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A Dance Star Was Born
Born in St. Louis, Missouri
Was abandoned by her father (Eddie Carson) and left with her mother (Carrie McDonald) who was a washerwoman who gave up her dreams of becoming a music-hall dancer. -
Dancing in Paris
Moved to France (around the early 1920's)
Danced in clubs and in street performances
Toured the U.S with Jones Family Band and the Dixie Steppers performing comedic skits.
Married a man named Willie Baker (1921-1925) -
France's Biggest Star (Traveling to Paris)
Traveled to Paris to perform in La Revue Negre at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees.
Made an immediate impression on French audiences when she performed the Danse Sauvage with dance partner Joe Alex in only feather skirt -
Baker and the Banana Skirt
Performed in a skirt made out of 16 bananas in La Folie du Jour
Became one of most popular and highest-paid performers in Europe (along with cultural figures like Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and E. E. Cummings)
Gained the nicknames "Black Venus" and "Black Pearl"
Received over 1,000 marriage proposals around this time -
Paris #1 Star
Sang professionally for the first time
Landed film roles as a singer (several years later) in Zou-Zou and Princesse Tam-Tam.
Purchased an estate in Castelnaud-Fayrac, in the southwest of France. She named the estate Les Milandes, and soon paid to move her family there from St. Louis. -
Racism and the French Resistance
Returned to the U.S. to perform in the Ziegfield Follies, hoping to establish herself as a performer in her home country as well.
Experienced generally hostile, racist reaction and quickly returned to France, crestfallen at her mistreatment.
Married French industrialist Jean Lion (1937-1938) and obtained her citizenship from the country the had been embraced her as one of its own. -
Racism and the French Resistance (Part 2)
World War II started
Joined the Red Cross during occupation of France
Became a member of Free French Forces (entertained the troops in both Africa and the Middle East)
Worked for the French Resistance (smuggled messages hidden in her sheet music and underwear)
Awarded both the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honour with the rosette of the Resistance, two of France’s highest military honors. -
The Awards (Legion of Honour with the rosette of the Resistance and Croix de Guerre)
The Croix de Guerre (French: [kʁwa də ɡɛʁ], Cross of War) is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The Resistance medal was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. -
The Rainbow Tribe
almost 30 years after her first successful performances on the Paris stage, the singer and dancer Josephine Baker adopted 12 children from different countries, ranging from Finland to Venezuela. “Rainbow Tribe” in a 15th-century chateau in the South of France and charged admission to tourists who came to hear them sing, to tour their home, or to watch them play leapfrog in their garden. -
The Sunset
Baker was found lying peacefully in her bed surrounded by newspapers with glowing reviews of her performance. She was in a coma after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. She was taken to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, where she died, aged 68, on 12 April 1975.
