Josephine Baker (46 page)

On the train to Bordeaux, 1939, with husband, Jean Lion, and secretary. Josephine, chic and radiant, plays to her adoring crowd.

The star in war-torn France, knitting scarves for the soldiers at Les Milandes with Madame Bataille and her niece, July 1940.
(Maurice Bataille)

Arriving in Paris from a South American tour, 1939, with friends and a menagerie of chattering souvenirs.

Thami el Glaoui, pasha of Marrakesh.
(Courtesy Abdessadeq el Glaoui)

Ahmed Ben Bachir.
(Courtesy Bachir Ben Bachir)

Mohamed Menebhi.
(Courtesy Medhi Lamghari-Menebhi)

Casablanca, 1943, with Jacques Abtey and a friend.
(Donald Wyatt)

Rehearsing before the opening of the Liberty Club, a Red Cross facility for black soldiers. Casablanca, February 1943.
(Donald Wyatt)

With Major Donald Wyatt and friend.
(Courtesy Donald Wyatt)

Richard Alexander Martin, who looked much like his half sister, Josephine, on duty during the war, in Great Lakes, Illinois.
(Courtesy Richard Martin, Sr.)

Sublieutenant Josephine Baker on her way back from North Africa to a newly liberated Paris on a Liberty ship, October 2, 1944. Air Force officer Catherine Egger snapped the photo.

An invitation to the Rialto, Casablanca.

Soirée de Gala, starring Josephine and Frederic Rey.

Josephine is decorated with the Medal of Resistance on her sickbed in Paris. De Gaulle himself wrote to congratulate her and wish her a speedy recovery. “I would like to be upright to receive a medal from France,” she said. (France-Dimanche)

Avenue Bugeaud. she owned the building. (France-Dimanche)

Le Beau Chêne, Josephine's villa at Le Vésinet.

Les Milandes in all its imposing splendor. (Paris Match)

At Place Josephine, the star in stone as the Virgin Mary blessing the tourists.
(Arthur Prevost)

A tableau from the Jorama, a wax museum at Les Milandes: “Saint” Josephine with her husband, Jo Bouillon, being blessed by Pope Pius XII.
(Courtesy Arthur Prevost)