C. Alice Baker, educator and historian, was descended from some of the English settlers of Deerfield, Massachusetts, and was a summer resident of the town for many years. Alice was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. She attended Deerfield Academy and other schools, and had many professional achievements during a time when women generally stayed in the home.

Her education work included opening schools for young ladies in Chicago and in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is the author of “True Stories of New England Captives Carried to Canada During the Old French and Indian Wars” (1897). This and her other historical works, which she often presented at meetings of Deerfield’s Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, involved thorough local research, including travel to Canada.

Alice was also a product of her changing times. She invested in late-1800s industries such as railroads, and at the same time was very concerned about the changes industrialization was bringing about, including the new waves of immigration it generated to meet the need for workers. Alice actively worked to preserve a connection with Deerfield’s Colonial past, including restoration of the Frary House, her Deerfield home.