{"id":39296,"date":"2017-09-11T17:04:35","date_gmt":"2017-09-12T00:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soulofamerica.com\/?page_id=39296"},"modified":"2020-10-28T15:40:55","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T22:40:55","slug":"josephine-baker-to-nelly","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.soulofamerica.com\/us-cities\/st-louis\/josephine-baker-to-nelly\/","title":{"rendered":"Josephine Baker to Nelly"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Josephine

Josephine Baker star on Walk of Fame<\/strong>; St. Louis CVB<\/p><\/div>\n

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Josephine Baker to Nelly<\/h2>\n
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A couple of years after Joplin\u2019s world-renown composition made its debut at the World\u2019s Fair, a young girl by the name of Freda Jospehine McDonald was born here. A professional dancer and singer when only a teenager, McDonald, took St. Louis and the world by storm with her sultry Ragtime and Jazz vocals. Through marriage, she took the name, Josephine Baker.<\/p>\n

However, even though she was the undisputed leading lady of one of society\u2019s most unifying forces\u2014music\u2014it was not enough to close the racial divide. So, Baker decided to flee from the harsh racism of America, relocating in Paris where she discovered the open arms of the French, denizens bolstered by and appreciative of the heroic efforts of the African American soldiers in World War I. As a \u201cnew Parisian\u201d and ex-patriot, she no longer had to endure the prejudiced separate-but-not-equal audiences and establishments back home.<\/p>\n

Following Baker were some of the most notable performers to revolutionize music – so much so that nearly every genre of music today can be traced back to the contributions of these early pioneers.<\/p>\n