Early Life and Work

A popular dancer and singer during the 1920s was Josephine Baker (1906-1975). She was born as Freda Josephine McDonald on June 3^rd in St. Louis, Missouri into a childhood affected by poverty and abuse. Due to her father’s absence and mother’s low income, she left elementary school to support her family. She cleaned houses and babysat for wealthy white families, but eventually left home.

As a teenager, Josephine lived on the streets and survived on food scraps. She took up dancing in street performances as well as clubs and debuted on stage at a theatre performing comedic routines with local street musicians, The Jones Family Band, and all-black dance troupe, the Dixie Steppers. This performance landed her a job as a dresser and a tour in America with these acts.

While workings as a dresser, Josephine received the opportunity to join the production of Shuffle Along, a musical comedy, as a member of the chorus. She was popular amongst the crowds for her incorporation of comedy throughout the show. Because of the audience’s admiration, she stayed in the show until its closing in 1923.

The Harlem Renaissance

In the pursuit of more success, Josephine moved to New York City, during the Harlem Renaissance. This historical event involved African Americans moving to New York City and developing the Harlem neighbourhood, which acted as the core of black culture. With them they brought literature, music, stage performance, art, and in Josephine’s case, ambition. She performed in Chocolate Dandies on Broadway and the floor show of the Plantation Club.

Breakthroughs for Black Performers

In 1925, France was in the midst of their obsession with American jazz and fascination of African Americans musicians, performers, & artists. A talent recruit scouted 19-year-old Josephine to perform in La Revue Nègre, an all-black revue in Paris. She made a lasting and bold impression on the French when she performed Danse Sauvage in only a feather skirt.

Josephine performed La Folie du Jour wearing only a skirt made of bananas at the Folies-Bergère music hall. This famous performance made her the most popular and highest-paid performers in Europe. She also danced the Charleston at the Folies-Bergère. However, it was introduced and popularized in Europe on-stage in Running Wild, an all-black musical production.

When performing in Europe rather than America, black performers felt more acceptance and less segregation and discrimination. Josephine was welcomed in Paris and even admired by culture figures. In contrast, she faced a racist reaction when she returned to America to perform Ziegfield Follies in 1936.

Josephine began singing professionally in 1930. This lead to her roles in talking films, Zou-Zou and Princesse Tam-Tam, as a singer. She also starred in other films including, Siren of the Tropics and Fausse Alerte. Her appearances in these films earned her more success as well as broke more barriers. 

World War II

During World War II, Josephine served in the Women’s Auxiliary of the French air force. She also worked with the Red Cross and as a member of Free French forces, entertaining troops and performing benefit concerts in Africa and the Middle East. Her work for the Résistance, involved her smuggling messages hidden in her sheet music and underwear. These efforts earned her two of France’s highest military honours, the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honour with the rosette of the Resistance. 

Civil Rights Movement

Although she considered France her home, Josephine returned to America where she fought for the civil rights movement. She had refused perform in venues that forced segregated audiences. In Las Vegas, she was considered the first person to integrate casinos. At this point, she had evolved from an exotic dancer to an activist.^[1]

As a celebrity, Josephine still faced segregation and discrimination in America. During her 1951 American tour, a number of hotels and restaurants refused her admission. At the Stork Club in New York City, she charged the club owner, who failed to serve her, for racism. As a result, she was on the FBI watch list and lost her American citizenship rights.

Her opposition against racism was recognized by the NAACP and May 20^th was declared as Josephine Baker Day. With attorney general Robert F. Kennedy’s aid, she  was able to return to America in time for the 1963 March on Washington. As one of the few women allowed to speak at the march, she spoke about her life as a woman of colour in America and abroad. She represented civil rights through the eyes of a black woman who experienced both oppression and freedom.^[2]

Influence on the History of Popular Music

Josephine Baker’s biography is one you read and wonder what are you doing with your life. With the number of accomplishments and their diversity, it is hard to believe they were fulfilled by one person. To summarize her influence on popular music, she played a significant role in integrating black performance into Europe. Her career started in America and the talents she developed there flourished in Europe, where she became even more successful. She created not only a path for other black performers, but for woman as well by empowering them. Although her career mainly took place in Europe, that doesn’t reduce her importance in North American. Those who question her influence on American popular music, can’t question her influence as a female civil rights activist in America.

Sources

Black Heritage Commemorative Society. “Josephine Baker.” Black History Now, 17AD, 2013, blackhistorynow.com/josephine-baker/.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Josephine Baker.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 31 May 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Josephine-Baker.

History.com Staff. “Harlem Renaissance.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/black-history/harlem-renaissance.

“Josephine Baker Biography.” The Biography.com Website, A&E Networks Television, 19 Jan. 2018, www.biography.com/people/josephine-baker-9195959.

Norwood, Arlisha R. “Josephine Baker.” National Women’s History Museum, 2017, www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/josephine-baker.

Williamson, Heidi. “What Josephine Baker Teaches Us About Women’s Enduring Legacy Within The Civil Rights Movement.” ThinkProgress, ThinkProgress, 28 Aug. 2013, thinkprogress.org/what-josephine-baker-teaches-us-about-womens-enduring-legacy-within-the-civil-rights-movement-2b4a95b666fd/.

Footnotes

[1] Griffith, Joanne. “Culture – Josephine Baker: From Exotic Dancer to Activist.” BBC News, BBC, 31 Dec. 2014, www.bbc.com/culture/story/20141222-from-exotic-dancer-to-activist.

[2] Williamson, Heidi. “What Josephine Baker Teaches Us About Women’s Enduring Legacy Within The Civil Rights Movement.” ThinkProgress, ThinkProgress, 28 Aug. 2013, thinkprogress.org/what-josephine-baker-teaches-us-about-womens-enduring-legacy-within-the-civil-rights-movement-2b4a95b666fd/.

Josephine Baker

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Hello, this is my second blog post! I decided to write about Josephine Baker.

Josephine Baker was a devoted, passionate and talented woman. Her life between June 3 1906, to April 12 1975, was filled with entertaining, dancing, being a military agent, fighting for equality and so much more. She is a truly inspiring woman.

Josephine’s childhood was quite difficult and hard. She grew up in a life of poverty with her mother and her siblings; her father left them at a very young age. Josephine helped support her family by babysitting and cleaned houses for rich white people, as she was very poorly treated. At age 13, she took ma

tters into her own hands and ran away and became a waitress. She had to grow up so fast at such a young age, and that made her a very strong independent women who shows a lot of drive.

By 1919, Josephine was starting to get into dance, and she would perform in clubs and also in street performances. By the year 1919, Josephine was touring within the United States with the Dixie Steppers doing comedic skits, and the Jones Family band. In 1919, she was a member of comic touch and the chorus in the

musical Shuffle Along. Her comedy skills that she incorporated in that musical helped her become popular with different crowds. She really wanted to make it big, so she moved to New York City and she soon performed in Chocolate Dandies, and she also performed in the floor show of the Plantation Club with Ethel Waters, and this performance made Josephine quite a crowd favourite. Josephine then travelled to Paris in 1925, to perform in La Revue Nègre. This performance made a very good impression on the audience. Josephine was soon very well known in a large portion of Europe.

“Virtually an instant hit, Josephine Baker became one of the best- known entertainers in both France and much of Europe. Her exotic, sensual act reinforced the creative images coming of the Harlem Renaissance in America.” (Lewis, 2017) Josephine was the eye opening legend who opened the eyes of  white people to start accepting black people into intellectual, social, and artistic contributions to the world, but this was placed more specifically in Harlem, NY.

“Her moves were unmistakable: rhythmic hands, gyrating hips and elastic legs that propelled her round the dancefloor like a flurry of hypnotic windmill sails. New York’s ‘highest-paid chorus girl in vaudeville’ would truly make her name in deco Paris at ‘La Revue Nègre’ in the mid 1920s.

Ultimate womaniser, Ernest Hemingway, called her ‘the most sensational woman anyone ever saw.’ Yet, despite her popularity and fame, Rosa Parks’ fight was hers too. When she arrived back in America in the 1950s she was refused reservations at 36 hotels. She took her battle to the cabaret clubs, refusing to perform to racially-segregated audiences (despite a $10,000 offer by a Miami club). Not even threatening calls from the Klu Klux Klan scared her. In 1963, she stood beside Martin Luther King at the March on Washington. She was the only official female speaker there.” (Marie, 2017) This describes how Josephine showed a very high stance in feminism and also, sexual empowerment for women. She had an immense amount of confidence and used her talents and her amazing skills to awe the crowd. Also, nothing scared her or made her feel less of herself. She was abundantly confident; her confidence helped her reach her goals and follow what she truly believed in without having to stand down.

As we know, Josephine Baker was a phenomenal dancer. She did a re-make of the Charleston dance. The Charleston dance was a dance that was popular in the 1920’s. It consisted of swinging of the legs and large movement of the arms, all in a fast pace. Josephine did her own version of the Charleston, by adding her own comedic touch to it, and it made her spectacularly well known.

 

Josephine Baker performing her own touch to the Charleston.

 

World War II started in the year of 1939, and that year was the start of a mission for Josephine Baker. “She worked for the Red Cross during the occupation in France. As a member of the Free French forces, she also entertained troops in both Africa and Middle East.” (2018) A very intense roll Josephine had was that she worked for the French Resistance, and her duty was to smuggle messages that would be hidden in her underwear or her sheet music. As a result by the end of the war, Josephine was awarded the Croix de Guerre award, and the Legion of Honour with the rosette of the Resistance. These two honors were two of France’s highest military honours.

Josephine was a woman of many talents; she is a legend and also very inspiring. Not only was she a phenomenal dancer, and entertainer, but she also had a very deep and bold personality with being an activist in stopping cultural racism, bringing people of colour into the music industry, a military honours award recipient, and also, living a life empowering women by her actions, attitude and accomplishments. Although she became famous, she did not let it get the best of her, rather used her fame to make a difference in the world, and she was not afraid to be herself. As Josephine came from a life full of racism, poverty, criticism, and much more, she was made stronger and showed the world how she was not defined by those hardships, and that she overcame those struggles by becoming very successful, motivating, and a legend in history.

 

Bibliography

Baker, Josephine. 2018. “Josephine Baker Biography”. Biography. Access July 18, 2018.

https://www.biography.com/people/josephine-baker-9195959

 

 

Lewis, Jone. 2017. “ Josephine Baaker Biography”. ThoughtCo. Access Jul 18, 2018.

https://www.thoughtco.com/josephine-baker-biography-3528473

 

Lewis, Jone. 2018. “Josephine Baker Picture Gallery”. ThoughtCo. Access July 18, 2018.

https://www.thoughtco.com/josephine-baker-picture-gallery-3528475

Claire, Marie. 2017. “ These are the most inspirational women in history”.Marie Claire. Access July 18, 2018.

https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/entertainment/people/inspirational-women-from-history-81054

Rosenberg, Jennifer. “ What is the Chalreston? ” ThoughtCo. Access July 2018.

https://www.thoughtco.com/the-charleston-dance-1779257

Getting to know…

Josephine Baker was born on June 3, 1906, in St Louis, Missouri. As usual, just another baby born not knowing who or what she could become. In her early years, she experienced abuse, poverty and by the time she was in her teens she was living on the streets, with no food but what was in the bins. When she moved out at age 14, her new job leads her to a new husband only to be divorced at age 15 and then remarried again. Later on in her life, she became one of the best exotic dancers[1].

Breakthroughs for Black Performers

At the age of 19, Josephine was asked to join an all-black performance in Paris where the city was in a jazz crave. African American musicians and performers were being mesmerized by the French people. In one of her performances, she and her partner wore nothing but a couple of feathers which got the crowd excited, particularly the men. Baker loved Paris because in the United States, African Americans were discriminated in society, whereas in Paris she felt nothing but welcomed. When WWII broke out, she helped smuggle refugees and performed benefit concerts to keep the troops amused. After the war, she went back to Paris and continued to perform finally making it on television. Following her marriage to Jo Bouillon, she decided to restore a castle and village named Les Milandes, where she spent a ton of money with hopes to create it into a tourist target. After that, she went back to the United States to stand up against American racism by declining to entertain any segregated crowds. This was a huge breakthrough creating May 20^thas Josephine Baker Day[2].

Feminism

During her century, several women didn’t have a say in anything. Although the Civil Rights movement was allowed all people in public places, and the ability to vote, Black women were still forced to work as domestic workers, cook, or maids. These women should not have to experience and less respect in public places or their own atmosphere. When Baker resumed to the United States she came to the realization that there was still a tremendous lack of respect that wasn’t being given to all people. Even with all of her Successes, she was not being treated equally. Black women were working, taking care of their family, while also fighting for their equality. Aside from everything, happiness needed to be a priority[3]. When Josephine passed away at age 68, twenty thousand people were standing down the streets in Paris to see the procession. Baker was the first American women ever to be buried in France with military honors. This shows how much of an impact she had on earth, and that her fight for equality and rights have made a difference in the world[4].

The Charleston

This is a dance connected with jazz that was created in the 1920s. This dance came from the song “The Charleston” which was composed by James P. Johnson. This dance is significant because people performed it by themselves which made it unique compared to the other dances of the 1910s. Josephine Baker contributed to The Charleston being wildly popular because she did the dance in 1926 at the Folies Bergère. It kept growing in popularity starting in a two-act musical comedy and eventually opening up on Broadway[5].

Shown in this video, the two ladies are dancing the Charleston. Growing up dancing my whole life, I have for sure done this move almost every year in our jazz routines. I found that you can even use it in different genres such as hip-hop if you change the groove while keeping the right footwork. It is a catchy dance/song, and it is widely known even in today’s society.

WWII

Not only did Josephine help smuggle immigrants, but when she had realized security wasn’t checking her bag thoroughly because of her fame, she started to sneak all different kinds of things in and out of the country. On her sheet music, she had invisible ink filled with different types of messages. Sometimes, she even snuck photos of German military installations by sticking them into her underwear[6]. At the end of the war, Josephine Baker was awarded the Legion of Honour and Military Cross. This proved how dedicated she was, but she kept going after this, by taking part in a charity gala for the victims of the war[7].

To sum it up, Josephine Baker spent her life helping out and doing what she believed in. Although she felt the United States still needed much more change to reach fairness, I believe her going back there and fighting for her rights still played a major role in their society and Europe’s. It is proven how incredible of a woman she is throughout this blog between her performances, her strong beliefs, and her being honored by the military at her funeral. She was an incredibly brave woman who knew what she wanted and strived for it. When I first researched her name, the first thing that came up was that she was an exotic dancer. But after researching deeper, it is clear how much she impacted everyone around her.

1. Joanne Griffith. “Josephine Baker: From exotic dancer to activist.” BBC. December 31, 2014. http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20141222-from-exotic-dancer-to-activist.
2. BHS. “Josephine Baker.” BlackHistoryNow. August 17, 2011. http://blackhistorynow.com/josephine-baker/.
3. Heidi Williamson. “What Josephine Baker Teaches Us About Women’s Enduring Legacy Within The Civil Rights Movement.” Think Progress. August 28, 2013. https://thinkprogress.org/what-josephine-baker-teaches-us-about-womens-enduring-legacy-within-the-civil-rights-movement-2b4a95b666fd/.
4. “Josephine Baker Biography.” Biography. Accessed July 18, 2018. https://www.biography.com/people/josephine-baker-9195959.
5. “Charleston.” A Closer Walk. Accessed July 18, 2018. https://acloserwalknola.com/dances/charleston/.
6. Ethan Trex. “5 Things You Didn’t Know About Josephine Baker.” Mental Floss. June 3, 2017. http://mentalfloss.com/article/23148/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-josephine-baker.
7. Amélie. “Josephine Baker.” December 27, 2007. https://myhero.com/Josephine_Baker_INSA_FR_07.