Josephine Baker, in her own words, “was the girl who left St. Louis to come to Europe, to find freedom.” The American dancer was ambitious from the start. She was constantly inspired by her surroundings, from her beginnings in St. Louis, Missouri, to New York and the Harlem Renaissance, to Paris, where she found her home. Josephine Baker was not simply a dancer or a singer; she was a groundbreaker, an earth-shatterer. Her work, in many ways, represented a Black woman in control of her life and of her own narrative. She was transcendent throughout her career, and her work is still relevant today.
Josephine Baker: Beginnings & Breaking Borders
Josephine Baker was born Freda Josephine McDonald on June 3rd, 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her mother, Carrie McDonald, was a washerwoman, and her father was a vaudeville drummer named Eddie Carson. When she was old enough, Josephine was a nanny and a house cleaner for many upper-class families. Her father abandoned them soon after her birth.
Josephine got a job as a waitress at the Old Chauffeur’s Club in St. Louis after dropping out of school at the age of 12. The club was a famous hangout for jazz musicians, and it was also where she met her first husband, Willie Wells, and married him at 13 years old. She divorced Wells, and in 1921, at age 15, married Willie Baker. He helped her career take off, but the couple split in the same year after Josephine had joined a traveling vaudeville troupe called the Dixie Steppers.
Josephine moved to New York to further her career and fought to land appearances in a vaudeville show called “Shuffle Along.” She worked only as an understudy until she was cast in the Broadway musical “The Chocolate Dandies.” Her style was very comedic, always acting purposefully clumsy and crossing her eyes. This behavior garnered the notice of the investor of “La Revue Nègre,” a new show produced in…
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