Elizabeth Wood (April 9, 1899 – January 16, 1993) was the first Executive Director of the

Chicago Housing Authority The Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) is a municipal corporation that oversees public housing within the city of Chicago. The agency's Board of Commissioners is appointed by the city's mayor, and has a budget independent from that of the city of ...

from 1937 until 1954. Born to missionary parents in Japan, Elizabeth Wood was educated at

Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockford ...

and at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

where she received both bachelor's and master's degrees in rhetoric. In 1928, after teaching English at

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 ...

for four years, Wood moved to Chicago and found a job with the Home Modernizing Bureau, a trade organization. This organization collapsed with the stock market, however, and soon after Wood began her career as a housing advocate and planner. Wood first worked for the United Charities (now Family Service Bureau) as a caseworker, while also taking courses at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

's School of Social Service Administration. Beginning in 1934, Wood was appointed as the Executive Director of Metropolitan Housing Council. During this time she also served on the Illinois State Housing Board.

Chicago Housing Authority

In 1937, Wood assumed the position of Executive Director for the nascent Chicago Housing Authority, working to structure city management of three housing projects built by the Federal

Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Reco ...

, including the Jane Addams, Julia C. Lathrop and Trumbull Park Homes. Through her productive partnership with Mayor Edward Kelly, Wood is credited with running an agency free of corruption and tirelessly pursuing a goal of providing high-quality, racially integrated housing. Wood weathered several race riots at newly integrated housing sites, first in the Southwest side Airport Homes in 1946, the Southside Fernwood Homes in 1947, and Park Manor in 1949. An advocate of low-rise projects scattered throughout the city, Wood worked closely with the Parks Department to assure tenants adequate recreation space and advocated for the construction of community and cultural facilities with housing. After Mayor Kelly left office, and following years of often violent battles with city council members who wished to limit new public housing construction to black neighborhoods, Wood was fired from the CHA in 1954. Wood later worked for the City Housing Authority and the Citizens Housing and Planning Council in New York City and from 1965 to 1972 she served as an advisor at the

Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Ur ...

under the Johnson and Nixon Administrations.

Legacy

Elizabeth Wood Park in Chicago was named in 2004 as a testament to Wood's dedication to the city.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Elizabeth Public housing in Chicago Illinois Wesleyan University alumni University of Michigan alumni Vassar College faculty 1899 births 1993 deaths People from Nara, Nara