josephine baker • singer/dancer/actress

1906-1975
Josephine Baker was an American dancer, actress and singer, born in St. Louis. She moved to New York City at 15 and came of age during the Harlem Renaissance. Baker left for Paris when she was 19 and her career mostly centered in Europe after that. She was the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture, the 1927 silent film Siren of the Tropics. She was also known for aiding the French Resistance during World War II. Baker refused to perform for segregated audiences and is noted for her contributions to the civil rights movement.

Click here to see Baker sing in The French Way from 1945.