Josephine Baker met haar 10 kinderen bezoekt Rotterdam, Bestanddeelnr 910-5758

Josephine Baker, an American-born French dancer, and singer, original name Freda Josephine McDonald, was born June 3, 1906, in St. Louis. She was born in 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri, and moved to France as a young woman, where she became a star in the Parisian cabaret scene. Baker was known for her unique and daring performances, which often featured her dancing in little or no clothing. Baker As an adolescent she became a dancer, touring at 16 with a dance troupe from Philadelphia. In 1923 she joined the chorus in a road company performing the musical comedy Shuffle Along and then moved to New York City, where she advanced steadily through the show Chocolate Dandies on Broadway and the floor show of the Plantation Club. In 1925 she went to Paris to dance at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in La Revue Nègre and introduced her danse sauvage to France. She went on to become one of the most popular music-hall entertainers in France and achieved star billing at the Folies-Bergère, where she created a sensation by dancing seminude in a G-string ornamented with bananas. She became a French citizen in 1937. During the German occupation of France, Baker worked with the Red Cross and the Résistance, and as a member of the Free French forces, she entertained troops in Africa and the Middle East. She was later awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honour with the rosette of the Résistance. After the war, she adopted 12 children. She retired from the stage in 1956 and traveled several times to the United States to participate in civil rights demonstrations. Josephine symbolized the beauty and vitality of Black American culture, which took Paris by storm in the 1920s. She also became an activist and a civil rights pioneer, using her fame to speak out against racism and discrimination. Baker continued to perform and tour throughout her life, and she remains an iconic figure in French and American culture. She died in 1975 at the age of 68.