Josephine Baker Monument Zine

Josephine Baker Entertainer, Activist, Spy

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Biography

Josephine Baker was born in St. Louis, Missouri. At a young age, Josephine ran away from home and took up dancing, working on her skills both in street performances and in clubs.

After this, she moved to New York City where she participated in the Harlem Renaissance as well as kick-started her career performing along side Ethel Waters, which led her to become a crowd favorite. In 1925, Josephine Baker moved to Paris when France was at the peak of its obsession with American jazz. She made an immediate impression on French audiences with her distinct and unique dancing style. In one of her most famous shows, La Folie du Jour, she danced on stage in a skirt made of 16 bananas. This show became wildly popular and Baker became one of the most sought after performers in Europe.

During her time of popularity in France, she came back to the United States in hopes of establishing herself as a performer in her home country. She was quickly met with a hostility and racism, and returned back to France where she obtained citizenship. Josephine Baker remarried and began adopting twelve children from around the world. She wanted to demonstrate that people of different races could live together harmoniously. Baker often returned to the U.S. to participate in the Civil Rights Movement that was going on there. She participated in demonstrations and boycotted segregated clubs and concert venues. She refused to perform in segregated venues which would force the owners to integrate the venues for her shows. She also walked along side Martin Luther King Jr. in the March on Washington and was among the many notable speakers of that day.

Spying for the French When World War II began, Josephine Baker worked for the Red Cross during the occupation of France. She also worked with the French Resistance, smuggling messages hidden in her sheet music and even in her underwear. For these efforts at the end of the war, Baker was awarded with the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor with the rosette of the Resistance, which is two of France’s highest military honors.When Baker died in 1975, the French government honored her with a 21-gun salute, making Baker the first American woman in history to be buried in France with military honors.

Monument for Ms. Baker This monument starts with a grand piano, something Josephine Baker was very familiar peforming with. On top is the satchel she carried with her with a couple things spilling out of it. First, the sheet music she used to communicate messages to the French Resistance. Second, her infamous feather boa and a couple bananas from her well-known banana skirt.

GMU Campus Location This monument would be located inside the Center for the Arts building. Josephine Baker was an excellent entertainer and performer, so this monument would go perfectly inside the building where many talented artist of all areas come to perform.

ThÊâtre des Champs-ElysÊes This monument would be located inside the theater where everything began for Josephine. This is the place where she made her mark and became wildly popular, so it is fitting for her monument to be located here.

Josephine Baker 1906-1975

“The things we truly love stay with us always, locked in our hearts as long as life remains.�

- J.B.