Freda Josephine McDonald also known as Josephine Baker was a star and hero. Baker had a rough start to her life but those obstacles didn’t hold her back from obtaining success. Baker had major achievements for a black woman during her time. She was a big influence during the Jazz age. Baker can remembered as an outstanding dancer and a civil rights activist who paved the way for African American women. June 3, 1906, in St. Louis,Carrie McDonald and Eddie Carson brought a new life into the world . Baker had made herself famous, but it all had to start somewhere. Josephine had a rough childhood. Baker grew up without a father and lived in poverty. At the age of 8 she was no longer in school, she had to help support her family. At the time …show more content…
Her astonishing performance, included wild costumes showing off her celebrity status. Josephine became the most photographed woman in the World rivaling Gloria Swanson and Mary Pickford.Baker also became the most paid than any entertainer in Europe . Although she was a dancer she got to show off her acting skills, she starred in two movies in the early 1930s, Zou-Zou and Princesse Tam-Tam. and moved her family from St. Louis, Missouri to Les Milandes, her estate in Castelnaud-Fayrac, France. In 1936 she returned back to the US to star in Ziegfeld Follies, despite the fact that she was a huge celebrity in Europe, American crowds hated the idea of a black woman with so much limelight, newspaper reviews were just as cruel as the audience(The New York Times called her a “Negro wench”), Josephine returned to Europe displeased with the outrageous act.
Baker’s star status continued to rise in theater and in movies. During her stay in France, she finally become a French citizen. She got citizenship by marrying Jean Lion; her third husband. Her love for France was obvious because her participation in the French Resistance during World War II. She was made a sub lieutenant in the Women’s Auxiliary of the French Air Force and earned a medal for her work on behalf of the