Historical markers set for two influential Poughkeepsie women
Two accomplished women in their own right, who grew up just steps away from each other in the City of Poughkeepsie, will be honored with historical markers this week.
Lee Miller, the noted photographer who posed in Hitler’s bathtub, and Dr. Sara Josephine Baker, who helped capture Typhoid Mary, both spent their childhoods living on South Clinton Street in the City of Poughkeepsie.
Elizabeth “Lee” Miller was born in Poughkeepsie on April 23, 1907 and spent her childhood living 40 South Clinton Street. In 1926, she attended Vassar College for one year before leaving to study painting in New York City. In 1929, she opened a studio with the surrealist painter Man Ray, and worked across Europe as both a photographer and model. In addition to photographing concentration camps and the first recorded use of Napalm during her time on the front lines of World War II, her most infamous shot was one of herself, taken in Hilter’s bathtub on the night he died.
Sara Josephine Baker was born in Poughkeepsie in November 15, 1873 and lived at 31 South Clinton Street until she was sixteen years old. She planned on attending Vassar College, but couldn’t afford the enrollment following the untimely deaths of her father and brother. She instead took the funds she had and enrolled in a women’s medical college in New York City focusing on women’s health and reducing childhood mortality rates. Her studies eventually led her to a career as a medical inspector with the New York State Department of Health, where she investigated and helped forcibly quarantine Mary Mallon, the woman infamously known as Typhoid Mary. Dr. Baker was also active in the women’s suffrage movement, arguing that “countries which have allowed women the legal power of voting have seen a decrease in their infant mortality, due to women having a say over the conditions of their cities which affect them,” according to a report in a 1915 edition of the Poughkeepsie Eagle.
To officially commemorate their historic work and impact, the Millbrook Historical Society will unveil two historical markers and host a brief ceremony this Wednesday, May 20, 2026 at 3:30pm at 31 South Street and 40 South Street, where Baker and Miller lived, respectively.
Recent images of Lee Miller’s childhood home in Poughkeepsie.
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