Josephine Baker was born in 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri. She faced discrimination and poverty as a black woman in America. She moved to Paris in the 1920s to perform in an all-black musical revue and found overnight fame and success as a dancer, singer, and performer. Baker became an international celebrity and symbol of the jazz age and Harlem Renaissance. Though never accepted in the US due to her race, she fought racial injustice and refused to perform for segregated audiences. Baker was also a spy for France in WWII and spoke at the 1963 March on Washington alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She lived an extravagant but dramatic life and was known for her adopted multi-racial family,

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18. Josephine Baker was born with the name Freda Josephine Carson in St. Louis, on July 3, 1906. At the tender age of 13 she joined a black vaudeville production and moved to New York to escape hardship of discrimination and poverty and seek fame. When still a teenager she moved to Paris, France to perform in an all black review. Her fame took off overnight as she became an international dancing, singing, performing sensation. She will forever be a symbol of the jazz age and the Harlem Renaissance. Although she was never well received in the US, she constantly fought racial injustice, refusing to perorm at segregated venues. She was the only woman to speak at the famous 1963 march on Washington alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. During her lifetime she engaged in espionage activity for France in WWII, and was a highly honored and decorated military civilian. Offstage Josephine’s life was just as dramatic in her constant search for an adoring audience and opulent luxury. She was known for her Rainbow Tribe of adopted children, a poweful, if not flawed, display of racial harmony. Baker was truly the first African-American celebrity and an ambassador for human equality.

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