Catherine Krouse Bauer Wurster (May 11, 1905 – November 21, 1964) was an American
public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
advocate and educator of
city planner
An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning.
An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...
s and
urban planner
An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning.
An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...
s. A leading member of the "housers," a group of planners who advocated affordable housing for low-income families, she dramatically changed
social housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, d ...
practice and law in the United States. Wurster's influential book ''Modern Housing'' was published by Houghton Mifflin Company in 1934 and is regarded as a classic in the field.
Early life
On May 11, 1905, Catherine Krouse Bauer was born in
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
to Alberta Krouse Bauer, a self-educated
homemaker
Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a hous ...
, and
Jacob Bauer. Her father, a state
highway engineer, was an early advocate of superhighways and implemented the first
cloverleaf interchanges in America while serving as New Jersey's Chief Highway Engineer.
Bauer's younger sister was
Elizabeth Bauer Mock, a curator and Director of the Department of Architecture and Design at the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
(MoMA) and her brother was Jacob Louis Bauer, Jr., an engineer.
Bauer completed her secondary education at the Vail-Deane School in her hometown. She first attended
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...
, spent one year as an architecture student at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
, then transferred back to
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...
from which she received her undergraduate degree in 1926.
In 1926-1927, Bauer spent time in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, where she befriended
Fernand Léger,
Man Ray
Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to eac ...
, and
Sylvia Beach. Inspired by the city planning vision advanced by French architect
Le Corbusier, Bauer published an article on his worker's apartments in suburban Paris.
Professional career
Returning to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in 1927, Bauer worked at a number of publishing houses, eventually collaborating with American urban critic
Lewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a w ...
beginning in the late 1920s.
It was at his urging that she became involved with the architects of change in post-
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, among them
Ernst May
Ernst May (27 July 1886 – 11 September 1970) was a List of German architects, German architect and :German urban planners, city planner.
May successfully applied urban design techniques to the city of Frankfurt am Main during the Weimar R ...
,
André Lurçat, and
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-American architect and founder of the Bauhaus School, who, along with Alvar Aalto, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, is widely regarded as one ...
. Convinced that good social housing could produce good social architecture, and moved by the visible ravages of
the Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion ...
, she became a passionate leader in the fight for housing for the poor
and in 1934 accepted an appointment by the
American Federation of Labor (AFL) to become Executive Director of the new
Labor Housing Conference based in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
. Her book ''Modern Housing'' (1934) described the housing achievements Bauer had observed in Europe and lessons for the United States capturing attention of New Deal policy-makers who wanted to boost the economy through housing construction. In 1936 she was awarded a
Guggenheim Fellowship to study housing in Europe and the USSR.
Bauer was the primary author of the
Housing Act of 1937
The Housing Act of 1937 (), formally the "United States Housing Act of 1937" and sometimes called the Wagner–Steagall Act, provided for subsidies to be paid from the U.S. government to local public housing agencies (LHAs) to improve living cond ...
and advised five
presidents
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
on housing and urban planning strategies. Following the passage of the
Housing Act of 1937
The Housing Act of 1937 (), formally the "United States Housing Act of 1937" and sometimes called the Wagner–Steagall Act, provided for subsidies to be paid from the U.S. government to local public housing agencies (LHAs) to improve living cond ...
, she was named the Director of Information and Research for the newly formed
United States Housing Authority
The United States Housing Authority, or USHA, was a federal agency created during 1937 within the United States Department of the Interior by the Housing Act of 1937 as part of the New Deal.
It was designed to lend money to the states or com ...
, a federal agency of the Department of the Interior under the
New Deal. She served as consultant and adviser to national, state, and local housing and planning agencies during the 1930s-1960s including the
Federal Housing Administration
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), also known as the Office of Housing within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is a United States government agency founded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, created in part by ...
, the
Housing and Home Finance Agency
The Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA) was responsible for the principal housing programs of the United States from 1947 to 1965. It was superseded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and preceded by the National Housing ...
, and the California Housing and Planning Association. Bauer was instrumental in the creation of the influential documentary film ''
The City,'' which was included in the 1939 New York World's Fair.
In 1940, Bauer accepted a position as Visiting Lecturer at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
's School of Social Welfare. During the 1940s-1950s she lectured and led seminars at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
,
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
,
Mills College
Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...
, and
University of Wisconsin
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...
, and in 1950 joined the department of architecture at
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
. After her marriage to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
area architect
William Wurster
William Wilson Wurster (October 20, 1895 – September 19, 1973) was an American architect and architectural teacher at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, best known for his residential desig ...
, whom she met while teaching at
UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...
in 1940, both withstood accusations of disloyalty by the
Tenney Committee during the
Red Scare of the 1950s. Bauer Wurster contributed to the establishment of University of California, Berkeley's
UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design
The College of Environmental Design, also known as the Berkeley CED, or simply CED, is one of fourteen schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. The school is located in Bauer Wurster Hall on the southeast corner of the mai ...
and was also involved in founding the progressive architectural research group
Telesis.
She died in a fall during a solo hike on
Mount Tamalpais
Mount Tamalpais (; ; Miwok: ''Támal Pájiṣ''), known locally as Mount Tam, is a peak in Marin County, California, United States, often considered symbolic of Marin County. Much of Mount Tamalpais is protected within public lands such as Moun ...
,
Marin County,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, on November 21, 1964.
Legacy
A bust of Catherine Bauer Wurster is located in the Environmental Design Library at UC Berkeley. An
Oscar Stonorov
Oscar Gregory Stonorov (December 2, 1905 – May 9, 1970) was a modernist architect and architectural writer, historian and archivist who emigrated to the United States from Germany in 1929. His first name is often spelled "Oskar".
Early life
Sto ...
bust of Wurster adorns the
Robert C. Weaver Federal Building's Main (South) lobby in Washington DC. The
UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design
The College of Environmental Design, also known as the Berkeley CED, or simply CED, is one of fourteen schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. The school is located in Bauer Wurster Hall on the southeast corner of the mai ...
's Catherine Bauer Wurster Award for Social Practice was established to recognize alumni who have made significant contributions in their professions.
The building that houses the College of Environmental Design at Berkeley was renamed the Bauer Wurster Building in 2020 to clarify that it was named in honor of both William Wurster and Catherine Bauer Wurster.
Bibliography
*
*
References
Further reading
*Oberlander, Peter and Newbrun, Eva. ''Houser: The Life and Work of Catherine Bauer.'' Vancouver, B.C.: University of British Columbia Press, 1999.
*De Jong, Judith K. “Houser: The Life and Work of Catherine Bauer, 1905-1964, by H. Peter Oberlander and Eva Newbrun.” ''Land Forum'', no. 13 (January 1, 2002): 29–30.
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bvh&AN=461614&site=ehost-live.
*Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.), Henry Russell Hitchcock, and Catherine Bauer Wurster. ''Modern Architecture in England''. New York: The Museum of modern art, 1937.
*“Obituary.” ''Journal of Housing'' 21, no. 11 (January 1, 1964): 570–71.
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bvh&AN=178873&site=ehost-live.
External links
*
Guide to the Catherine Bauer Wurster Papersat
The Bancroft Library
The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bauer Wurster, Catherine
1905 births
1964 deaths
American architecture writers
Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning alumni
Vassar College alumni
Harvard University faculty
Public housing in the United States
Franklin D. Roosevelt administration personnel
American urban planners
Women urban planners
20th-century American writers
California women architects