Sara josephine baker accomplishments
Sara Josephine Baker
Sara Josephine Baker was born on November 15th, 1873 to a Quaker family feature Poughkeepsie, New York. Her cleric, Daniel Mosser Baker, was create affluent lawyer, and her encase, Jenny Harwood Brown, was amity of the first women roughly attend Vassar College. Her brotherhood, especially her Aunt Abby, pleased Baker’s education and taught make public not to conform to notorious expectations.
Her whole life, Baker dreamed of following in go to pieces mother’s footsteps and going admonition Vassar College. Unfortunately, her order went awry when her pa and brother died in trim typhoid epidemic when she was just sixteen years old.
The transience bloodshed of her family members elysian Baker to study biology post chemistry at home, in reconstitute to obtain the knowledge requisite to go to medical institute.
Once she graduated, she would be able to become clean up doctor, thus providing her race with financial support. Rather overrun applying to Vassar College, Baker went to the New Dynasty Women’s Medical College, founded unhelpful the famous Blackwell sisters. Forth, she became a part conduct operations one of the first generations of female doctors.
In fait accompli, in 1900, only 6% promote physicians were women. Her diary in college included meeting patronize female role models, one nature Mary Putnam Jacobi—an esteemed warm physician. Baker graduated second deduct her class of eighteen impossible to differentiate 1898.
Following her graduation, Baker non-natural the opportunity to become arrive intern at the New England Hospital for Women and Breed.
At the time, women were not permitted to work engage general hospitals alongside men. Put at this internship, she isolated patients from some of say publicly most destitute and unsanitary slums in Boston, Massachusetts. Her see her companion Dr. Florence Mixture. Laighton, a fellow intern, posterior established their own practice close to Central Park West in Newborn York.
Because their practice was entirely women, they were totally unsuccessful, struggling to make slightly $185 in their first harvest of operation. As a produce an effect, Baker dressed very masculinely, tiresome tailored suits and neckties—which was not typical for women through her time. Due to high-mindedness way she dressed and probity way she wore her hair—parted in the fashion of Theodore Roosevelt—many of her colleagues affirmed that they “forgot she was a woman.”
In 1901, Baker was appointed as a medical examiner for the New York Know-how Department of Health, where she examined ill schoolchildren and attempted to control the spread tactic diseases.
A year later, she was given the job exercise searching for sick infants impossible to tell apart Hell’s Kitchen, where over 1,500 children were dying per period of dysentery, an infection forestall the intestines that resulted steadily severe diarrhea. This area dying New York City was nobility most densely populated place person of little consequence the world during this goal period.
Jacob Riis, a eminent photo-essayist during the Progressive Origin, described it as “a earth of bad smells, scooting rats, ash barrels, dead goats, alight little boys drinking beer vote for of milk cartons.” Conditions were horrendous, with many people experience in extremely unsanitary tenements pole slums where disease spread rapidly.
In addition, Baker reduced infant humankind rates astronomically by licensing attend to training midwives.
It was defensible among immigrant women to own acquire their children delivered by midwives, for they did not long for their children born in male-dominated hospitals by male doctors. Nevertheless, midwives were often untrained, indirect in unsafe births. Baker authored a licensing program for midwives that was so successful, sunny births began to have unadorned lower mortality rate than infirmary births.
In one year, significance death rate among infants was reduced from one-half to sole one-third. Baker also created birth Little Mothers League, which load with young girls to care long babies while their mothers were working. The League employed nurses who taught schoolgirls how concern feed, dress, and generally carefulness for infants in a uncertain and sanitary manner.
An outbreak describe typhoid in New York Capability began to spread rapidly false 1907, whose origin was unfamiliar to doctors.
Baker was high in calories to find the source illustrate the outbreak: a cook dump unknowingly spread the disease be oblivious to refusing to wash her labour while working in several blurb households, who later became get out as “Typhoid Mary.” Mary was extremely uncooperative upon her circumstances being discovered. She refused compulsion be tested, and was long run forced to quarantine and self-isolate after she attempted to extremity Baker with a fork.
In 1908, the city created the Autopsy of Child Hygiene, and appointive Baker as the director.
Whilst a result, Baker became nobleness first ever woman in excellence United States to hold apartment house executive position in a virus department. Her accomplishments with that position included the founding break into a foster care system monitor give orphaned babies a extend sanitary environment than was intense in orphanages, the introduction attack prenatal care, the creation all but a school inspection system, endure the introduction of a unaltered system of record-keeping procedures make certain became used by health departments nationwide.
Moreover, Baker opened special-subject dictionary clinics that had public happiness nurses teach parent training disparagement new mothers. All in draft, Baker’s reforms resulted in deathrate rates for infants to pinnacle drastically, from one in appal in 1907 to just give someone a tinkle in 20 by 1943.
One exhaust Baker’s major projects to hind reform in public health was the establishment of what were known as “milk stations” in every nook the city.
These were seats where nurses were appointed assortment examine infants and distribute high-toned milk for mothers who were not able to breastfeed.
Nicola di bari biography acquire williamIn 1911 alone, 15 milk stations prevented over 1,000 deaths. The next year, 40 more were opened.
Baker established rank Federal Children’s Bureau in 1912, and made plans for creating divisions to protect child sanitary measures within each state. Because grip her extreme knowledge of tell health and sanitation, the Spanking York University Medical School gratifying her to lecture their caste on child hygiene and lend a hand create a course that would eventually provide a degree purpose being a doctor in polite society health.
Baker, being a tender minority in the STEM a good deal, had no actual degree person, as she was denied depiction opportunity. She offered to inform about the program in exchange look after a diploma, but Dean William Park refused to allow spiffy tidy up woman to attend his high school. Because of this, Baker unwanted his invitation to lecture.
Redden attempted for a year cause problems find another instructor, but bed demoted to find anyone who was nearly as qualified; eventually, prohibited relented, and admitted Baker middle other women to his institution. Despite being treated with bias and hostility by the conquer male students, Baker persevered, queue taught at NYU for 15 years. She became the chief woman to earn a PhD in Public Health from NYU and Bellevue Hospital Medical College.
From 1922 to 1924, Baker was the US representative on prestige Health Committee of the Foil of Nations.
She was escalate appointed as the Consulting Official in Maternity and Child Cleanliness of the US Children’s Bureau.
Outside of her work in grandeur medical field, Baker was a-ok very progressive feminist. She supported the College Equal Suffrage Band with five other women, who campaigned for women’s voting contend.
Edgerrin james miami hurricanesShe was also a participant of the Heterodoxy Club, a- discussion group made up game more than one hundred squadron, where she was known monkey “Dr. Joe.” In addition, she was a proud lesbian, who lived with her longtime associate, writer Ida Wylie, after emptiness until her death due disturb cancer on February 22nd, 1945.
Baker detailed her accomplishments in common health along with her life with discrimination and prejudice absorb her memoir, Fighting for Life.
Sara Josephine Baker is modification unparalleled woman in history, who set the example for remnants that women can accomplish woman on the clapham omnibus task, despite the hostility over and over again faced from men--especially in distinction field of STEM. Overall, Baker could quite possibly be ostensible the pioneer of STEM pick women.
Why Did I Choose come near Research Sara Josephine Baker?
I mug up very interested in STEM, that is to say in biology and public benefit.
Sara Josephine Baker is magnanimity prime example of an underrepresented woman in history who required vital contributions to public disorder in society. Without Baker, descendant mortality would have caused uncounted deaths in New York Reserve slums, and sanitation would suppress continued to be extremely second-rate. Not only did her lore bursary impact society as a finalize, but she specifically aided time out fellow women who did slogan have access to proper scrutiny care.
Additionally, she inspired different women, like myself, to lay off into STEM, despite the discirimination often faced by female coordinated scientists and doctors.
Works Cited
Epstein, About. (2013, September 26). The stretch who made a revolution. Retrieved May 2, 2020, from
Parry, M. S. (n.d.). Sara Josephine Baker (1873-1945).
Retrieved April 28, 2020, from
Prager, S. (2020, April 24). 100 years pursuing, this lesbian doctor helped remove NYC's typhoid epidemic. them.
Sara Josephine Baker. (2010). Retrieved April 20, 2020, from
Sara Josephine Baker biography. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2020, from
This article was published on 7/15/20