Edith Elmer Wood

Edith Elmer Wood (September 24, 1871 – April 29, 1945) was an American advocate for public health and housing reform. Wood was a proponent of the construction of public housing, arguing that overcrowded slums and their associated communicable diseases were not the fault of immoral tenants or landlords, but a systemic economic problem needing solutions at the governmental level.

She served in leadership roles for several housing organizations and was an advisor to the United States Housing Authority; her advocacy significantly impacted on the housing reforms implemented in the 1930s and 1940s through the New Deal and the Fair Deal.

Early life and education

Edith Elmer was born September 24, 1871, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She was the daughter of U.S. Navy Commander Horace Elmer and Adele Wiley Elmer. Her maternal grandfather, John A. Wiley, was a prominent South Jersey physician who was interested in civic improvements. Her father's military assignments led to the family living in locations across the United States and Europe; Edith and her brother were educated with tutors and governesses.

She received her bachelor's degree from Smith College in 1890. Wood later went on to graduate from the New York School of Philanthropy in 1917. She earned two degrees from Columbia University: a Master of Arts degree in 1917 and a Ph.D. in political economics in 1919.

She married Navy Lieutenant Albert Norton Wood on June 24, 1893 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. They had four children: Horace Elmer (who died as a young child), Thurston Elmer, Horace Elmer II, and Albert Elmer. During the early years of their marriage, Edith spent her time caring for her children as well as writing travel literature and genteel novels such as Her Provincial Cousin: A Story of Brittany (1893) and Shoulder-straps and Sun-bonnets (1901).