Baker (Charlotte) Diary Collection, 1882-1934

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Summary

Title:
Charlotte Baker Diary Collection
Dates:
1882-1934
Creators:
Baker, Charlotte L.
Abstract:
This collection contains personal diaries and papers focusing on the personal and professional life and travels of Dr. Charlotte Baker, San Diego’s first female physician.
Extent:
2.5 Linear feet (10 boxes)
Language:
Preferred citation:

Charlotte Baker Diary Collection, MS 173, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains 48 of Charlotte Baker’s personal diaries, beginning the year she wed in 1882, through her later years, ending in 1934, three years prior to her death. The diaries encompass Charlotte’s life experiences as a mother and later grandmother, as a renowned obstetrician and the first female physician in San Diego, and as an involved local activist for women’s suffrage and prohibition, among other causes. Of particular interest are Charlotte and her family’s experience on the frontier in 1890s New Mexico where they witnessed several Indian raids; the birth of her two children, Robert and Molly; and Charlotte’s first-hand account of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire (she was visiting friends in the area at the time). Also of note are Charlotte’s entries regarding the fight for women’s suffrage and their victory in California in 1911; descriptions of her and her husband Fred’s travels through Asia between 1913 and 1915, including an experience with the consequences of World War I in Singapore; and her entries on the effects of the war on the people of San Diego, including her son Robert’s inscription in the Navy. Charlotte also wrote in detail about her involvement in the Y.W.C.A., as well as her husband’s involvement in the San Diego Historical Society (as one of the founding members), and the San Diego Society of Natural History. In addition, the diaries include accounts of the 1919 Influenza epidemic, and the Bakers’ participation in the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle in 1909, and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. The collection also includes several address books and vaccination records.

Biographical / historical:

Charlotte Johnson Baker was San Diego’s first female physician and a noted suffragist and civic leader. She was born Charlotte LeBreton Johnson March 30, 1855 in Newburyport, Massachusetts. She graduated from Vassar and received her M.D. from the University of Michigan in 1881. She became an obstetrician and did her residency in a women’s prison, which was the beginning of a lifelong interest in prison reform and delinquency in girls. She married Dr. Fred Baker on March 30, 1882 and the two practiced medicine in Akron, Ohio before moving to Socorro, New Mexico. The Bakers had two children, Mary (nicknamed Molly) and Robert, both born in New Mexico. In 1888, Charlotte and Fred set up practice in San Diego where they were one of the first to settle in Roseville (what is now Point Loma) and build a home there. Charlotte was very prominent in San Diego medical society; she promoted pasteurization laws, wrote on the germ theory of disease, and served as the San Diego County Medical Society’s first woman president. She was also a president of the Equal Suffrage Association and after helping organize the local chapter of the YWCA, served as an honorary president. Charlotte was one of the founders of the Woman’s Home Association and Day Nursery, and was an active supporter of the Temperance movement and Prohibition. She died October 31, 1937, after suffering from a heart condition and being almost completely bedridden for several years.

Acquisition information:
Accession number 831017A.
Processing information:

Collection processed by Katrina White on April 24, 2012.

Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into two series:

Series I: Personal Diaries

Series II: Personal Papers

Items in Series I are arranged chronologically. Items in Series II are arranged by subject. All loose items found in the diaries have been removed to a separate folder following the corresponding diary.

Physical / technical requirements:

1912 Diary has fragile binding. (April 24, 2012)

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Childbirth
Indians of North America
Influenza Epidemic, 1918-1919
Obstetricians
Physician
Prohibition
San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, Calif., 1906
Suffrage
Temperance
Vaccination
Women -- Suffrage
World War, 1914-1918
Diaries
Names:
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (1909 : Seattle, Wash.).
American Women's Suffrage Association.
Ballard (Ship).
Equal Suffrage League (U.S.).
Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915 : San Francisco, Calif.).
San Diego County Medical Society (San Diego County, Calif.). Woman’s Auxiliary.
San Diego County Medical Society (San Diego County, Calif.).
San Diego Historical Society.
San Diego Society of Natural History.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Southern California Medical Society.
State Normal School of San Diego, California.
University of Michigan.
Vassar College.
Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor.
Young Women's Christian Association.
Addams, Jane, 1860-1935
Allen, Ella Bradford
Baker, Charlotte L.
Baker, Frederick, 1854-1938
Baker, George L.
Baker, Kenneth
Baker, Mary C.
Baker, Robert H.
Brooks, Annie
Cabral, Manuel
Cabral, William
Cooke, Agnes E.
Davidson, John
Davidson, Winifred
Denton, William
Doig, Robert L.
Eastwood, Alice, 1859-1953
Grayson, Cary T. (Cary Travers), 1878-1938
Hodge, Mary
Horton, Alonzo E., 1813-1909
Horton, Lydia Knapp
Johnson, Mary Caroline
Keller, Helen, 1880-1968
Kelley, Florence, 1859-1932
Klauber, Alice Ellen, 1871-1951
Klauber, Frieda
Klauber, Leda
La Tourette, Gertrude
Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice, 1820-1905
Magee, Thomas L.
Marston, Anna Lee, 1853-1940
Marston, Elsa
Marston, Harriet
Marston, Helen
Marston, Mary
McAdoo, W. G. (William Gibbs), 1863-1941
Mills, Carrie
Morse, Mary Chase
Norton, Constance Bird
Restarick, Margaret
Ritter, Mary
Rogeron, Anne
Scripps, Ellen Browning, 1836-1932
Sessions, Kate Olivia, 1857-1940
Shaw, Anna Howard, 1847-1919
Shaw, Stella Augusta, b. 1836
Spreckels, John Diedrich, b. 1853
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, 1815-1902
Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930
Wangenheim, Julius
Waters, Elizabeth LeBriton
Willard, C. F.
Places:
Akron (Ohio)
Alaska
China
Coronado (Calif.)
Ensenada (Baja California, Mexico)
Guadalupe Island (Mexico)
Hawaii
Los Angeles (Calif.)
Malaysia
Manila (Philippines)
New Mexico
Newburyport (Mass.)
Point Loma (San Diego, Calif.)
Pomona (Calif.)
Roseville (Calif.)
San Diego (Calif.)
San Francisco (Calif.)
Santa Catalina Island (Calif.)
Seattle (Wash.)
Seoul (Korea)
Singapore
Tijuana (Baja California, Mexico)
Todos Santos (Baja California Sur, Mexico)
Tokyo (Japan)
Yosemite National Park (Calif.)

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Katrina White
Sponsor:
Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.
Date Prepared:
April 24, 2012
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2012-07-11T14:47-0700

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.

Preferred citation:

Charlotte Baker Diary Collection, MS 173, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.

Location of this collection:
1649 El Prado, Suite 3
San Diego, CA 92101, US
Contact:
(619) 232-6203
Website