Veiller, Lawrence Turner (1872–1959)

US social worker and housing expert. He rose to national prominence as secretary of the New York State Tenement House Commission (1900–01), and transformed the nation's housing reform movement through the use of propaganda and political strategy. These efforts led to the New York State Tenement House Law (1901), which banned the worst forms of multifamily housing. He was founder and director of the National Housing Association (1911–36), author of housing reform tracts that influenced local and state legislation through the 1920s, and a proponent of zoning.

Veiller was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Working as a volunteer for the University Settlement and Charity Organization Society (COS) of New York (1890s) and as a plan examiner in the city buildings department, he came to view housing as key to social improvement. He established and was executive officer of the Tenement House Committee (1898–1907) under the auspices of COS. However, he lost his reputation as the nation's leading housing reformer when he opposed the government's public housing policies.