Barbara Lou Rushmore

b. 9.27.1924—d. 11.18.2022

Barbara Rushmore, nee Barbara Lou Brodsky has one of the most interesting life stories you are likely to hear. She was born in Newark, NJ on September 27th, 1924 to proud parents, Nathan and Laura. Barbara was their first born daughter–a beautiful child who soon earned the nickname “Little Miss Sunshine.” Life was good until the stock market crash of 1929 changed everything. Barbara’s father was a lawyer and stockbroker who suffered great losses. Her mother used her ingenuity and knowledge of fashion to make ends meet by selling women’s clothing out of their home. Barbara’s 7 aunts were early influences in her life, as was her grandfather, Rabbi Hyman Brodsky. He was a famous rabbi who had established a free, small-loan program to help recent Jewish immigrants get a start in this country. Rabbi Brodsky was a fair, compassionate and open-minded individual who instilled those values into his young granddaughter Barbara and her younger sister Naomi Ruth, known as Mimi. But he was not to be the only influence in Barbara’s life–not by a longshot.

When Barbara was about 7 or 8 years old, she got polio. It was while she was at Warm Springs, GA that she got to know Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, who came to Warm Springs for the president’s health. As first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt was the honorary head of the Girl Scouts. Seeing how the young girl patients were lacking stimulation and schooling at Warm Springs, Mrs. Roosevelt made them all Girl Scouts, got them the proper handbooks, uniforms, etc. and they became Girl Scout Troop No. 1. Eleanor worked with the girls and helped them earn merit badges by creating activities and goals that were within the reach of these young polio patients.

Because of polio, Barbara missed out on most of elementary school. She was in the 2nd grade and able to read and write when she was forced by her illness to leave Maple Avenue Grammar School. But it was not until 5 years later that she was able to return to Newark and rejoin her friends, now in the 7th grade class at Weequahic High School. Barbara went on to attend college at Ohio State, graduating in less than 4 years and doing some teaching along the way. She received her Master's Degree from Emory University in Atlanta, GA. There, she was inspired by the writings and lectures of W.E.B. Du Bois, who taught at Atlanta University. Then at Rutgers as a biochemist, she worked with Moses Kunitz (a cousin to poet Stanley Kunitz). Moses Kunitz famously found an error in a published, bound edition of some of Albert Einstein’s equations, wrote to Einstein about it, and received a letter back from him acknowledging the typo. Barbara met Einstein by chance while they both were window shopping outside a book store. He made some flattering remarks to her, using some Yiddish phrase to describe her youthful appeal.

One of her early jobs was working for Mr. Mars as the Chief Chocolate Tester for M&Ms. After an ill-fated marriage to Fred Gottlieb, Barbara married Will Rossmoore, who already had a daughter Susie from a previous marriage. Barbara and Will gave birth to 3 more girls: Laura, Emily and Katherine, in that order. Even when living in suburban New Jersey as a mother, Barbara was an activist and champion of civil rights. In 1949, she and Fred Gottlieb helped organize the ill-fated Labor Day Weekend concert at Peekskill, NY that included Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger and others. Barbara and Robeson narrowly escaped injury when their car was pelted with stones by the racist mob at the end of the concert. And yes, she even marched to the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama with Dr. Martin Luther King, who she greatly admired. But with those who she didn’t admire, she didn’t mince her words. When Will Rossmoore introduced her to Roy Cohn at his Columbia Law School reunion, she said to his face–in front of everyone: “I wouldn’t touch you with a ten foot pole!”

In Provincetown, after divorcing Will Rossmoore, she changed her name to Ms. Barbara Rushmore. In the winter of 1976 she met Peter Macara who became her life partner and soul mate for the rest of her life. Barbara continued her good deeds and political activism in Provincetown. She was dedicated to non-violence and civil rights, marched in many protests, worked for peace and championed local causes by speaking up at Board of Selectmen (BOS) meetings and by authoring many articles at Town Meetings. She served on various committees, notably on the Provincetown Beautification Committee and as a Library Trustee. Although she never was elected to become a selectman, she inspired some of the earliest women who served on the BOS. Two of her grandsons, Erik Yingling and Raphael Richter served as selectmen, particularly concerned with important issues such as affordable housing. She established “Trees for Town,” collected coins for trees and became known as “The Tree Lady,” planting over 400 trees, developing various public parks and placing many memorial benches over the years, working with the Provincetown DPW and volunteers. A bench in front of Town Hall bears her name in recognition of all her good works, and she was named Senior Citizen of the Year in 2016. In her writings, Barbara related anecdotes about her life, collected into a document she called “My Long and Lucky Life.” Some of these were paraphrased for this obituary.

In addition to Peter, Ms. Rushmore is survived by 2 daughters: Laura Rossmoore of Tampa, FL and Katherine Rossmoore, married to Bill Shields of Marshfield, MA. Barbara was predeceased by daughter Emily Sarah Rossmoore, stepdaughter Susie Stone and Emily’s only child Jacqueline Mica Stavis, adopted by George Stavis and Barbara Sironen. Her living grandchildren are: Erik Carl Yingling and his sister Elise Boyce of Sandpoint, ID, Raphael Winslow Richter, of Truro and married to Vida (Hamnquist) Richter, and Raphael’s 2 brothers: Justin and Tyler Shields. Raphael and Vida Richter have 2 children: Mica William and his sister Harper Rose, Barbara’s much admired great-grandchildren. Surviving nephews are Kenneth and Steve Weissman, and one niece Diane Boyce of North Bend, OR, the adoptive mother of Elise Boyce and biological mother of Jeffrey Boyce, who died in 2013.

The family is planning an intimate graveside service for the closest of kin at 10am on December 10, 2022, to be followed by a public remembrance at Provincetown Town Hall at 11am.