Catherine "Kay" Kerr (née Spaulding; 1911 – 2010) was a pioneer in

environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks ...

. She, along with friends Sylvia McLaughlin and Esther Gulick, founded the Save San Francisco Bay Association in 1961 which eventually became Save The Bay. The three friends also founded the

Bay Conservation and Development Commission A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

, the first coastal protection agency in America. Their efforts helped spark the

environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...

in the United States. Throughout her life, Kerr fought to protect the San Francisco Bay from development and landfill and to restore wetlands and estuarine habitat.

Personal life

Kay Kerr was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and attended Stanford University, where she majored in journalism. At a peace conference in 1934 she met and later married

Clark Kerr Clark Kerr (May 17, 1911 – December 1, 2003) was an American professor of economics and academic administrator. He was the first chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, and twelfth president of the University of California. B ...

, who went on to become an economics professor and chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Catherine 1911 births 2010 deaths American naturalists Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area American conservationists Stanford University alumni