Year Honored: 1992

Birth: 1918 - 2015

Born in: New York

Biography

Margaret “Meg” Robinson Manning was born in New York in 1918, and was described as “kind, people-oriented, and firm in her belief of the need to invest in the lives of others, and she puts her beliefs into action.” She attended Connecticut College, graduating in 1941. While on a ski trip in 1942, she met Bob Manning and the two later married. They would go on to have four children.

Manning worked as a field supervisor and trainer for the Girl Scouts in New York City and in Chattanooga, Tennessee. After moving to Delaware, she was elected to the Delaware House of Representatives in 1957 and served until 1962 when she was elected to the Delaware Senate. Although she was often the only woman serving, Manning was elected Majority Whip in the Senate. Her legislative achievements include the creation of the family court, re-write of election laws, property tax abatement for low-income citizens, sidewalk construction laws, removal of architectural barriers, and one of her proudest moments, lowering the voting age to 18. Her work was also focused on education.

Manning served as Chairperson of the North East Regional Council of State Governments, was a member of the National Legislative Conference, and a member of the White House Advisory Commission on Handicapped Persons.

After retiring, Manning focused her attention on the Greenbank Mill Restoration Project, which rehabilitated the 300-year-old water system of the oldest continuously operating grain mills in the area; was on the Board of Directors for the Red Clay Historic Association; she and her husband were members of the Questers, an organization that sailed the Chesapeake and the world; active in the Kalmar Nyckel Project; and volunteered at the Seamen’s Center in Wilmington.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Sources and Additional Readings

Margaret Robinson Manning. Tributes.com. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2022, from http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/margaret-manning-102155593