President Taft’s Only Daughter

Helen Taft Manning, the only daughter of President William Howard Taft, has died at age 95.

Mrs. Manning, a former dean of Bryn Mawr College whose career there spanned four decades, died Saturday at Bryn Mawr Terrace nursing home outside Philadelphia.

She enrolled as a student at Bryn Mawr College in 1909, the same year her father took office as the 27th President of the United States.

She returned to the White House two years later when her mother became ill, and served as hostess at many state dinners and formal affairs.

Mrs. Manning, widow of history professor Frederick Manning, later returned to Bryn Mawr to complete her undergraduate studies and then earned a doctorate from Yale University.

She was appointed dean of Bryn Mawr in 1917, and went on to serve as acting president and professor of history before she retired as a professor emeritus in 1957.

The author of two books, Mrs. Manning was known throughout her life as an outspoken defender of the rights of working women.

She served as national treasurer of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and was a member of the American Assn. of University Women and the National Assn. of Deans of Women.

She is survived by two daughters, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.