Josephine Baker and the Freedom of Black Artistic Expression

On June 3, 1906, Baker was born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri. She was first introduced to the entertainment world by her parents, who both performed on the Vaudeville circuit throughout the segregated Midwest, often bringing the young Baker on stage during their shows.

Because of their economic struggles, Baker was forced to work as a child to help the family survive, cleaning homes and caring for the children of wealthy white families. During periods when work became scarce, Baker would dance on the streets, collecting money from onlookers.

At age 15 she joined a black theater troupe, with which she traveled around the country. She also got married for a second time (her first had ended in a quick divorce) to a railway porter named Willie Baker. She dropped her first name while taking her husband’s last name, thereby becoming known as Josephine Baker.

Baker quickly built a reputation as a Vaudeville dancer, a popular 20th century form of popular entertainment incorporating music and dance. Later, she moved to New York City and became involved with the Harlem Renaissance.

In 1925, she traveled to Paris, France, a move that allowed her to more than double her salary in New York. She performed at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in the show “La Revue Nègre” with other black dancers and musical entertainers, including jazz impresario Sidney Bechet.

On the heels of rising French interest in American jazz and exotic artistic expression, Baker embraced a performance style known as Le Jazz Hot and Danse Sauvage. A typical Danse Sauvage performance involved Baker descending from an onstage palm tree before dancing and shimmying across the stage semi-​nude while wearing a skirt ornamented with rubber bananas. This fueled the sales of thousands of dolls modeled after Baker throughout Europe, with women encouraged to emulate the dancer by rubbing walnut oil on their faces to darken their skin.

Although a highly popular performer, her white fans linked her skin color to their racist assumptions about her supposed “primitive” style of dance. However, Baker adroitly navigated the cultural landscape, manipulating their racism for her own benefit. The popularity of her shows—and her share of ticket sales—allowed Baker to open her own cabaret, which she named Chez Josephine and ran with her business partner and lover.

Four years later, she made her debut as a singer and appeared in several films, though World War II curtailed her career advancement. In the early 1940s, Baker worked for the Red Cross and, after the German army had invaded France, became actively involved in fighting the Nazi regime. She played an important role gathering intelligence for the French Resistance at her events.

For example, in 1940 after the invasion of France, Baker secretly supported the resistance by smuggling documents to French general Charles de Gaulle and the Free French government exiled in London. Under the guise of departing on a South American tour, Baker snuck sensitive photos underneath her dress and sheet music in secret ink containing information about German troop maneuvers.

Baker also provided entertainment for French troops stationed in Africa and the Middle East. As a result of her contributions, she would later be honored by the French government with a Croix de Guerre and membership in the Legion of Honour.

Her professional and political efforts aside, one of Baker’s signature achievements was the adoption of 13 children from various countries. She and her fourth husband, French orchestra leader Joseph ”Jo” Bouillon, purchased a sprawling estate in southwestern France in 1947 to accommodate their adopted children.

After many years of performing in Paris, Baker returned to the United States. During her time back in the states, she encountered levels of segregation and discrimination that she hadn’t faced since her childhood in St. Louis. She frequently refused to perform in front of segregated audiences, a move that forced some club owners to integrate their shows in order to secure her appearance.

In 1951, she was refused service at New York’s famous Stork Club. Actress Grace Kelly, a fellow club patron that evening and offended by the racist snub, walked out locked arm-​in-​arm with Baker in a show of solidarity. This began a long friendship that continued until Baker’s death.

Incidents like this fueled Baker’s desire to be a crusader for racial equality. She had fought the Nazis abroad and now she would battle against white supremacy back home. Her strong stance against segregation earned her recognition by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In addition to being presented with life membership in the NAACP, in 1951 the organization declared May 20 as “Josephine Baker Day” to honor her efforts.

In 1963, she was one of only a small handful of women to speak in front of 250,000 people at the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Her speech chronicled her life as a black American in the U.S. and abroad. She noted:

However, her good fortune took a significant turn when in the 60’s she and Bouillon divorced. Later she was evicted from her chateau, which was auctioned off to pay debts.

In an act of charity, Grace Kelly, now Princess Grace of Monaco, provided her with a villa where she could live. Baker then became romantically connected to artist Robert Brady and staged a career comeback, agreeing to perform at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1973. Despite being anxiety ridden over how American audiences would receive her, she received a standing ovation even before the concert commenced, leaving her in tears onstage.

Baker remained on stage during the later years of her life before performing on April 8, 1975 for the very last time. Days later, she slipped into a coma after a cerebral hemorrhage and died.

Her career exemplifies how black entertainers could use their platforms to promote justice, freedom, and peace. She is best remembered with her own words:

“Surely a day will come when color means nothing more than a skin tone, when religion is seen uniquely as a way to speak one’s soul, when birth places have the weight of a throw of the dice and all men are born free, when understanding breeds love and brotherhood”.