Monisha S. Cunningham
Sophomore Seminar II
Dr. Nesan Sriskanda
April 20, 2014
A True Servant Leader: Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker was born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri (Thill 1). She later
took the name Baker from her second husband, Willie Baker, whom she married at age 15 (Lewis 1).
Josephine Baker sashayed onto a Paris stage during the 1920s with a comic, yet sensual appeal that took
Europe by storm (Louck 1). She was an outstanding dancer, singer, and actress. Baker was not only an
international musical icon, but a social and political reformist as well. When she was not serenading an
audience with her many talents, she was actively fighting for civil rights, participating in the French war
effort, and demonstrating true humanitarianism.
Baker was extremely successful in the integrated society of Europe, but had high hopes of
establishing herself as a performer in her home country as well. In 1936 she returned to the United States
to star in the “Ziegfield Follies” but it proved to be disastrous. American audiences rejected the idea of a
black woman with so much sophistication and power. Newspaper reviews were equally cruel (The New
York Times called her a "Negro wench"), and Josephine returned to Europe heartbroken (Louck 8).
With newfound strength and determination Baker returned to the United States in 1951 to fight
segregation laws in her homeland. In that same year, she was denied service at the famous Stork Club in
New York City. Baker engaged in a head-on media battle with pro-segregation columnist Walter
Winchell, a patron of the club, who accused her of communist and fascist sympathies. Baker’s response
was a crusade for racial equality. She refused to entertain in any club or theater that was not integrated,
where blacks could not sit amongst whites, and refused to stay in segregated hotels (Robinson 9). Club
and venue owners could not afford to lose the business that Josephine Baker could bring. Therefore, the
color bar was broken at many establishments and Baker became the first African American woman to
integrate an American concert hall (Louck 10). Her efforts were applauded by the African American
community and the budding Civil Rights Movement. She was honored by the NAACP as the Outstanding
Woman of the Year and May twentieth was named Josephine Baker Day. In 1963, Baker went on to speak
at the March on Washington along the side of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and gave several benefit
performances to aid Civil Rights organizations (Robinson 9). In her speech Baker told the crowd that
they looked like "Salt and pepper. Just what it should be" (Louck 9). After King's assassination, his
widow Coretta Scott King approached Baker in Holland to ask if she would take her husband's place as
leader of the American Civil Rights Movement. After many days of thinking it over, Baker declined,
saying her children were "too young to lose their mother"(Robinson 9).
Josephine Baker’s affection for France was so strong that when World War II broke out, she
volunteered to be a part of the war effort for her adopted country. She worked as a Red Cross nurse and
entertained troops as a sub lieutenant in the women's auxiliary of the Free French forces. Most important
of Baker’s contribution to the war, was her work as an underground courier for the French Resistance
(Luock 9). Her fame and status allowed her to travel from country to country without suspicions being
raised. She smuggled messages written in invisible ink on her music sheets and helped French spies from
one country to another by including them in her entourage (Robinson 8). After the war, for her
underground activity, Baker received the Croix de Guerre and the Rosette de la Résistance, two of
France’s highest military honors. She was also made a Chevalier of the Légion D'honneur by General
Charles de Gaulle (Shaffer 2).
Josephine Baker did frequent charity work in Paris, including her work as a Red Cross nurse
during the war. She appeared at numerous benefits and was known for being generally helpful. According
to Phyllis Rose in Jazz Cleopatra, Josephine "kissed babies in foundling homes, gave dolls to the young
