Born in 1873 in Poughkeepsie, New York, Sara Josephine Baker was a pioneering physician who advanced preventive medicine in the early 1900s. After graduating from the New York Infirmary Medical College and completing her internship, Baker joined the Department of Health, where she was tasked with addressing the public health crisis in Hell’s Kitchen, one of New York’s most notorious slums.

There, she established "Little Mothers’ Leagues," training school-age girls to care for babies. She also pioneered the use of silver nitrate drops in newborns' eyes to prevent blindness, a practice that was later adopted nationwide. Baker’s relentless efforts are credited with saving an estimated 90,000 lives. By the time she retired from the health department in 1923, New York City boasted the lowest infant mortality rate of any major American city.