Josephine Baker

A st. louis-born dancer, french resistance agent, and civil rights activist,

Josephine Baker was an icon of the Jazz Age and Roaring Twenties, famous for her dancing in a costume with a banana skirt. She refused to play for segregated audiences and was a civil rights activist. She also was awarded the Resistance Medal by the French Committee of National Liberation for her service in WWII. And she also was the first Black woman to enter the Pantheon in Paris.

You can read more about her on her official website here at the link below, and watch a brief overview of her life (including clips of performances) at the second button below.