Josephine Baker
While Jim Crow laws were reeking havoc on the lives of African Americans in the South, a massed exodus of Southern musicians, particularly from New Orleans, spread the seeds of Jazz as far north as New York City. A new genre of music produced fissures in the walls of racial discrimination thought to be impenetrable. Musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, "King" Oliver and Fletcher Henderson performed to the first desegregated audiences. Duke Ellington starred in the first primetime radio program to feature an African American artist. And a quirky little girl from Missouri conquered an entire country enthralled by her dark skin, curvaceous body and dynamic personality. Josephine Baker was more than a Jazz musician. She embodied the freedom and expressiveness of that which is known as Jazz.
Born Josephine Freda McDonald on June 3, 1906, Josephine Baker was the product of a "footloose merchant of whom the family saw little, and a mother [who] supported herself and the children in a slum hovel by taking in laundry." #
Later, her mother had three children with another man, Arthur Martin: Richard, Margaret and Willie Mae. Ms. Baker was enrolled in a school in St. Louis until the age of six. When the family was experiencing financial difficulties, she was sent to perform domestic chores in the homes of white families. "When only seven, she worked for a woman who frequently beat her, made her sleep in the cellar, and who, after Josephine accidentally broke some china, thrust her hands into scalding water. Neighbors, hearing her agonizing screams, called the police and she was taken to the hospital."# By the age of ten, she had worked as a kitchen helper, baby-sitter and maid.
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...ll come when color means nothing more than the skin tone, when religion is seen uniquely as a way to speak one's soul; when birth places have the weight of a throw of the dice and all men are born free, when understanding breeds love and brotherhood."# I certainly hope I am alive to experience this wonderful world born from the imagination and initiative of Josephine Baker.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS:
"Baker, Josephine," Current Biography Yearbook, 1964: 19 - 21.
ARTICLES:
Lamb, D., "Having Our Way: What Is It Really?" Aesthetic Realism Foundation 9/3/98: 2
WEBSITES:
http://search.biography.com/print_record.pl?id=12499 http://www.cmgww.com/stars/baker/quote.html http://www.gis.net/~dlamb/Josephine_Baker.html
http://www. npg.si.edu/exu/noir/broch3.htm
http://windows.../artistinfo.asp?name=Josephine%20Baker&p_id=p%20%20%20%20%20308
Mary Boykin Chesnut was born on her grandparents' estate at Mount Pleasant, South Carolina on March 31, 1823. She learned early about the workings of a plantation by observing her grandmother. Grandmother Miller rose early to assign the cleaning and cooking duties for her servants. Besides keeping the mansion clean and prepared for the frequent guests, Mary's grandmother also took charge of making and mending clothing for the slaves on the plantation. She spent whole days cutting out clothing for the children and assigning sewing to her nine seamstresses. Her grandmother worked with the servants and sewing crew so easily and effectively that Mary was nearly nine years old before she became aware that her grandmother's coworkers were slaves. Having learned to respect these workers, she thought of them as near equals.
When Bessie graduated from high school, she enrolled in the Colored Agricultural and Normal University, which is now Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma. But with money issues she had to drop out after her first semester because all her savings had run out. But she could have stayed and work, but her mother needed help at home so Bessie gave up school just to help her mom out at home. Not long after that she moved to Chicago in 1915, where her brother was then living, and attended beauty school. She spent her early years in World War 1 working as a manicurist at the White Sox Barber Shop. She operated a small but profitable chili parlor.
While living on the streets, Baker only 13 years old, married Willie Wells. The couple divorced shortly after their marriage. (Josephine Baker History) Again, Baker be...
While Bessie was young, and her older brothers and sisters started to work in the fields, Bessie took on some new responsibilities. She would now look after her sisters, and sometimes even help her mother in the garden. Bessie started school when she was six years old and walked four miles to school everyday. In school, she was very intelligent and excelled at math. Then, in 1901, when Bessie was nine, her life changed dramatically, her father George Coleman left his family. It was said that he was tired of the racial barriers that existed, and so he returned to Oklahoma (Indian Territory as it was called then) to search for better opportunities. When he was unable to convince his family to come with him, he left Susan and his family. Shortly thereafter, her older brothers also moved out, leaving Susan with four girls under the age of nine. This caused Susan to have to get a job, which she found very soon. She became a housekeeper for Mr. and Mrs. Jones, who allowed Susan to still live at home, and they would also give her food and other handed-down clothing. Since her mother was now at work, Bessie took on the responsibility of acting as a mother and a housekeeper. Every year at the cotton harvest, Bessie’s routine was changed because she now had to go out into the field and pick cotton for her family to be able to survive. This continued on until Bessie was twelve, and this was when she was accepted into the Missionary Baptist Church, where she completed all of her eight grades.
Mary Elizabeth Bowser was born in 1839 on the Van Lew plantation, in Richmond, Virginia. Mary Elizabeth was born into slavery, and was forced to work as soon as she could. When Mary was very young, there was a big slave selling from the Van Lew plantation, her family members were traded away to other masters so no one knows for sure who her mom and dad really were. From around the age of three Mary was forced to work on the plantation, in the fields or even doing laundry.(Mary Elizabeth Bowser) John Van Lew believed that if the slaves wanted to get to have a place to sleep and food to eat then they should be required to work at the earliest age possible. Most of the slaves couldn’t start really working till around age three, so the plantation had a slave or two that would watch the “under age” kids that couldn’t work yet. Therefore the “under age” slaves moms could work and not be held back by their children.
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born June 30, 1917, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Both sides of her family claimed a mixture of African-Americans, Native Americans, and Caucasians, and both were part of what black leader W.E.B. DuBois called "the talented tenth," the upper stratum of the American black population made up of middle-class, well-educated African-Americans. Her parents, however, might both be described as mavericks from that tradition. Her father, Edwin Fletcher Horne Jr., worked for the New York State Department of Labor, but one of her biographers describes him more accurately as "a 'numbers' banker": his real profession was gambling.
Ella Baker was born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1903. She always had strong opinions, and “followed her own mind”. However, she was influenced by her grandmother growing up, and this contributed to her sense of social justice and racism. Her grandmother, who had once been a slave, told her granddaughter stories of her own years in slavery. Her grandmother had been whipped for refusing to marry a man picked by her slave owner (SNCC). This story and others like it inspired Baker throughout her life, and led to many of the incredible things she did. Ella and her parents moved to Littleton, North Carolina when she was eight. Sadly, her father stayed behind for his job. The public schools for black children during this time were not sufficient. Her parents wanted to send her and her brother and sister to boarding schools. They both worked hard to acquire this. Finally, when Baker turned fifteen she was sent to Shaw University, in North Carolina (SNCC). Being the bright, intelligent student that she was, she had excellent grades, and was top in her class. She expressed an interest in being a medical missionary, but this would not have been realistic. After graduating in 1927 as valedictorian, Baker headed to New York City (Richman). She was quite brilliant and hoped to find some opportunities in New York that would help her do something worthwhile with her life.
In 1924 she went back to live with her mother, traveling and being schooled all over the state until she was fourteen. At the age of fourteen she decided to drop out of school and go to work. Because she was talented and light skinned it was not hard for her to find a job. She became a chorus girl in Harlem’s Cotton Club where blacks entertained a strictly all white crowd. At that time she was making about $25 a week. It was here that Lena got to meet and observe now famous artists such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Ethal Waters, and Billie Holiday.
In the 1840’s, the Perkins’ family worked in the brick-making factory, and they were wealthy for a short period of time. Many businesses collapsed and were bought out, so the wealth didn’t last long. In 1870, the Perkins’ turned to dairy farming to get their money. Shortly after, Frances’ father, Frederick married a woman by the name of Susan Bean. On April 10th, 1880 in Boston, Massachusetts Fannie Coralie Perkins was born. In 1884, when Fannie was four years old, Frederick and Susan had a second child, Ethel (Downey 7). Fannie was very close to her family her entire life. She often spoke of ancestors, she adored and their ways of thinking helped her when she had to make big decisions later on in her life.
Many jazz artists as we know it are quite talented. Their talents are unique in that they can translate human emotion through singing or playing their instruments. Many have the ability to reach and touch people’s souls through their amazing gifts. Although this art of turning notes and lyrics into emotional imagery may somewhat come natural, the audience must wonder where their influence comes from. For Billie Holiday, her career was highly influenced by personal experience, the effects of the Great Depression, and the racial challenges of African Americans during her time.
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Willie Wells was only married to Josephine for a short brief time. She realized she would never have to depend on a man for financial stability. A habit she might have learned growing up without her real father. She remarried in 1921 to Willie Baker, whose last name she decided to keep. She remarried again in 1937 to Frenchman Jean Lion, from which she obtained French citizenship. Then a last time in 1947 to a French orchestra leader Jo Bouillon, who helped to raise her 12 adopted children. She was never again officially...
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