As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, WTOP presents 鈥�250 Years of America,鈥� a multipart series examining the innovations, breakthroughs, and pivotal moments that have shaped the nation since 1778.
聽is proud to partner with WTOP to bring you this series.聽
Catherine Bauer devoted her life to improving housing for low-income families and has been called the “mother of public housing.”
“A brilliant woman who thought that we ought to treat housing as a public good, the way we treat the fire department or the police department,” said Elizabeth Deakin, professor emerita at the University of California, Berkeley. “That doesn’t mean there’s not a big role for the private sector, but it also means that the public sector has responsibilities to make sure we’re okay.”
Published in 1934, laid out her vision for addressing the nation’s housing crisis and is considered one of the most influential housing books of the 20th century.
“It’s a seminal book that drew upon her experience living and working in Europe about how to provide housing,” Deakin said. “Especially housing that’s dignified and affordable and safe for people of all incomes, but, in particular, for people of lower income.”
Bauer served under three U.S. presidents. She advised Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman and continued shaping federal housing policy into the Eisenhower administration.
She was the primary author of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, a landmark New Deal law enacted during the Great Depression. The legislation created the United States Housing Authority to fund low-cost public housing and support the clearance of unsafe slum areas. Local housing authorities operated the projects, and the construction program created jobs during a period of widespread economic hardship.
“Real estate interests were sharply opposed to many of her ideas, especially the idea of government funding and subsidies for housing or government-provided housing,” Deakin said. “But she prevailed in Franklin Roosevelt’s administration.”
Over time, Bauer became critical of some of the outcomes of the law. She concluded that it gave local governments too much control over where public housing was built and who could live there, contributing to segregation by income and race.
According to Deakin, those outcomes were not Bauer’s intent and did not reflect her vision for public housing. Bauer later advocated for higher-quality, mixed-income housing developments.
“It’s really important. The idea that you don’t just do something, pass the law, set it and forget it, walk away, you’re done,” Deakin said. “You make changes. You advocate for doing it better. You correct mistakes that you made.”
At UC Berkeley, Bauer Wurster Hall was renamed to honor both Bauer and her husband, architect and former dean William Wurster. The building houses the College of Environmental Design.
Bauer taught at the university for decades and became the first woman to join its Department of City Planning. Some of Deakin’s colleagues knew her personally.
“They all described her as a woman who is passionate, full of energy, always interested in ideas, always interested in trying to make things better,” Deakin said. “Those are impressive things for academics to say about another academic.”
Bauer was a pioneering housing advocate whose work continues to influence discussions about housing policy. “Modern Housing” was republished in 2020. The back cover of the new edition notes that, amid today’s affordable housing challenges, Bauer’s ideas for creating humane and dignified housing remain relevant and urgent.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
漏 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
