundation (CCF) is a philanthropic organization, incorporated in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Cushman funds Philadelphia, regional non-profit theatres with grants for performers. The Cushman Foundation’s first grant was made in 2000. The purpose of the Foundation is to promote the theater arts and the public appreciation thereof.

History
The Charlotte Cushman Club was established as a boarding house for touring actresses, needing respectable, inexpensive, safe lodgings. Women performers were unwelcome in many hotels; and they were frequently the recipients of bold advances from drummers (traveling salesmen) and other uncouth types. The Club was named in honor of Charlotte Cushman (1816-1876), America’s first internationally renowned actress and a favorite dining companion of Abraham Lincoln. Cushman did not found nor fund the Club.

CCF was founded in the year 2000 by the officers of the Charlotte Cushman Club and Library. Two of the Cushman Club officers, Cirel Magen and Audrey Walters, remain active as CCF Trustees; Ms. Magen also served as third president of the Foundation. The current co-presidents are Kathleen Stephenson, Esq. and Therese Willis. All CCF Trustees are women. As of 2014, Cushman has made grants totaling almost $600,000.

Activities
The Cushman Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre went to stage luminaries, including: Richard Burton, Zoe Caldwell, Carol Channing, Helen Hayes, Katherine Hepburn, Robert Morse and Ginger Rogers, who all visited the Club for post-curtain parties. The Cushman Club was closed in 1999. The Eleanor Wescott Library of rare theatre memorabilia and books had been housed in the Club. It was dispersed to appropriate collections. The Cushman Club Conference Room and exhibits, including some of the memorabilia, were established in the University of the Arts Tara Building, for the use of the theatre department.

Contact
The mailing address of the Cushman Foundation is P. O. Box 40037, Philadelphia, Pa, 19106. The registered address is 320 South Broad Street, Room 120, Philadelphia, Pa, 19102. charlottecushmanfoundation@gmail.com