Helen Herron Taft Manning (August 1, 1891 – February 21, 1987) was an American
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
of
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
and college
dean
Dean may refer to:
People
* Dean (given name)
* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
* Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk
* Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean
Titles
* ...
. She was the middle child and only daughter of
U.S. President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
and his wife
Helen Herron.
Personal life
Like her older brother
Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
and younger brother
Charles, Helen Taft was a high achiever. She was able to reach goals that her mother had not been granted access to due to the social restrictions placed on women of her mother's time. She graduated from
The Baldwin School
The Baldwin School (simply referred to as Baldwin School or Baldwin) is a private school for girls in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1888 by Florence Baldwin.
The school occupies a 19th-century resort hotel designed by ...
in 1908. She earned a
scholarship
A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need.
Scholars ...
to attend
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United ...
, where she was a student when her father was elected president in 1908.
Taft's studies were interrupted for some time when her mother suffered a
stroke, and was left an invalid. She moved into the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
with her family, and helped her mother to regain body movement and speech. Taft also served as official hostess for many White House functions while her mother was disabled. In December, 1910, she was given a
debutante party at the White House.
After her mother recovered, she resumed her studies at Bryn Mawr, graduating in 1915 with a bachelor's degree in history. She was a
suffragist
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
, and traveled the country, giving speeches in support of the vote for women and women's rights.
On July 15, 1920, she married Yale history professor Frederick Johnson Manning (1894-1966), who then moved to
Swarthmore College. The Mannings had two daughters:
* Helen Taft Manning Hunter (October 5, 1921 – October 17, 2013)
* Caroline Manning Cunningham (January 18, 1925 - March 23, 2020)
Both daughters also pursued careers in teaching.
Academic career
In 1917, aged only 26, Taft became
dean
Dean may refer to:
People
* Dean (given name)
* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
* Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk
* Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean
Titles
* ...
of
Bryn Mawr, and served as the college's acting president in 1919.
She then attended
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
, where she earned a doctorate in history. Taft's research interests centered on the history of North America in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In 1925, she returned to Bryn Mawr as dean and professor of history. She served as dean until 1941, and taught history until she retired in 1957, having become head of the department. She continued to research and to publish during her retirement.
Her papers, which include a collection of personal correspondence, professional work, and her husband's work are stored at Bryn Mawr College.
Death
Taft died in 1987 at age 95 of
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
in a nursing home in Philadelphia.
She was buried at Church of the Redeemer Cemetery in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
She was the last surviving child of William Howard Taft, her siblings having died in 1953 and 1983.
Select bibliography
*''British colonial government after the American Revolution, 1782-1820.'' (1933)
*''The revolt of French Canada, 1800-1835; a chapter in the history of the British Commonwealth.'' (1962)
*''E.G. Wakefield and the Beauharnois Canal.'' (1967)
See also
*
List of suffragists and suffragettes
This list of suffragists and suffragettes includes noted individuals active in the worldwide women's suffrage movement who have campaigned or strongly advocated for women's suffrage, the organisations which they formed or joined, and the public ...
Notes
The Oxford English Dictionary has this, "Originally a generic term, ''suffragist'' came to refer specifically to those advocates of women's suffrage who campaigned through peaceful, constitutional measures, in distinction to the ''suffragettes'' who employed direct action and civil disobedience." Manning was most definitely peaceful, and never practiced civil disobedience.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, Helen Taft
1891 births
1987 deaths
19th-century American women educators
20th-century American historians
20th-century American women writers
Bryn Mawr College alumni
Bryn Mawr College faculty
Burials in Pennsylvania
Children of presidents of the United States
Deaths from pneumonia in Pennsylvania
Educators from Cincinnati
Writers from Cincinnati
Taft family
The Baldwin School alumni
American women historians
Historians from Ohio