"If an orchid could sizzle, it would be something like Josephine Baker." - LA Examiner
The Early Years
Josephine Baker (formerly Freda Josephine McDonald) was born in 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her mother, Carrie McDonald, was a washer woman who married Eddie Carson, who most people think was her father, but some, including Baker, are not very sure who her real father is. Carrie remarried an unemployed man, Arthur Martin, and eventually had three more kids.
In her adolescent years, she made a little money by working for wealthy white families, cleaning and babysitting. At the age of 13 she began waitressing at a café where she met and married a local foundry worker, Willie Wells, who shortly stormed out on her after they broke out into a physical fight. After this expierience, she knew she wanted more from her life and to get out of St. Louis, that's when she started performing with the Jones Family Band in 1919. After being with the Joneses for awhile, traveling with the Dixie Steppers, marrying and divorcing Willie Baker in 1921 (of whom she kept the last name), she eventually was discovered and got a job performing in Paris. She then married and divorced three more men; she kept the last name Willie Baker when they were married in 1921, she got a French citizenship when she married Jean Lion in 1937, and in 1947 she married Jo Bouillon and adopted 12 children. She wanted to prove that children from all over the world could grow and prosper together under one roof, so all of her 12 children were adopted from different parts of the world, forming what she called “The Rainbow Tribe.”
Why I chose to study Josephine Baker...
I really wanted to study a woman who made a difference in the world and in our country. Not only was Josephine Baker an amazing performer, she also helped to integrate theaters and clubs in America during the Civil Rights Movement. Not onl is she known as the first superstar, she was also the first black women to make it big in the movie star world and she is still an inspiration to actresses today. |