Dr. Sara Josephine Baker: Educational Version

By Caitlind L. Alexander

Sara Josephine Baker grew up questioning everything. She also grew up doing a lot of things that only boys were supposed to do. She mostly did them with her father and younger brother.
Then when she was sixteen, Jo's world fell apart. Her father and brother died within months of each other.
Jo thought it was her job to help support the family, so she went to college and became a doctor. But her first year she only earned 185 dollars. Nobody wanted a woman doctor, not even the women!
That’s when Jo took a job as a public health nurse. It would be her job to find and help the sick children of New York City.
Jo's Aunt Abby had taught Jo to question everything. Soon she began questioning the way people raised their babies. At first no one listened, but when people started listening, their babies stopped dying.

Read the exciting story of how Dr. Sara Jo Baker saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of babies.

Educational versions have CCSS activities.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LearningIsland.com
• Release date: Oct 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301320202

Caitlind L. Alexander

Caitlind Alexander is the author of over 60 books for children, including the Jamie and Kendall Broderick Mystery series, the 14 Fun Facts and 101 Fun Facts series, the Wonderful World of Animals Series, and the Miss Jones series.She lives in California where she loves to visit historic places and learn about new things. She also loves to travel and has been all over the world.

Book preview

Dr. Sara Josephine Baker

The Woman who Saved Hundreds of Thousands of Babies

By Caitlind L. Alexander

A LearningIsland.com

Biography

Editor: Jennifer Robinson

Smashwords Edition

(c) Copyright 2004 Caitlind L. Alexander. All rights reserved.

Published by LearningIsland.com.

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Dr. Sara Josephine Baker, The Woman Who Saved Hundreds of Thousand of Babies / Caitlind L. Alexander

Summary: A brief look at the life of Dr. Sara Josephine Baker, whose work in infection control saved the lives of numerous children.

1. Baker, Sara Josephine. Juvenile Literature. 2. Medicine, Early 1900s. Juvenile Literature. 3. Typhoid Mary. Juvenile Literature. 4. Child Care. Juvenile Literature.

Reading Level: 4.9

Words: 7900

Ages 8 and up.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Jo’s Early Years

Chapter 2: Becoming a Doctor

Chapter 3: Trying to Save the Babies

Chapter 4: Tracking Typhoid Mary

Chapter 5: Saving the Babies

Chapter 6: Saving More Babies

Chapter 7: What Else to Do?

Activities

Answers

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Chapter 1: Jo's Early Years

Sara Josephine Baker was born rich, but she spent much of her life among the poorest people in the United States. She also did a lot of other things that were considered strange for her time.

In her autobiography Fighting for Life, she tells the following story:

"My impulse to try to do things about hopeless situations appears to have cropped out first when I was about six years old. It should be pointed out that the method I used was characteristically direct.

"I was all dressed up for some great occasion. [I wore] a beautiful white lacy dress with a blue sash and light blue stockings and light blue goatskin shoes. And [I was] very vain about it.

"While waiting for mother to come down, I wandered out in front of the house to admire myself and hope that someone would come along and see me in all my glory.

"Presently [someone] did arrive; a little colored girl about my size. But [she was] thin and hungry looking, wearing only a ragged old dress the color of ashes.

"I have never seen such dumb envy in any human being's face before or since. I could not stand it. It struck me right over the heart. I could not bear the idea that I had so much and she had so little.

"So I got down and took off every stitch I had on, right down to the blue shoes that were the joy of my [young] heart. [I] gave everything, underwear and all, to the little black girl.

"I watched her as she scampered away, absolutely choked with bliss. Then I walked back into the house, completely naked. [I was] wondering why I had done it and how to explain [it].

Oddly enough both father and mother seemed to understand pretty well what had gone on in my mind. They were fine people, my father and mother.

They were fine people. Her father, Orlando Daniel Moser Baker was a lawyer. He had taught himself most of his life, and he was very disciplined.

Josephine's mother was Jenny Brown Baker. Women in the late 1800s were expected to just learn how to cook and clean and sew from their mothers. Jenny Baker was different. She had gone to college, and she

Reviews for Dr. Sara Josephine Baker

[William Sabin · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really liked this book. I had never heard about this pioneering woman doctor, which is strange since she captured Typhoid Mary.