Harlem Civil Rights Virtual Tour

27. Josephine Baker

New York, NY

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Freda Josephine McDonald was an African-American entertainer, spy, and civil rights activist. She was born on June 3, 1906, in St. Louis, Missouri, and died on April 12, 1975, in Paris, France, from a cerebral hemorrhage. To the world, she was known as Josephine Baker and was nicknamed the “Black Venus,” the "Black Pearl," the "Bronze Venus," and the "Creole Goddess." By 1925, she was living in France, and she eventually renounced her United States citizenship and became a French citizen due to the racism in the United States. Throughout her brilliant career, she refused to work in segregated venues, was a spy for the French during WW II, and an outspoken advocate for the Civil Rights Movement. She was the only female speaker in 1963, March on Washington at the side of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. She was married four times and adopted 12 children, and she called them the “Rainbow Tribe”.