The 1920s was a time of rapid social and economical change between the wars. Artists used their mediums as a way to express their views on the change society needed.

Josephine Baker was one of these influential figures.

Early Life

Taking influence from her mother, who had given up her dreams of becoming a music-hall dancer, Baker learned to dance. She performed in streets and clubs, and by 1919 she was touring the states with the Jones Family Band and the Dixie Steppers; performing comedic skits.

In 1921, she adopted the name Baker when she married Willie Baker; she continued to use his name even though they later divorced.

In 1923, Baker landed a role in the musical ‘Shuffle Along’, Broadway’s first Black musical. The comedic touch that she brought to the role made her stand out and steal the show.

Looking for more opportunity, Baker moved to New York City and was soon performing in ‘Chocolate Dandies’ in the floor show of the Plantation Club, where she quickly became a crowd favorite.

Finding Stardom in France

In 1925, at nineteen years old, Baker moved to France with the black American vaudeville troupe ‘La Revue Nègre’.

In her autobiography, (Baker and Bouillon, 1977) Baker describes the outfit she wore, when arriving in Paris, as awkward, gaudy, and out of place. Josephine visited Paul Poiret, who replaced the homemade Harlem outfit with a silver satin gown.

For many years, Poiret, (aka, the father of the 1920s flapper movement) remained one of Baker’s primary dress designers along with Vionnet and Schiaparelli.

In France, Baker was an immediate success with her ‘Danse Sauvage’, which she performed in only a skirt of feathers.

A year later, at the Folies Bergère music hall, Baker danced ‘La Folie du Jour’ in the renowned banana skirt. The dance was uninhibited and controversial, turning her into a star overnight.

As her success grew, Baker transformed her theatrical performances into social and political statements.

Baker manipulated the controversial images that were predetermined for her, in both her performances and her everyday life.

As many of Baker’s early followers belonged to the Parisian demimonde, she explored using transgender imagery in her work. This appealed to the young, tuxedo-clad women who admired her.

While in public, Baker enjoyed playing her stage characters of the sexualized savage, the male-female, and the saint-like Madonna.

Through the 1920s, Josephine Baker became one of Europe’s most popular and highest-paid performers. She was admired by figures such as Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and E. E. Cummings.

Service in the Military

During World War II, Baker was a special agent and French Air Force sub lieutenant.

Baker was awarded both the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honour with the rosette of the Resistance, two of France’s highest military honors.

Like a number of African political leaders, her military uniform became a symbol of her status the leader of a humanitarian social and political cause.

Civil Rights Movement

Soon after the war, Baker toured the United States again, and this time she won respect and praise from African-Americans for her support of the Civil Rights Movement.

In 1951, the NAACP named her ‘Most Outstanding Woman of the Year’ for her efforts.

She gave a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall for the NAACP, the SNCC, and CORE in 1963 and was the only woman to speak at ‘the March on Washington’.

The NAACP named May 20th “Josephine Baker Day.”

The ‘Rainbow Children’

In the 1950s she adopted twelve children of different nationalities and ethnicities. They were named the ‘Rainbow Children’ and lived in the Château des Milandes in southwestern France.

She invited people to see these children, to demonstrate that integration of races is harmless. The children further enhanced her image as the saint-like Madonna.

Although Baker’s maternal image juxtaposed with her earlier risqué image, the picture of ‘the savage dancer and the ‘Black Venus’ worked to secure publicity for her humanitarian work.

Return to the Stage

In 1973, Josephine Baker made her comeback to the stage. The 50th anniversary of her arrival in Paris was marked in 1975 with a huge gala in Monaco to celebrate.

Unfortunately, four days later, on April 12 1975, Baker died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

On the day of her funeral, more than 20,000 people lined the streets to witness a 21-gun salute, making Baker the first American woman to be buried in France with military honors.