Wood, Edith Elmer, 1871-1945

Active in public housing in the United States.

From the description of Edith Elmer Wood papers, circa 1900-1943. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 505720066

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Edith Elmer Wood, born in Portmouth, New Hampshire, on September 24, 1871, was the daughter of U.S. Navy Commander Horace and Adele (Wiley) Elmer. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Smith College in 1890 and was awarded the M.A. degree and the Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1917, 1919, respectively. She also graduated from the New York School of Social Work in 1917.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Edith Elmer was married to U.S. Navy Lt. Albert Norton Wood on June 24, 1893. He died in 1933. Two of their sons, Horace Elmer and Thurston Elmer also died during Dr. Wood’s lifetime. The remaining two, Horace Elmer II and Albert Elmer succeeded her.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Dr. Wood was considered a professional writer as of 1890. Activities for which she is known today began in 1906 when she founded and presided over the Anti-Tuberculosis League of Puerto Rico in 1906, 1907, 1909. She became the honorary president of the League in 1908 and was also a delegate to the International Tuberculosis Congress during that year.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED She was chairman of the National Committee on Housing of the American Association of University Women from 1917-1929. She was in charge of courses on housing at the Columbia University extension from 1926-1930, 1936, 1937. She was a consultant to the Housing Division of the Public Works Administration from 1933-1937; a consultant of the United State Housing Authority from 1934-1937; Vice-president of the National Public Housing Conference from 1932-1936 and a director from 1936-1945; a member of the executive committee of the International Housing Association from 1931-1937, and she belonged to academic fraternities including the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Publications Dr. Wood authored are: Her Provincial Cousin, 1983, Shoulder Straps and Sunbonnets, 1901, The Spirit of the Service, 1903, An Oberland Chalet, 1910, The Housing of the Unskilled Wage Earner, 1919, Housing Progress in Western Europe, 1923, Recent Trends in American Housing, 1931, Slums and Blighted Areas in the United States, (P.W.A. Housing Division Bulletin), 1935 and Introduction to Housing Facts and Principles, 1939. She also contributed material to magazines and newspapers.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Although Dr. Wood traveled extensively, she considered her permanent home to be Cape May Court House, New Jersey. She died on April 29, 1945 and was buried in the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland.

(Information taken from the January, 1947 issue of International Who's Who. )

From the guide to the Edith Elmer Wood papers, 1889-1945., (Columbia University. Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Department of Drawings & Archives, )