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IDEALIST (From p. 1)
Josephine's father left when she was one, and her siblings were by her second daddy, but he often couldn't find work. When she was seven a white woman took Josephine into her country home where Josephine had to work hard fetching coal, stoking the stove, emptying chamber pots and spittoons cutting wood, and cleaning. As required by law, the woman sent Josephine to school, but she also beat her for scratching fleas acquired while sleeping in the basement with the dog. One day a neighbor, hearing Josephine's screams, alerted police, and after a stay in the hospital, she went back home with her mother. Some time later a much kinder Mrs. Mason took Josephine in, and although she had to work in the woman's home, she was also encouraged in her studies and allowed playtime. It was here that Josephine constructed a theater in the basement and began entertaining. Unfortunately Mr. Mason had other things on his mind besides child's play, and Mrs. Mason had to send Josephine back to her family.
At thirteen, Josephine took a waitressing job and moved out on her own. Soon she married, quitting her job, but the marriage did not last, and Josephine was waiting tables again.
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What she really wanted, though, was to entertain, and it was not long before her tenacity rewarded her. She got a job with a vaudeville troupe called the Dixie Steppers. With her first appearance at the Booker T. Washington Theater before a black audience, Josephine's career was launched, although success would be hard won over the next few years. She left with the troupe on a night train, never living with her family again until many years later when she brought some of them to her estate in the French countryside.
When Josephine left the Dixie Steppers she auditioned for Shuffle Along, but did not get a part. She tried a second time, but was told "too young, too skinny" by the show's manager. She did get hired as a dresser, however, which allowed her to learn all the songs and dance steps while waiting for a chance to prove herself. One night shortly before the show was to begin, a chorus member became ill, and Josephine Baker got her chance. The audience loved her, and the new box office draw never looked back. Josephine stayed with the company until the show closed in 1924. Immediately following Shuffle Along she was in Chocolate Dandies, but that production was unsuccessful and closed in 1925.
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