Ann I. Baker, Business Women's Club Founder
Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
Ann I. Baker (1873-1931). Born in Kansas, Ann Baker came to Paducah in 1899 to work for her father, Henry Baker, at Ayer-Lord Tie Co. (railroad crossties). She retired from there, 1930. Marine Ways named a boat, A.I. Baker, for her. Organized Paducah Business and Professional Women's Club, 1920. Baker was elected president and served three years in that office. (Reverse) Ann Baker had idea for professional women's club in Paducah. Business Women's Club held first meeting, Sept. 1920, chartered Oct. 1920. Name changed to Paducah Business and Professional Women. Baker also served as first president of Ky. Federation of BPW. She was generous contributor to charitable and welfare institutions.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
Ann I. Baker came to Paducah from Kansas in 1899 to work at the Ayer-Lord Tie Company, which supplied crossties to the railroads, and spent decades as a working woman in a river-and-rail town. In 1920, the year American women won the vote, she organized Paducah's Business and Professional Women's Club and served three years as its president, later becoming the first president of the Kentucky Federation of BPW. A local boat, the A.I. Baker, was even named in her honor.
Why it matters
Baker's clubs gave working women a professional network and public voice at the very moment they were entering political life, part of a national movement that reshaped women's role in American civic and economic affairs.
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Related people
- · Ann I. Baker
Related events
- · Founding of the Paducah Business and Professional Women's Club (1920)
Themes & tags
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