Peggy Caravantes - The Many Faces of Josephine Baker. Dancer, Singer, Activist, Spy

A n international star of the Jazz Age, known for her daring dances, exotic costumes, and menagerie of pets, Josephine Baker was born into poverty in St. Louis in 1906. A natural comedian with dreams of performing on stage, she talked her way into her first dance role as a determined young teen and then jumped at the opportunity to travel with a vaudeville troupe. It didnt take long for her natural talent to shine on stage, and she made her mark as the funny one. Josephine exploited her dancing and performance skills, doggedly pursuing her dream of becoming a respected star. By the time she was 19, Josephine was performing in Paris, and a whole new world opened up. In a few short years she had propelled herself from a St. Louis girl with a dream to a full-fledged Parisian sensation.

The Many Faces of Josephine Baker traces Josephines personal and professional paths, exploring how her sense of commitment to fighting racism and injustice grew and matured as she traveled around the world, leading her to become an outspoken participant in the US Civil Rights Movement, conduct important espionage work for the French Resistance during World War II, and adopt her rainbow tribe12 children, each from a different nationality, ethnicity, or religious groupin an effort to prove racial harmony was possible.

OTHER BOOKS IN THE WOMEN OF ACTION SERIES

Code Name Pauline: Memoirs of a World War II Special Agent

Double Victory: How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II

Reporting Under Fire: 16 Daring Women War Correspondents and Photojournalists

Women Aviators: 26 Stories of Pioneer Flights, Daring Missions, and Record-Setting Journeys

Women Heroes of World War I: 16 Remarkable Resisters, Soldiers, Spies, and Medics

Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue

Women in Space: 23 Stories of First Flights, Scientific Missions, and Gravity-Breaking Adventures

Women of Steel and Stone: 22 Inspirational Architects, Engineers, and Landscape Designers

Women of the Frontier: 16 Tales of Trailblazing Homesteaders, Entrepreneurs, and Rabble-Rousers

A World of Her Own: 24 Amazing Women Explorers and Adventurers

Copyright 2015 by Peggy Caravantes

All rights reserved

Published by Chicago Review Press, Incorporated

814 North Franklin Street

Chicago, Illinois 60610

ISBN 978-1-61373-034-8

Cover and interior design: Sarah Olson

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Caravantes, Peggy, 1935

The many faces of Josephine Baker : dancer, singer, activist, spy / Peggy Caravantes.

pages cm. (Women of action)

Summary: Author Peggy Caravantes provides the first in-depth portrait of Josephine Baker written for young adults. This lively biography follows Bakers life from her childhood, to her participation in the civil rights movement, her espionage work in WWII, and the adoption of her twelve children. Also included are informative sidebars, fascinating photographs, source notes, and a bibliography-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-61373-034-8 (hardback)

1. Baker, Josephine, 1906-1975Juvenile literature. 2. DancersFranceBiographyJuvenile literature. 3. African American entertainersFranceBiographyJuvenile literature. 4. SpiesFranceBiographyJuvenile literature. 5. World War, 1939-1945Secret serviceFrance. I. Title.

GV1785.B3C37 2015
792.8028092dc23
[B]

2014026074

Printed in the United States of America

5 4 3 2 1

Dedicated to friends, old and new

Index

R ESEARCHING INFORMATION ABOUT Josephine Baker was a challenge because of the many versions of her life story. Most of the confusion is due to Josephine herself. She began to erase her early past when she left the United States for France at the age of 19. She destroyed every picture and paper she had because she did not want to remember those days of struggle.

Later on, when Josephine talked about her early life, her memories became more and more fanciful, more romantically embellished. No matter what time she was remembering, she was always aware of how it affected her public image at the moment she was speaking. She would say anything as long as she looked good in the story. Once, when challenged by a reporter about the truth of what she was saying, she responded heatedly that she did not lieshe just improved on life.

Her many biographers sorted through the myriad versions of her story, but they did not all reach the same conclusions. All of them consulted mounds of archival materials and interviewed hundreds of people who knew Josephine. Each biographer believed he or she had found the truth, and though there are many points upon which they agree, there are just as many on which they disagree. Consequently, depending upon a readers choice of biography, the person will get only that writers conclusions about what is truth about Josephine Baker.

In the process of trying to sort it all out, a lot of misinformation has been repeated by writer after writer. But the truth is nebulousalmost impossible to pin down. Im not sure that, by the end of her life, Josephine herself could separate fact from fiction.

I, too, have struggled while searching through many resources, trying to distinguish truth from fabrication. My goal has always been to introduce todays young readers to the story of a remarkable woman who rose from poverty, overcame racial prejudice, and became a star, even as she remained an enigma.

W ITH ONLY THE CLOTHES ON HER BACK, 13-year-old Josephine Baker, along with Clara Smith and the Dixie Steppers, climbed aboard a train headed for Memphis, Tennessee. As the train moved through East St. Louis, Illinoisone of Americas worst slums, filled with dilapidated and sordid housingJosephine pressed her nose against the cars window. Dense clouds of coal smoke mixed with the stench of dying cattle. Piles of garbage filled the overcrowded streets. Remembering her years there, Josephine vowed: Im leaving here a nobody but someday Im gonna be somebody and you aint gonna get to see me cause I aint ever coming back here again!

And so began Josephine Bakers journey to fulfill her dream of becoming a star.

Born Freda Josephine McDonald on June 3, 1906, in the St. Louis Female Hospital, she was the daughter of Carrie McDonald, a washerwoman, and Eddie Carson, a drummer in St. Louis gambling houses. The two dated, and about a year after they met, Carrie gave birth to Josephine. The round, roly-poly infant reminded her of Humpty Dumpty. When Carrie had first heard the eggs name said aloud, the words sounded like Tumpy. That became the nickname that stayed with Josephine throughout her childhood.

Carrie became pregnant again when Josephine was 16 months old. With the birth of Richard Alexander on October 12, 1907, the happy-go-lucky Eddie deserted Carrie, leaving her to provide for the babies. She struggled for a couple of years to earn enough money to keep the household running, but she was unsuccessful. Eventually, she married 23-year-old Arthur Martin, a brawny factory worker, thinking he would provide for her and the two children. Unfortunately, his moodiness and quick temper often cost him jobs, so Carrie took in laundry to support the family.