Emma Sophia Baker

Emma Sophia Baker
Born	(1856-02-27)February 27, 1856 Milton, Canada West
Died	October 26, 1943(1943-10-26) (aged 87) Toronto, Ontario
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Toronto
Academic work
Discipline	Psychology
Institutions	Mount Allison University Maryland College for Women

Emma Sophia Baker ((1856-02-27)February 27, 1856 – (1943-10-26)October 26, 1943)[1] was a Canadian psychologist.[1] In 1903, she became the first person to earn a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Toronto (at the time, psychology was considered a subdiscipline of philosophy). Baker was also one of the first two women to earn a Ph.D. from that institution, the other was chemist Clara Benson.[2][3]

Biography

Baker was born in Milton, Canada West in 1856.[1] She attended Newmarket High School in Newmarket, Toronto Normal School, and Albert College in Belleville.[1] She taught and served as a principal at a number of all girls' schools, including Dickenson's Seminary (now Lycoming College) in Pennsylvania, and Presbyterian Ladies' College in Toronto.[1][2]

While earning her Ph.D. in philosophy, Baker worked under the supervision of August Kirschmann, a German-born psychologist who led the psychology laboratory at the University of Toronto.[2][4] In the laboratory, Baker conducted experiments on the aesthetics of colours. She published two of her experiments in the laboratory's in-house publication called the University of Toronto Studies Psychological Series. These two studies also served as her doctoral dissertation. The first study was “Experiments on the aesthetic of light and colour: On combinations of two colours", and the second was “Experiments on the aesthetic of light and colour: Spectrally pure colours in binary combinations".[2]

From 1901 until 1914, Baker worked at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick where she started as the lady principal of the Ladies' College, and then moved up to serve as vice-principal of the institution.[2] From 1914 until her retirement in 1928, she held a professorship in Psychology, Ethics and Economics at the Maryland College for Women in Lutherville, Maryland.[2][5] It is important to note that a lot of educated women in the early 1900's either helped popularize science or they gave it up after they got married.[6] Baker took it upon herself to educate and empower young women after she conducted her research on light and colors. Baker was one of the first female Canadian psychologists, and instead of becoming a housewife or playing second fiddle to a male colleague like many other educated women, she decided to make a difference and teach the next generation of young female Canadian scholars.

At the end of her career, Baker returned to Toronto where she eventually died on October 26, 1943, at age 87.[1][7] She was buried in London, Ontario.[2]

References

1. Creese, Mary R.S.; Creese, Thomas M. (2010). Ladies in the laboratory III: South African, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian women in science: nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: a survey of their contributions. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7289-9. OCLC 659564120.
2. Smirle, Corinne (2012). "Emma Sophia Baker - Psychology's Feminist Voices". www.feministvoices.com. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
3. "Clara Cynthia Benson, 1875-1964 · Making History: contributions of faculty members in science and medicine · Exhibits". exhibits.library.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
4. Weidenhammer, Erich (2016-11-14). "August Kirschmann and the Material Culture of Colour in Toronto's Early Psychological Laboratory". Scientia Canadensis. 38 (2): 1–19. doi:10.7202/1037945ar. ISSN 1918-7750.
5. "College for women to open Oct. 1". The Baltimore Sun. 1913-09-27. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
6. Chu, Clara; MacDonald, Bertrum (1988). "Women in Canadian Science and Technology before World War I: their Publication Record". Scientia Canadensis. 12 (2): 75–96. doi:10.7202/800270ar. ISSN 0829-2507.
7. "Aged teacher dies in Toronto". The Indiana Gazette. 1943-10-27. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-05-19.