Sara Josephine Baker

To end Gay pride month 2025, Sam tells the story of Sara Josephine Baker. Baker was an American physician notable for making contributions to public health, especially in the immigrant communities of New York City. She also happed to be part of the Queer community. Her fight against the damage that widespread urban poverty and ignorance caused to children, especially newborns, is perhaps her most lasting legacy. In 1917, she noted that babies born in the United States faced a higher mortality rate than soldiers fighting in WW1, drawing a great deal of attention to her cause. She also is known for (twice) tracking down Mary Malone, better known as Typhoid Mary.

Sources:

https://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/sara-josephine-baker/

https://www.curvemag.com/blog/history/sara-josephine-baker-lesbian-scientist-changed-the-face-of-public-health/

https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_19.html

https://poklib.org/doctor-sara-josephine-baker-fighting-for-life/#:~:text=In%20her%20later%20years%2C%20she,death%20on%20February%2022%2C%201945.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sara-Josephine-Baker