Religious education at the American College for Girls at constantinople and muslim graduates activities

This research is based on the American College for Girls at Constantinople, which was established in Istanbul in the 19th century; ıt aimed to reveal its place in Ottoman girls' education, its institutional structure, religious education, education program and the activities of graduate Turkish students. I used historical research method in this work and main sources were college archives and Ottoman state and education annuals. In order to compare American College for Girls at Constantinople and state schools I examined girls' schools in Istanbul for intermediate education in the first section. In the second section I examined the history, curriculum, students, teaching staff and views on religious education of ACG that qualify as private school according to regulations of maârif-i umûmiye (ministry of public education) in order to understand the school's education activities. After I comparatively examined the American College for Girls at Constantinople and schools that can be alternative to it, in the third section I demonstrated the lives, publications and activities of Turkish ACG graduate's after they graduated. In conclusion I determined some points in which ACG and state schools differ. ACG is an institution that gave higher education in foreign languages and managed to gather many students from different backgrounds under its roof though until the founding of Republic of Turkey ACG have not lost its missionary identity and resumed giving a religious education. Turkish graduates of the ACG have served the public in many different areas, pioneered in many fields in Ottoman and Republic times, worked in the their homeland and foreign lands and it is determined that they have been qualified and good-natured people.