Josephine Baker: The Female Spy for the French In World War II
The black American-born French entertainer who was rejected by her country for being black
Josephine Baker is a remarkable American-born French performer that took France by storm with her dance and music but was rejected by her own country people for being black. She spent most of her life as a French Resistance Agent as well as fighting against racism in her birth country.
Background
Born Freda Josephine McDonald on June 3, 1906, in St. Louis, Missouri in the United States. Her mother Carrie McDonald was a single mother who worked as a washerwoman after being walked out on by Josephine’s father. Though Carrie eventually remarried, Josephine was forced by circumstances to help fend for her mother’s growing family by babysitting for rich white people. A job that left her vulnerable to constant maltreatment.
She soon became impatient with her life at home and decided to run away at the age of 13. She got a job at a club working as a waitress. There she met her first husband Willie Wells. After just a couple of weeks of being married, the couple got divorced.
