Charlotte Johnson Baker
Dr. Charlotte Johnson Baker | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | March 30, 1855 |
| Died | October 31, 1937(aged 82) |
| Alma mater | Vassar College University of Michigan |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | St. Joseph's Hospital |
Dr.Charlotte Johnson Baker(March 30, 1855 – October 31, 1937) was an Americanphysicianwho was the first woman to practice medicine inSan Diego,California.[1]She practicedobstetricsandgynecologyat St. Joseph's Hospital, where her husband,Fred Baker,MD, was ageneral practitioner.The Bakers were the first husband-and-wife physicians in San Diego.
Early life and education
[edit]Baker was born Charlotte Le Breton Johnson inNewburyport, Massachusettson March 30, 1855. She graduated fromNewburyport High Schoolin 1872, and spent a year teaching before enrolling inVassar Collegein 1873. During this time, she was an instructor ingymnastics.
Baker earned aBachelor of Artsdegree from Vassar in 1877. In the fall of 1879, she enrolled in medical school at theUniversity of Michigan.She earned herDoctor of Medicinein 1881.
Medical Career
[edit]After earning her doctorate, Baker returned home to Newburyport and married Dr. Frederick "Fred" Baker (January 29, 1854 – May 16, 1938) on March 30, 1882. The same year, the couple moved toAkron, Ohio,where they practiced medicine, before moving toSocorro, New Mexico,where their two children, Mary Caroline, and Robert Henry, were born.
In January 1888, the family moved to San Diego, California, where Baker and her husband became successful physicians, settling inRosevillein thePoint Lomaarea. Also in 1888, Baker earned a Master of Arts from Vassar College for her special work inopticsandophthalmologydone after graduation.[2][3]She was the first woman elected president of theSan Diego County Medical Society.[4]
Political Activism
[edit]Baker was a notedsuffragistand one of two women who spearheaded theSan Diego Women's Vote Amendmentcampaign. She worked to eliminateprostitutionand advocated ashorter workweekfor laborers.[5]She supportedwomen's suffrage,and identified herself withWoman's Christian Temperance Union,as well as other movements for advancing women individually, socially and politically.[2]Baker also served as president of theSan Diego Equal Suffrage Association.
For the San Diego Women's Vote Amendment campaign, Baker and other supporters campaigned at Allen's decorated automobile for a tour of San Diego's back country. They spoke from benches while the people ate their lunches, inOceanside.They made their way throughEscondido,Fallbrook,andRamona,while presenting their views and distributing literature. The group believed that women would feel valued if they knew their opinions were valued.[6]When thenineteenth amendmentcame to a vote in the state of California, many thought it was unlikely to pass. When reporters asked Baker for her opinion on the outlook of the amendment, she replied:
- "I haven't lost hope, but I'm not going down to register in the morning. I am very much gratified at the showing made by San Diego both city and county. Indeed the city surpassed my most sanguine expectations. The result here is far better than what it was in the election of fifteen years ago. The returns from the state at large have afforded many surprises. In some cases, I have been agreeably disappointed; in others, quite the reverse. Thus, while I am a little disappointed made by the showing ofLos Angeles,I am surprised thatSan Franciscodid not do worse. Again, while I thought that we would carrySanta Barbara,I did not expect that we would get a majority inFresno.At all events, I am not giving up at this hour by any means. The vote so far announced has been mostly from the larger communities, while our greatest strength seems to lie in the rural regions. The lead against us is not so great but that it may be overcome. "
On October 16, almost one week after the election, Baker received a phone call from theCity Clerktelling her to go ahead and register. She did so and had herself and three other women sworn in as deputies so they could begin registering others.[7]
Positions held
[edit]- President of the Equal Suffrage Association[5]
- First woman President, San Diego County Medical Society, 1898[2]
- Vice president of the Southern California Medical Society[5]
- President of the San Diego CountyWomen's Christian Temperance Union[2]
- Co-founder of the San DiegoY.W.C.A.and president for three years[5]
- Legislative chairman of League of Social Workers.[2]
- Member of the Anti-TuberculosisSociety, the Children's Home,Associated Charities,and the Joint Commission for Welfare of Working Women and Girls.[5]
- President of Point Loma Assembly (woman's club).[5]
Recognition
[edit]Baker was inducted into the San Diego Women's Hall of Fame in 2009,[8]hosted by theWomen's Museum of California,Commission on the Status of Women,University of California, San DiegoWomen's Center, andSan Diego State UniversityWomen's Studies.
Her diaries and papers are maintained in the document collections of the San Diego History Center.[9]
References
[edit]- ^Peterson, Karla (September 17, 2021)."Charlotte Baker: Suffrage leader and San Diego's first female doctor".San Diego Union Tribune.RetrievedSeptember 17,2021.
- ^abcdeFrances Elizabeth Willard; Mary Ashton Rice Livermore, eds. (1897).American women: fifteen hundred biographies with over 1,400...p. 46.RetrievedJanuary 30,2012.
- ^Frances Elizabeth Willard; Mary Ashton Rice Livermore, eds. (1897),American women: fifteen hundred biographies with over 1,400 portraits,vol. 1, New York: Mast, Crowell & Kirkpatrick, p. 46,OCLC1133808,OL24592253M
- ^"About".San Diego County Medical Society.RetrievedMay 31,2015.
- ^abcdefLeonard, John William (1914).Woman's who's who of America: a biographical dictionary of contemporary women of the United States and Canada, 1914–1915.The American Commonwealth Co. pp.68.
- ^Robens, Alma Kathryn (1992).Charlotte Baker: first woman physician and community leader in turn of nineteenth-century San Diego(Thesis). San Diego State University.
- ^Kneeland, Marilyn (1977)."THE MODERN BOSTON TEA PARTY THE SAN DIEGO SUFFRAGE CAMPAIGN OF 1911".The Journal of San Diego History.4.23.RetrievedSeptember 17,2021.
- ^"Charlotte Baker M.D."Women's Museum of California. 2009. Archived fromthe originalon November 1, 2014.
- ^"Guide to the Charlotte Baker Diary Collection MS 173".San Diego History Center.RetrievedJune 2,2015.
External links
[edit]
Works related toWoman of the Century/Charlotte Johnson Bakerat Wikisource
- 1855 births
- 1937 deaths
- People from San Diego
- People from Socorro, New Mexico
- People from Newburyport, Massachusetts
- 20th-century American women physicians
- 20th-century American physicians
- 19th-century American women physicians
- 19th-century American physicians
- American obstetricians
- American gynecologists
- University of Michigan Medical School alumni
- Vassar College alumni