In honor of Pride Month, Corcept celebrates Dr. Sara Josephine Baker (1873-1945), a U.S. physician who was openly gay. She made invaluable contributions to public health at a time when female physicians were a rarity.
Dr. “Jo” Baker earned her medical degree in 1894. During her internship, she recognized the abysmal living conditions that contributed to the poor health of people living in poverty, and she made it her life’s mission to change the face of public health. Dr. Baker went on to serve as a medical inspector at the New York Department of Health and was instrumental in the apprehension of “Typhoid” Mary Mallon.
At the time of her service, infant mortality rates in New York were shockingly high. She directed a team of 30 nurses to provide education in hygiene and childcare, instituting some of the first preventative and public health practices in the United States.
These educational programs explained the concept and spread of germs, recommended breastfeeding to avoid exposure to contaminated milk and advised frequent bathing and proper ventilation of households to reduce the spread of disease.
Dr. Baker promoted infant health by making efforts to reduce neglect. She invented a new infant formula that enabled mothers to go out and work, and she started the Little Mothers League — a training program for young girls to care for their infant siblings at home. She also pushed for state training and licensing of midwives and introduced school health programs.
Altogether, Dr. Baker’s public health measures reduced infant mortality rates by 40% in only 3 years, and her school programs were copied by at least 35 states in the U.S. She authored 50 journal articles, more than 200 popular press pieces and 5 books regarding public health.
Dr. Baker became an M.D. at a time when less than 1% of all physicians were women and reportedly worked hard to disguise her femininity by dressing in men’s tailored suits.
Her efforts to overcome gender discrimination did not stop her push for preventative health. She was the first woman to obtain a Ph.D. in Public Health and she established the first government-sponsored agency dedicated entirely to children’s public health, which became the model for the U.S. Children’s Bureau.
Dr. Baker did not stop with public health — she was also a staunch advocate of women’s rights and marched in the first women’s suffrage parade on Fifth Avenue. She was a proud member of Heterodoxy, a group of free-thinking and free-spirited women that included members who identified as lesbian or bisexual.
She ultimately retired from her medical career when her goal of ensuring every state in the union had a child hygiene service was achieved. She lived peacefully on a farm with her partner Ida Wylie but continued her work as an activist and consultant to national and international organizations, including the League of Nations.
Her efforts changed the face of public health in the U.S. and paved the way for openly gay and female physicians.
We are proud to honor Dr. Baker’s contributions to public health, as well as to the feminist movement and the LGBTQ+ community.
Sources:
Sara Josephine Baker | Pioneering American Physician & Public Health Advocate. In: Britannica. Health & Medicine. ; 2025. Accessed May 22, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sara-Josephine-Baker
Sara Josephine Baker. J. Craig Venter Institute. September 4, 2020. Accessed May 22, 2025.
https://www.jcvi.org/blog/sara-josephine-baker
Stanley A. Mothers and Daughters of Invention. Rutgers University Press; 1995. Accessed May 22, 2025. https://archive.org/details/mothersdaughters00stan/page/108/mode/2up
Mace E. Baker, Sara Josephine (1873-1945) | Harvard Square Library Harvard Square Library. Accessed May 22, 2025. https://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/sara-josephine-baker/
S. Josephine Baker. Changing the Face of Medicine. June 3, 2015. Accessed May 22, 2025. https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_19.html
Parry MS. Sara Josephine Baker (1873–1945). Am J Public Health. 2006;96(4):620-621. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2005.079145
Hansen B. Public Careers and Private Sexuality: Some Gay and Lesbian Lives in the History of Medicine and Public Health. Am J Public Health. 2002;92(1):36-44. doi:10.2105/ajph.92.1.36
Dr. Sara Josephine Baker: A Lasting Legacy in Public Health. The Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation. June 20, 2024. Accessed May 22, 2025. https://www.wimlf.org/blog/dr-sara-josephine-baker-a-lasting-legacy-in-public-health
Doctor Sara Josephine Baker: Fighting for Life. Poughkeepsie Public Library. May 6, 2022.
https://poklib.org/doctor-sara-josephine-baker-fighting-for-life/
