Josephine+Baker



Josephine Baker was born on June 3, 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up in a poor, one-room shack in East St. Louis. In 1917, Baker endured what she referred to as the worst memory of her childhood, the [|East St. Louis riot of 1917]. Her neighborhood was attacked by angry, white mobs. In all, 39 blacks and 9 whites had been murdered. This was a turning point in Josephine's life. She made a vow that as an adult, she would try to make it easier for blacks and whites to get along.

Baker dropped out of school at the age of 12. She was constantly looking for ways to escape poverty. Baker knew that working her whole life cleaning houses and scrubbing floors was not meant for her. Therefore, when the opportunity to marry approached her, she hurriedly accepted, hoping that this was her chance to escape poverty. She was 13 years old. Her parents were very surprised. However, the marriage did not last long. The couple divorced a year later. In 1921 Baker married a young man named Willie Howard Baker. The marriage proved as another disappointment; however, Josephine recieved the name Baker, which she would use for the rest of her life.

A white woman named Caroline Dudley invited Ms. Baker to come to Paris and perform in a production. On September 15, 1925, nineteen-year-old Baker sailed for Paris aboard the //SS Berengaria//. Baker completely fell in love with Paris. She loved the freedom and intergration within the City of Lights. Unlike in America, everyone was treated the same no matter how light or dark their skin color was. As the production, [|La Revue Negre], entered its third triumphant week, Baker began settling comfortably in the Parisian lifestyle. With the money she was earning, she began buying beautiful clothing, expensive perfumes, and animals. She owned a snake named Kiki, whom she wore as a necklace, a pig named Albert, a leopard named Chiquita, a chimpanzee named Ethel, a parrot, two rabbits, and a pair of goldfish. She called her pets children and spoiled them outrageously with diamond bracelets and collars.

By the fall of 1926, Josephine Baker was making more money than any other entertainer in Europe. Nearly 1,000 marriage proposals arrived in the mail and she became one of the most photographed women in the world. In September 1935, 29-year-old Baker sailed for the United States on tour. She visited her family in St. Louis and her husband, Willie Baker, whom she hadn't seen in 10 years. They both agreed that it was foolish to stay married and filed for divorce. In 1937, Baker returned to Paris and fell in love with a Jewish millionaire named Jean Lion. They married in the same year. After less than a year of marriage, the Lions decided to separate.

[|World War II] began on September 1, 1939. Josephine Baker wanted to help out in any way she could. Initially she joined the Red Cross as a volunteer. In 1940, she began serving as an undercover agent for the French Resistance. Baker also performed concerts for the American soldiers. However, she insisted that black soldiers be allowed to sit with the whites. In 1945, realizing he had been defeated, [|Adolf Hitler] committed suicide and the war was over. Baker's career as a Resistance agent was also finished.

In 1947, Baker married a French bandleader named Joe Bouillon whom she met in the early 1930s. She always wanted a large family, but her career constantly stood in the way. To Baker, the year of 1954 seemed like the perfect time. She hoped to prove to the world that all races could live together harmoniously. She adopted two baby boys from Tokyo, Japan, Akio and Janot. They were the first members of what would soon be known as Josephine Baker's Rainbow Tribe. That same year, she adopted a two-year-old Finn from Helsinki named Jari. In 1955, Baker adopted a Columbian baby boy named Luis from Bogota. By this time, Joe became concerned that they were not stable enough financially to continue to adopt children, but Baker felt it was her God-given responsibility to help as many children as she could. Soon after, the Bouillons adopted three more infants: Marianne and Jean-Claude, who were French, and Brahim, an Arab. Then Baker adopted a Jewish boy named Moses. By this time, the Bouillons were more than 83 francs in debt. Still, Josephine continued to adopt more children against her husbands warnings. In early 1957, she brought home a little black boy name Koffi and the couple separated. Despite her financial troubles, Baker continued to make outrageous purchases and adopt more children: Mara, a Venezuelan Indian, and Noel, who was abandonned on the streets of Paris. Shortly after Noel's adoption, the couple divorced after 13 years of marriage. By 1963, Baker was nearly $400,Stellina, the 12th and final member of the Rainbow Tribe. She was a Moroccan baby born in France.

On August 28, 1963, Baker spoke at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom along with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Eventually, Baker lost her house in France and could no longer care for her children. She died on Saturday, April 12, 1975, at the age of 68.











[|Josephine Baker's banana dance]


 * __ Works Cited __**

Schroeder, Alan. __Josephine Baker__. Chelsea House Publishers, 1991.