Her colleagues and friends all said the same thing: Sandy Baird was perpetually prepared to fight for justice, even when the odds weren’t in her favor.
“It didn’t matter if she lost on an issue because she didn’t win everything she believed in. But if she didn’t win, she would just bounce back on to the next issue, or the next battle, the next fight, whatever it might have been,” said Kurt Wright, a former Republican Burlington City Council president and friend of Baird.
Baird, known for her signature stilettos, unwavering determination, and relentless pursuit of justice, died at 84 on Monday, leaving a lasting impact on Burlington and beyond. A pro bono lawyer and former legislator, she dedicated her life to advocating for underrepresented communities, with a particular focus on women facing domestic violence.
“She was a remarkable woman who had just a huge heart and she just really was passionate about serving those in need,” said Peter Clavelle, a former Burlington mayor and friend of Baird.
Baird was raised in Springfield, Mass., and moved to Burlington in 1968 after her then-husband, Grant Crichfield, got a position teaching French at the University of Vermont. She became part of a cohort of feminists in the Burlington area who helped establish several key institutions that still serve the community today.
“You can call it the people’s free clinic,” said John Franco, a Burlington attorney who had known Baird for more than 50 years, referring to what is now the Community Health Centers of Burlington.
She was also involved in founding what is now City Market, originally the Onion River Co-op, as well as a Women’s Health Center that provided care and abortions. Vermont had legalized abortion a year before Roe v. Wade, and Baird played a role in ensuring access to reproductive health care.
As an attorney, Baird dedicated her life to representing those who had no voice, particularly women in domestic situations — especially those who had been abused, poor and forgotten.
“She spent a lot of time representing women, new American women whose husbands or fathers had left them high and dry and many times couldn’t speak English and were just completely lost in the family court system,” Franco said.
Daughter’s death ramps up advocacy
Baird’s advocacy against domestic violence ramped up as her own daughter Caroline was killed in 1998 by her partner in Essex. The tragedy led Baird to found the Caroline Fund, a nonprofit that provides grants to women in need of shelter, legal assistance and transportation.
Steve Howard, the executive director of the Vermont State Employees Union and long-time friend, first met Baird in 1992 when they both began their first terms in the Vermont House of Representatives. At the time, Howard was just in his twenties but already familiar with her political career. He vividly remembered her earlier run for mayor of Burlington as a Green Party candidate, a campaign he closely followed.
“I lived in Rutland, but I was following her every move because I thought she was fascinating,” Howard said. A strong supporter, he believed Baird had a real chance at winning, even before fully understanding the challenges third-party candidates faced.
“She was like the last bastion of hope for people, particularly for women, who had absolutely nothing left,” Howard said.
Howard recalled teasing Baird about her fashion choices, often joking that she dressed like a Republican, which in turn would make her laugh.
“I would make fun of her and say, ‘Did you go to a Republican thrift store?’” he said with a smile. Baird took great pride in her appearance, embracing a style that was bold, fun, and entirely her own.
She refused to be bound by anyone’s rules, wearing what she pleased. “The first thing I said to her was, ‘I remember you because of your short skirts and your stilettos,’” Howard said.
Allies
Wright said she was both respected and loved by allies and adversaries alike.
Clavelle, a Progressive, and Baird were opponents in the mayoral race in 1989, when Baird lost badly to Clavelle with only 370 votes compared to his 5,917 votes.
“We emerged from that experience as friends and allies,” Clavelle said.
Clavelle reflected on his early days working for the city of Burlington, before his time as an elected official, when he was serving as the community and economic development director. At the time, he supported a proposed mixed-use development for the waterfront called the Alden project
Baird was among its fiercest opponents.
“She was a fearless opponent,” Clavelle said. Although the project ultimately didn’t receive the support it needed, Clavelle emphasized his admiration for Baird’s advocacy. “Even back then, we were on different sides of an issue, but I had great respect for her advocacy positions,” he said.
Not even a week ago, both Clavelle and Baird were on air on CCTV discussing the USAID funding freeze, the Trump administration’s decision to halt all funding for global development efforts, and what needed to be done to respond to cuts in federal spending.
“At 84 years old, she provided an incredible array of services to folks in our community, particularly immigrants and refugees,” Clavelle said.
While she would call herself a lefty, according to Wright, there were times on certain issues that she would come out on the right side of the spectrum.
“She also was a big advocate on gun rights and so she kind of came down the conservative side on that one,” Wright said.
Determined
Her age didn’t stop her either.
“I never thought of her as 84 years old. I just thought of her as a force of nature, an endless, relentless ball of energy that just never ever quit, never ever stopped fighting for what she believed in,” Wright said.
Even at 84, Franco described Baird as a tenacious fighter, particularly in her opposition to President Donald Trump. “She was just beside herself,” he recalled, always relentlessly pushing back. When it came to representing people facing deportation, Baird took on the challenge, despite having no prior experience in immigration law.
“All of a sudden, she felt it was her obligation to take that on,” Franco said.
While others described Baird as tenacious, fearless, tough and full of energy, Franco noted that Baird herself didn’t feel like she did enough.
He recalled a moment he shared with Baird during a trip to Cuba, sitting at the famous Hotel Nacional in Havana. They were relaxing in the hotel’s courtyard when Baird said she felt she hadn’t accomplished anything in her life.
Franco, taken aback, responded, “Sandy, are you kidding me? Look at all you’ve done. You’ve done more than 10 people put together.”
He added that Baird never gave herself credit for her own achievements. “I really kind of berated her about it,” Franco said. “I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. You have everything to be proud of.’”
Baird was never done learning, either. In recent years, she discovered her French-Canadian heritage and started taking French lessons, Clavelle said.
“Trust women”
Howard recalled his freshman year in the Legislature when a proposal to reform assistance programs gained widespread support. The governor backed it, most legislators were in favor, and the public likely approved. But Baird stood alone in opposition, convinced the bill would harm women. She urged Howard to join her, and her words left a lasting impression.
“You have to be with me. You have to work with me on this because you have to trust women,” she told him.
While lobbying for NARAL Pro-Choice Vermont, now known as Reproductive Freedom for All, where Baird was deeply involved, that message stayed with him, shaping his work on reproductive rights.
“We said one thing, which is what she said to me that day when I was trying to decide what to do with the welfare bill. She said, ‘You have to trust women and let them determine their own future. They are the experts on their lives,’” Howard said.
Ralph Wright, the Democratic speaker of the House at the time, shared similar political philosophies with Baird but had a different approach to expressing them.
Howard recalled how the speaker used to call her “Crazy Sandy,” a nickname that, rather than offending her, became a term of endearment.
“She loved it,” he said. “Then he looked at me and said, in his thick Boston accent, ‘Howard, only crazy people get things done.’”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Sandy Baird, Burlington lawyer and advocate against domestic violence, dies at 84.