Fighting for Life

Praise

“The fact that [Baker] achieved so much professionally as a woman in the medical field is made more impressive by the fact that in 1900, only 6% of physicians were women. . . . The public health crusader was also a suffragette and a feminist who was with her female life partner, the writer Ida Wylie, from 1920 until her death in 1945. . . . At a time when New York City and the rest of the world are dealing with another public health crisis, Dr. Baker’s commitment to serving the most vulnerable among us is an important reminder.” —Sarah Prager, them.

“Baker was the first director of a children’s public health agency, and the first woman to get a doctorate in public health. She tangled repeatedly with Typhoid Mary. More important, her ideas saved thousands of lives and permanently changed the focus and mission of public health. Her just-reissued 1939 autobiography proves to be one of those magical books that reaches effortlessly through time, as engaging and as thought-provoking as if it were written now.” —The New York Times

“Dr. Baker shines not only for her contributions to public health and social policy, but also for her work as a woman in government administration, supervising a staff that included many male physicians. Her work made her a leading figure in public health and the New York City Bureau of Child Hygiene became a model for similar programs in other cities, as well as for the United States Children’s Bureau.” —U.S. National Library of Medicine

“Rather than spending her time swanning about town, Josephine Baker became a pioneer, dedicating her life to the field of preventive health care for children.” —Anthony Bourdain