Iconic entertainer of the Jazz Age, famous for her risqué performances, Josephine Baker responded to the start of World War II by becoming a spy for the French Resistance. Known as the “Creole Goddess” of France, Baker used her celebrity to gain access to high-ranking Axis officials.

Vox Populi: While predominately remembered for her provocative dances, vaudeville routines, and appearances in films, Josephine Baker’s efforts to fight the tyranny of Fascism have received regrettably little attention. Throughout her life, the American expatriate turned French citizen fearlessly called out the racism she endured while in the United States. Her bravery again went on display after her adopted country of France fell to Nazi forces. Josephine turned to espionage, using her celebrity status to capture information for the French Resistance.

Born Freda Josephine McDonald in East St. Louis, Missouri on June 3, 1906, Josephine took to an early life of entertaining and offering performances to neighborhood children when still a small child. In her teenage years, Josephine turned to dancing with vaudeville troupes. At the age of 15, she met William Howard Baker, and after a few weeks the couple eloped. William was her second husband—her first, brief marriage occurred while she was 13—but he gave Josephine the surname that she kept for the rest of her life.

At 19, Josephine accepted an offer to join an all-black revue set to run in Paris. Unlike the United States, France did not racially segregate public places on a large scale. When Josephine and her castmates boarded a train in France, they were surprised but happy to learn they could sit anywhere they liked. Josephine was also shocked to see the costumes created for her to perform in; one consisted only of a bikini bottom covered in flamingo feathers. After one performance, Josephine quickly took to this kind of erotic dancing and became a rising star. Over time, Josephine became the most successful entertainer in France, transforming from an exotic dancer into a film star and opera singer. Throughout these years, it is believed she became the wealthiest black woman alive.

In 1928, Josephine departed for a European tour, with the first stop in Vienna. Josephine had not been aware of the political unrest building in the region. By that point, Adolf Hitler’s autobiography, Mein Kampf, had popularized racist ideologies that spread throughout the region. Before Josephine even arrived in Vienna, posters around the city denigrated her performance, calling her a “black devil.” As she rode in a carriage to her hotel, protesters lined the streets. Josephine said the scene reminded her of the race riots that shook her community when she was a child.

The start of World War II put Josephine’s future performances on hold. By that time, she had married her third husband, a French-Jewish sugar broker named Jean Lion. The couple later divorced in 1941, but in that time, Josephine came to represent much of what Hitler and the Nazis despised. She was a successful, black woman in an interracial marriage with a Jewish man, who was also openly bisexual and had multiple long-term, semi-public relationships with other women. When the Germans began to advance on Paris in 1940, Josephine, like millions of other Parisians, fled the city >>>