Baker, Maxine E., 1898-1994

Maxine R. Eldridge was born on July 26, 1898 in Berwyn, Maryland. She received her bachelor's degree from Radcliffe College in 1920. It was while attending college in Cambridge that she met Harvard student John A. Baker. They married, spent several years in his home town of Buffalo, New York, and moved to Miami, Florida in 1924. Even while starting a family of three children, she became involved in civic organizations and organizations involving her children. After all of her children had graduated from high school and were in college, she turned most of her energy toward local and state volunteer service.

Baker served as president of the Miami chapter of the League of Women Voters (1945-1947), then as president of the state League of Women Voters (1947-1949), and as state legislative chair for the organization in 1951. Her experience with the League paved the way for her successful election to the Florida House of Representatives (1963-1972) as a representative for Dade County. Maxine E. Baker's political career spanned the turbulent 1960s and early 1970s. While in office she championed the following issues: Florida Mental Health Act, Florida Land and Water Management Act of 1972, and the Dade County Home Rule Bill. In recognition of these accomplishments, Baker was named one of "Six Outstanding Women of 1963" by the Miami News (1965) and received the "Community Headliner Award" of Theta Sigma Phi (1965) and the "Public Service Award" from the Democratic Women's Club of Dade County. The Florida Mental Health Act (also known as the "Baker Act") is considered by many to be her greatest success, and took over seven years in session to fully establish and complete. During Baker's time in and out of office she broke the boundaries that were set before her. She was one of the first two women from Dade County to win office in the Florida Legislature.

After her retirement from the Florida House and the death of her husband in 1975 she moved to Brevard, North Carolina, and later back to Orange City, Florida, where she died on January 28, 1994 at the age of 94.

Sources: Tebeau, Charlton W. A History of Florida, University of Miami Press: Miami, 1971; Gannon, Michael (ed.). The New History of Florida, University Press of Florida: Gainesville, 1996; Morris, Allen. The Florida Handbook, 1967-1968, The Peninsular Publishing Company: Tallahassee, 1967. And, information supplied by Grover E. Baker.

From the guide to the Maxine E. Baker Papers, 1934-1974, (Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida)