Josephine Baker, the "Ebony Venus," was a singer, dancer, comedienne, and legend. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she earned her celebrity as a music-hall star in Paris, France, during the 1920s. She arrived there mid-decade, when she was just nineteen. Baker became a chorus girl and was featured with twenty-five African American dancers in "La Revue Negre," in which she cavorted in a costume of fabric banana skins. The following year, she was a star with the fabled Folies Bergère stage show. Eventually, Baker became the top-salaried performer in Europe.

Legendary performer Josephine Baker. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

To Parisians, Baker personified the 1920s Jazz Age. She quickly gained the fame that would have eluded her had she remained in the United States. After all, for decades after Baker electrified Paris, African American performers remained locked in demeaning, stereotypical roles...