Baker, Edith M., 1944-

Variant names

Dates:

Active 1923

Active 1977

Birth 1944-04-15

Gender:

Female

Nationality: Americans,

Language: English,

Biographical notes:

Edith Baker received her social work degree from Simmons College, and worked for Massachusetts General Hospital (1914-1923) and Washington University Clinics and Allied Hospitals (1923-1935) before joing the Children's Bureau, Dept. of Labor, where she was director of the Medical Social Work department. She believed that social services should be a component of health care for mothers and children, and was instrumental in organizing conferences and developing curricula on the subject throughout the United States.

From the description of Papers, 1923-1977 (inclusive), 1923-1964 (bulk). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 232007492

Edith Mildred Baker, social worker, was born in Baltimore, Md., the daughter of Harriet (Whiteley) and Charles E. Baker. After graduating from Simmons College School of Social Work, she was a social worker at Massachusetts General Hospital (1914-1923) and director of social services in the Washington University Clinics and Allied Hospitals, St. Louis, Mo. (1923-1935). In 1935, Dr. Martha May Eliot asked EMB to join the U.S. Children's Bureau (Department of Labor) in Washington, D.C., where she became director of the Medical Social Work department.

EMB believed that social services should be a component of health care for mothers and children. She was a leader in the field, organizing and participating in many conferences on the subject throughout the U.S.; she also helped schools of social work develop courses to prepare students for medical social work. After retiring from the federal government in 1954, EMB became chief of the Social Service Division of the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health of the District of Columbia Department of Public Health.

From the guide to the Papers, 1923-1964, 1977, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)