Alice Washburn Manning, the namesake of the Manning Foundation, spent a significant part of her life in Istanbul and left behind a lasting tradition of work in the protection of street animals, the cultivation of compassion for animals among children, and the reduction of violence against animals.
Early Life
Alice Washburn was born in 1861 in New Jersey, USA. She grew up in a middle-class intellectual milieu of late nineteenth-century America. In 1883 she married George Lincoln Manning, one of the recognised physicists of his time.
Arrival in Turkey
The Manning family settled in Istanbul in 1902, at the invitation of the American Robert College. In that period, Robert College was not only an educational institution but also a hub bringing American academics, doctors, and educators to the Ottoman capital. The Manning family became part of this circle and developed a deep connection with Istanbul's neighbourhoods, its people, and its streets.
After George Lincoln Manning's death in 1923, Alice Manning did not return to the United States; she continued to live in Istanbul until her own death in 1947.
Her Work in Istanbul
For many years, Alice Manning took personal responsibility for the care, feeding, and medical needs of the street cats and dogs of Istanbul. Over time, this work evolved into a recognised, sustained practice in and around Şişli.
In 1927, in order to work more comprehensively with the city's street animals, she had a building in Şişli registered in the name of Dr Lorrin A. Shepard — a holder of both Turkish and American citizenship and a close family friend. This step laid the spatial foundation for what would later become the foundation.
Educational Work with Children
One of the most enduring aspects of Alice Manning's work was her attitude toward children. She believed that animal protection was not the responsibility of adults alone; that the true long-term transformation could only come from children forming relationships with animals at an early age, grounded in respect and compassion. She built her relationships with educators in the Robert College circle and with children in the neighbourhood in this spirit; she introduced the cats and dogs she encountered on the streets to children and shared with them a sense of responsibility for their protection.
The Manning Foundation continues this legacy today: through workshops, school programmes, and educational materials directed at children and young people, it works to strengthen compassion for animals and a culture of responsible care.
Reducing Violence and Cruelty Toward Animals
Alice Manning's era was a period in which the street animals of Istanbul were subjected to public policies of violence. Beyond reacting directly to these practices, Manning approached the reduction of violence against animals as a long-term question of cultural and social transformation. Her approach was to think of rescue and care practices alongside education and awareness-raising work.
Carrying forward this legacy, the foundation supports knowledge production in the field of animal rights, conducts advocacy work in cooperation with civil society organisations, and seeks to strengthen public awareness toward the reduction of violence against animals.
Her Legacy
Following Alice Manning's death in 1947, Dr Lorrin A. Shepard began the formal process of establishing the foundation in 1959, so that her work could continue under her name within an institutional framework. The Manning Foundation acquired its legal personhood in 1960.
Today, the foundation carries forward Alice Manning's work as an institutional continuation; it supports animal welfare organisations, conducts joint research projects with universities, runs educational programmes for children, and engages in advocacy work in the field of animal rights.
