Tag: Panthéon

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An African-American in Pre-WWII Paris

Most of us have never experienced blatant discrimination because of the color of our skin. Every country can point to episodes in its past that are regrettable and if possible, its citizens would certainly jump at the chance to turn the clock back and try to undo the damage. For America, I think most of us would agree that slavery was our low point. Even after the Civil War and emancipation, the Jim Crow laws of the south (and let’s not totally exclude the north) prevented African-Americans from exercising their rights. Before the civil rights movement of the 1960s, entertainers such as Sammy Davis Jr., Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Nat King Cole were not allowed to stay in Las Vegas hotels (in other words, you can perform here—to segregated audiences—but you can’t stay here). Our story today is about an African-American entertainer who moved to Paris during the Jazz Age because her talents were recognized and appreciated by the French. The welcome mat was always out for her to stay at the hotel of her choice. By the end of her life, Josephine Baker was hailed not only as one of the world’s top entertainers but also a World War II French Resistance hero and one of the leaders of the American Civil Rights movement.

Meet Freda Josephine McDonald AKA Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker, singer. Photo by anonymous (c. 1930s). Author’s collection.
Josephine Baker, singer. Photo by anonymous (c. 1930s). Author’s collection.

Josephine Baker (1906–1975) was born into extreme poverty in St. Louis. By the age of eight, her mother began to hire out Josephine as a live-in maid. One of her memories was being abused and punished if she made eye contact with her white employer. Five years later, Josephine was living on the streets and dancing on the street corners to make money (similar to the waifs in Paris—think Edith Piaf—who sang on the street corners in the early 1900s).

Josephine married the first of her four husbands when she was thirteen. At fifteen, she divorced him and married Willie Baker. Although divorcing Willie in 1925, she decided to keep his name as her audiences were beginning to recognize Josephine Baker as a top performer and dancer in the entertainment world.  Read More An African-American in Pre-WWII Paris

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The Tragic Death of Madame Curie

Julius Mendes Price [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons from Wikimedia Commons
Julius Mendes Price [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons from Wikimedia Commons
If you studied science and in particular, radiology, then you know the story of Marie Curie (1867–1934) and her husband, Pierre (1859–1906). Madame Curie was the first woman to ever win a Nobel Prize and the only woman to win two Nobel prizes in separate categories: physics (1903) and chemistry (1911). At this moment, she is the only woman buried in the Pantheon based on her own merits (several other women have recently been voted in but their remains have not been transferred).

Family Affair

The Curie family was quite well known for their work in radiology and radium. Their daughter, Irene (1897–1956), would go on to win the 1935 Nobel Prize in chemistry. The other children were esteemed scientists in their own ways.

Pierre was an instructor at the School of Physics and Chemistry and would go on to hold the physics chair at the University of Paris created specifically for him. Despite this position, the Curies had to use a make shift laboratory located in a converted shed.

Jointly, the Curies are responsible for discovering two elements: polonium (named for her homeland of Poland) and radium. In time, they would create the word radioactivity. One of their 32 scientific papers dealt with radium and how when exposed to it, diseased and tumor-forming cells would die off quicker than healthy cells. Read More The Tragic Death of Madame Curie