Ellen Perry Berkeley (1931–2024) was an American writer, editor, and educator known for her work on architecture, animal welfare, and memoir writing. She authored and edited books on women in architecture and feral cat populations.
Born in New Rochelle, New York, Berkeley earned a B.A. from Smith College (1952) and later studied at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. In the 1950s, she attended the London School of Economics and worked in a Palo Alto architectural office, designing her first house. At Cornell’s Housing Research Center in Ithaca, she contributed to a noted bathroom study.
She moved to New York City in 1959, working for Progressive Architecture as assistant technical editor. She later joined Architectural Forum (1966) and Architecture Plus (1971) as a senior editor. A Board member of the Municipal Art Society, she observed Jacqueline Kennedy’s activism firsthand.
Berkeley co-founded the Women’s School of Planning and Architecture, which hosted summer sessions in the 1970s and 1980s. After leaving magazine publishing, she moved to Vermont, designed her second house, and freelanced for The New York Times, Vermont Life, and architectural journals.
Her books include Maverick Cats: Encounters with Feral Cats (1982,) Architecture: A Place for Women (1989,) At Grandmother’s Table (2000,) and Keith’s People (2003.) She remained active in memoir-writing workshops and advised Alley Cat Allies.
As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat.
—Ellen Perry Berkeley
Topics: Cats
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