Joan Wake CBE (29 February 1884 – 15 January 1974) was an English historian and archival activist, with a particular interest in the history and records of her native Northamptonshire.
Her own earliest major historical project was the full transcription of hundreds of medieval charters in the Hesketh Collection at Easton Neston.
Her activities during the rest of her life focused on promoting the preservation, safe custody and publication of the records of Northamptonshire.
As well as the research and writing activities usually associated with historians, she was an activist who visited 36 solicitors' firms during the Second World War to ensure that archives in their care were not destroyed as part of the wartime paper salvage campaign.
She had difficulty in carrying out this work on account of the copious quantities of face powder she applied whilst wearing her glasses.