Women in History

Josephine Baker

Born Freda Josephine Macdonald on June 3, 1906, in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Her mother, Carrie Macdonald, was a laundrywoman who had given up dreams of becoming a music-hall dancer. Her father, Eddie Carson, was a vaudeville dancer. He abandoned Josephine and her mother soon after Josephine was born. Her mother soon remarried and went on to have several more children in the following years. At only 8 years old in order to help support her family, Josephine began cleaning homes and babysitting for wealthy white families, though she was often bullied. She returned to school 2 years later, but she dropped out soon after and ran away from home when she was 13, eventually finding work as a waitress in a club. While working there, she met and married, Willie Wells, a man she divorced mere weeks later.

At this time, Josephine took up dancing. She practiced in both clubs and on the streets; by 1919, she was touring the US with Jones Family Bond and Dixie Steppers, doing comedic sketches. In 1921, she married Willie Baker, whose name she kept the rest of her life despite their divorce several years later. In 1923, Josephine landed a role in Shuffle Along, as a chorus member. The comedic flair she added to her performance made her a huge hit with audiences. Hoping to ride the wave of her early successes, she moved to New York City. Soon after, she landed a role in the Chocolate Dandies, a Broadway musical. She also began dancing in shows at the Plantation Club, where she became a crowd favorite.

Josephine travelled to Paris in 1925, at the height of the frenzy for American jazz in France. She performed in, La Revue Nègre (The Negro Review) at the Champs-Elysées Theatre, where she immediately caught the attention of French audiences, after appearing with her partner, Joe Alex, in nothing but a feather skirt. 

However, Josephine's career didn't take off until the following year, at the Folies Bergère music hall. She performed in the show, La Folie du Jour, in which she made a huge splash by wearing little more than a skirt made of bananas. The show was a instant success and Josephine soon became one of the highest paid performers in Europe. Also earning the admiration of cultural icons like, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and E.E Cummings. She also is said to have received over 1000 marriage proposals from her admiring audiences and earned nicknames like "Black Venus" and "Black Pearl".

Keen to capitalize on this success, Josephine began singing professionally in 1930 allowing her to land film roles in, Zou-Zou and Princess Tam-Tam several years later. She bought an estate in Castelnaud-Fayrac, in the southwest of France, which she named, Les Milandes. Josephine would soon pay for her family to move there from St. Louis. 

In 1936, at the height of her success in France, Josephine travelled to the US to perform in, Ziegfeld Follies, in an attempt to establish a career in her home country. Unfortunately, she was met with overall hostility and intense racism. This sadly isn't an unexpected occurrence, but Josephine was devastated at the hatred and mistreatment she received from American audiences. She returned to Paris, not long after and upon arriving, she married industrialist, Jean Lion; through her marriage she received French citizenship. This may have come as a great comfort to Josephine, to be embraced by a country that counted her as one of their own.

Soon after Josephine's return to France, WW2 broke out and she began working for the Red Cross. As a member of the Free French forces, she also entertained troops in southwest Asia and Africa. However, her most important role during the war was with the French Resistance: Josephine smuggled messages, hidden in-between in her sheet music and undergarments. In recognition of her war efforts, Josephine was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor with the rosette of the Resistance, which are two of the highest military honors in France.

After the war ended, Josephine spent most of her time with her family at Les Milandes. In 1947, she married orchestra conductor, Jo Bouillon. Starting in 1950, she began adopting children from all over the world. She adopted 12 children in all, referring to them as her "rainbow tribe" and her "experiment in brotherhood",  Josephine often invited guests to her home so she could show how different races could cohabitate harmoniously.

In the 1950's, she frequently travelled to the US to lend her support to the Civil Right's Movement, participating in demonstrations and protesting against segregated clubs and concert halls. In 1963, Josephine joined the March on Washington and was one of the keynote speakers, along with Martin Luther King Jr. In recognition of this, the National Assembly for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) named May 20, "Josephine Baker Day".

In 1973, after vehement rejection for decades in the US and a great deal of racism throughout her life, Josephine performed a selection of songs including: It's Impossible, Times Are A Changing & My Way, at Carnegie Hall in New York City. After the performance she received a standing ovation, she was so touched by the crowd's response she wept openly on stage. The show was an instant success and marked Josephine's return to the stage. 

In April 1975, she performed in a show at the Bobino Theatre in Paris, the first in a series commemorating her debut in Paris, 50 years earlier. Several celebrities were in attendance including Sophie Loren and Princess Grace of Monaco, who'd been a good friend of Josephine's for many years. Just a few days later on April 12, 1975, Josephine Baker died in her sleep from a cerebral hemorrhage. She was 68. On the day of her funeral, more than 20,000 people lined the streets of Paris to view the procession and she was honored with a 21-gun salute by the French military. Josephine Baker was the first American woman in history to receive French military honors.

Side notes:

March on Washington- taking place on August 28, 1963, was one of the most famous demonstrations during the civil right movement of the 1960's, which sought to fight for the civil and economic rights of African-Americans. 

https://www.biography.com/performer/josephine-baker