Last Updated on October 12, 2026
The fourth installment in our “Great French Icons of the 20th Century” Series
Josephine Baker is best known as the African-American performer and dancer who took Paris by storm in the 1920s with her own takes on the Charleston and the Black Bottom, performed in an iconic banana skirt. But Baker, who became a French citizen, shouldn’t be reduced to this stereotypical image. She starred in numerous films, opened her own clubs, and as a member of France’s counterintelligence agency Deuxième Bureau during World War II, proved a talented spy and resistance fighter, using her performer status as her only cloak and dagger.
In later life, she was a civil rights activist and humanitarian who spoke at the Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963, taking the podium right before Martin Luther King, Jr. And her later shows, performed amid chronic health problems, only cemented her fame by showing Baker was as charismatic and original as ever. Baker was, in short, a complex and remarkable woman: one who deserves to be remembered for the many facets of her career and legacy, rather than one iconic moment in the 1920s.
{Related at Paris Unlocked: A Look at Josephine Baker’s Paris & Beyond}
This episode aims to partly answer a few key questions: One, how did a child who grew up in poverty in St. Louis, Missouri, fleeing the violent racism of Jim Crow America to become an international star in her adopted country, end up a decorated French war hero and civil rights activist with a utopian dream of a color-blind world?
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Why was Baker’s move to France, and her subsequent taking up of French citizenship, so earth-shattering a change that she saw it as an almost literal rebirth? Why did she feel a need for Josephine Baker to become Joséphine BAH-kehr, going so far as to add an accent aigu to her first name, and even reportedly asking Americans to pronounce it the French way when she was quote-un-quote “back home” in the US?
Why are her performances from the 1920s and 1930s, ones soaked in racist and colonialist imagery that we can forgive today– but are beyond a little cringe-y and problematic – so stubbornly associated with Baker that popular culture has a hard time remembering the rest of her career?
And a final question: why has Baker been so consistently idealized by fans and biographers – so much so, that it’s difficult to look past the constructed image of Josephine-the-quasi-saint, to instead get a glimpse of Josephine the complex, sometimes infuriatingly paradoxical human being?
Stay with us as we try to chip away at some of these questions, and in so doing, I hope, let emerge a Josephine Baker who’s at once more human and more remarkable for her complexity.
Show notes
This episode was conceived, written, narrated and edited by Courtney Traub. It was produced by Brendan Whalen, who also contributed additional research and script editing. Additional audio editing and sound design was by Engin Hassan of Edit Fade Warp. Artwork for the Paris Unlocked Podcast was created by Mateeya.
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Translations of original French quotes in this episode are all by Courtney Traub. All images displayed in the show notes are out of copyright and in the public domain.
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Music credits (all music clips are in the public domain)
Intro and outro: Music by Trygve Larsen from Pixabay (“Erik Satie’s Gnossienne 1 – Classical Remix Piano and Sax”)
Music in order of use throughout episode:
- Music by Jordan Garner from Pixabay (Battlefield Borders (ambience)
- Music by Konstantin Nestsiarovich from Pixabay (Crime Scene Investigation (ASMR Noir Jazz)
- “Pine Apple Rag” by Scott Joplin, 1908. Public domain. Downloaded from Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/Frog_Legs_Ragtime_Era_Favorites-6429/Scott_Joplin_-_08_-_Pine_Apple_Rag_1908_piano_roll.mp3
- Music by Alana Jordan from Pixabay (“Short 1920s Charleston”)
- “Charleston (Fox Trot)” (1925) performed by the Golden Gate Orchestra. Source: Internet Archive. This sound recording and its underlying musical composition (by James P. Johnson and Cecil Mack) are in the public domain globally. Downloaded from Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/charleston1925
- Music by Mircea Iancu from Pixabay (“Smoked Glass Keys- piano dark jazz”
- Music by Maksym Malko from Pixabay (“Jazz background music”)
- Music by Waveloom from Pixabay (“No Copyright jazz elegant”)
Sources for this episode
For this episode, we consulted a variety of print and online primary sources, including books, newspaper articles, blogs, documentaries, film clips and archival documents. They are presented in relative order of importance and/or order in which their information appears in the episode, rather than in alphabetical order.
Print books:
- Jules-Rosette, Benetta. Josephine Baker in Art and Life: The Icon and the Image. University of Illinois Press, 2007.
- Baker, Josephine. Fearless and Free: A Memoir/Josephine Baker. Translated by Anam Zafar and Sophie Lewis. With an Introduction by Ijeoma Oluo. Vintage Classics, 2025.
- Diamond, Hanna. Josephine Baker’s Secret War. The African-American Star Who Fought for France and Freedom. Yale University Press, 2025.
- Lewis, Damien. Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy. Public Affairs, 2022.
- Baker, Jean-Claude. Josephine Baker: The Hungry Heart. Cooper Square Press, 2001.
Online and archival sources:
- The National WWII Museum New Orleans. “Siren of the Resistance: The Artistry and Espionage of Josephine Baker” (blogpost, 1 February 2020). Available at: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/siren-resistance-artistry-and-espionage-josephine-baker (accessed 10 April 2026).
- International Spy Museum (YouTube channel). “Agent Josephine Baker with Damien Lewis and Jonna Mendez”(YouTube video, 9 August 2022). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dJ9-N4IDGo (accessed 10 April 2026).
- Death Penalty Information Center. No date. “Compromised Justice. How a Legacy of Racial Violence Informs Missouri’s Death Penalty Today.” Available at: https://files.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/pdf/Final-Compromised-Justice-DPIC-Report.pdf (accessed 10 April 2026).
- Nine PBS (YouTube channel). “Josephine Baker: Living St. Louis”. (documentary). Produced and narrated by Ruth Ezell. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps7m7bUHq2E (accessed 10 April 2026).
- Rodgers, Shannon. “Seven Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Josephine Baker”. Messy Nessy Chic (blogpost), 24 November 2021. Available at: https://www.messynessychic.com/2021/11/25/seven-surprising-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-josephine-baker/ (accessed 10 April 2026).
- “Josephine Baker is Dead in Paris at 68”. No author. The New York Times, 13 April 1975. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/13/archives/josephine-baker-is-dead-in-paris-at-68.html (accessed 10 April 2026).
- Phillips, Carmen. “The Rumors Were Enough: Josephine Baker, Frida Kahlo, Their Romance and Me”. Autostraddle, 4 February 2019. Available at: https://www.autostraddle.com/the-rumors-were-enough-josephine-baker-frida-kahlo-their-romance-and-me/ (accessed 10 April 2026).
- Louis Gates Jr., Henry. “An Interview With Josephine Baker and James Baldwin”, Southern Review 21, No. 3 (July 1985), pp. 594-602.
- Holiday, Harmony. “A Dinner in France, 1973: Josephine Baker, James Baldwin, and a Very Young Henry Louis Gates, Jr.”. Literary Hub, 11 March 2021. Available at: https://lithub.com/a-dinner-in-france-1973-josephine-baker-james-baldwin-and-a-very-young-henry-louis-gates-jr/ (accessed 10 April 2026).
- Flanner, Janet. “The Greatest Refreshment. A memoir of Left Bank Paris—its writers, cafés, and revolutions in art—culminating in Pablo Picasso’s ode to love.” The New Yorker, 4 March 1972. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1972/03/11/the-greatest-refreshment (accessed 10 April 2026).
- Christies. “Paul Colin: Le Tumulte Noir. 1927.” Available at: https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/valuable-books-manuscripts/paul-colin-1892-1986-155/93291 (accessed 10 April 2026).
- “Josephine Baker in the Pantheon”. AASSDN (blogpost), 4 December 2021. Available at: https://aassdn.org/amicale/josephine-baker-in-the-pantheon/?print=print (accessed 10 April 2026).
- Black Film History (YouTube Channel). “Preview Clip: Zouzou (1934, Josephine Baker, Jean Gabin, Pierre Larquey, Yvette Lebon)”. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxyLTc4AUgs (accessed 10 April 2026).
- Henley, John. “Josephine Baker: the superstar turned spy who fought the Nazis and for civil rights”. The Guardian, 6 April 2025. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/apr/06/josephine-baker-the-superstar-turned-spy-who-fought-the-nazis-and-for-civil-rights (accessed 10 April 2026).
- “Josephine Baker’s Heyday: The 1930s”. Entrée to Black Paris Blog, 3 August 2017. Available at: https://www.entreetoblackparis.com/blog/josephine-bakers-heyday-1930s.html (accessed 10 April 2026).
- Hall Meares, Hadley. “Paris When it Sizzles: The Loves and Lives of Josephine Baker”. Vanity Fair, 2 September 2020. Available at: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/09/josephine-baker-biography-paris (accessed 10 April 2026).
- Villars, Meg. “Priscilla in Paris”, Tatler, 15 February 1928. The British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required).
- Jackson, Lauren Michele. Josephine Baker Was the Star France Wanted– And the Spy it Needed”. The New Yorker, 8 August 2022. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/15/josephine-baker-was-the-star-france-wanted-and-the-spy-it-needed-damien-lewis-agent-josephine (accessed 10 April 2026).
- Binet, Stéphanie, Boisseay, Rosita and Sicilier, Sylvain. “Le centenaire de la première de Joséphine Baker à Paris en livre et sorties”. Le Monde, 22 September 2025. Available at: https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2025/09/22/le-centenaire-de-la-premiere-de-josephine-baker-a-paris-en-cinq-sorties-ou-decouvertes_6642370_3246.html?search-type=classic&ise_click_rank=2 (subscription required).
- Tucker, Neely. “Josephine Baker at the Stork Club: A Night Gone Wrong”. Library of Congress Blogs, 10 March 2025. Available at: https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2025/03/josephine-baker-at-the-stork-club-a-night-gone-wrong/(accessed 10 April 2026).
- Weaver, Megan. (undated). “‘Freedom!’: Black Women Speak at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom”. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research Institute (Stanford). Available at: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/freedom-black-women-speak-march-washington-jobs-and-freedom (accessed 10 April 2026).
- “Address to the March on Washington by Josephine Baker”. CRMVET.org. Available at: https://www.crmvet.org/info/bakerj.htm (accessed 22 May 2026).
- MOW [March on Washington] Josephine Baker Speech. YouTube video. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pv0QhEyS5c&t=18s (accessed 22 May 2026).
- Woodward. Richard B. “Places That Still Matter: Chez Josephine”. Departures, 1 August 2009. Available at: https://www.milandes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/woodward-departure-article-2009-angloph.pdf (accessed 10 April 2026).
- Lehoux, Valérie. “Bobino, le 9 avril 1975 : le dernier coup d’éclat de Joséphine Baker”. Télérama, 12 April 2025. Available at: https://www.telerama.fr/debats-reportages/bobino-le-9-avril-1975-le-dernier-coup-d-eclat-de-josephine-baker-5001-7007456.php (accessed 10 April 2026).
- The Internet Movie Database (IMDB). “De la Resistance”. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt24878014/ (accessed 10 April 2026).
- Sirius XM (YouTube channel). “Janelle Monáe Calls Josephine Baker The “Original Free A** Motherf***er” (video). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI9U4ne_Xs8 (accessed 10 April 2026).
The French Culture Podcast: Season 1, Episode 2 – The Radically Colorful World of Henri Matisse
The French Culture Podcast: Season 1, Episode 3 – Edith Piaf, Part 1
The French Culture Podcast: Season 1, Episode 4 – Edith Piaf, Part 2
Seeking Josephine Baker in Paris: A Bit of History & Places to Visit
Ada “Bricktop” Smith, a Center of Gravity in Paris’ 1920s Jazz Scene
Courtney Traub is the Founder and Editor of Paris Unlocked. She’s a longtime Paris resident who now divides her time (as well as she can manage) between the French capital and Norwich, UK. Co-author of the 2012 Michelin Green Guide to Northern France & the Paris Region, she has been interviewed as an expert on Paris and France by the BBC, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Le Figaro, Matador Network and other publications. Courtney has also written and reported stories for media outlets including Radio France Internationale, The Christian Science Monitor, Women’s Wear Daily and The Associated Press. In addition to going down various rabbit holes of curiosity when it comes to French culture, history, food and art, Courtney is a scholar of literature and cultural history whose essays and reviews have appeared in various forums.
