Before Beyonce, there was Josephine. Before Diana, there was Josephine. Before Madonna, Mariah, Celine or Selena, there was Josephine. Before Shakira, Lady Gaga, Billy Eilish, Taylor Swift – and so on and so on – there was Josephine.
More than a century after Josephine Baker left St. Louis to become the first woman international star of popular music – Black, white or other – her influence is still undeniably present.
“Josephine Baker was all over the Met Gala Red Carpet,” Time Magazine writer Olivia B. Waxman proclaimed about fashion’s biggest night – which paid tribute to Black Dandyism for 2025.
Rap star Megan Thee Stallion provided head to toe homage to one of Baker’s most iconic looks. The form-fitting evening gown and fountain-like ponytail was the human form of Baker’s 1957 People Today (which later became PEOPLE) cover.
Thanks to philanthropist and St. Louis cultural legend Mary Strauss, the cover that inspired Megan’s look – and hundreds of other items – will have a forever home at the Missouri History Museum. Strauss gifted the museum the world’s largest privately held collection of Josephine Baker artifacts.
Last Wednesday, the Grand Hall of the museum was at capacity for the program that acknowledged the magnitude of Strauss’ gift – and what it means for the region.
Before the formal program, French singer Laika Fatien performed a mini concert that included some of Baker’s biggest hits.
Born in St. Louis and was raised in Mill Creek Valley, Baker became a star in Paris almost as soon as she arrived there in the 1920s. She went on to become one of the most influential figures in the history of global popular culture.
“She is an internationally revered entertainer, a war hero and an activist,” said Peter Kastor, Chair of the Missouri Historical Society Board of Trustees. Kastor, who is also the Samuel K. Eddy Endowed Professor in History in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, introduced Missouri Historical Society President Dr. Jody Sowell.
“Our collections include stories of entertainers who have shaped the culture of St. Louis, the country and the world,” Sowell said. “We are happy to welcome someone new into that collection. Josephine Baker was born in St. Louis. Josephine Baker first performed in St. Louis. Josephine Baker gave one of her most important speeches here in St. Louis. She is loved around the globe, but this is where she got her start.”
Sowell thanked Strauss for her overwhelmingly generous gift and declared her a St. Louis icon in her own right. He praised her work within the cultural landscape – alongside her late husband Leon Strauss –but spent much of his tribute speaking on her phenomenally curated Baker collection.
“Mary is an avid collector, and one of her biggest focuses over the past 50 years has been Josephine Baker,” Sowell said. “She has collected items that showcase Baker’s performances. But she has also collected artifacts that show the love and obsession that people have had – and continue to have – over the years.”
Her collection includes more than 500 items that detail the life and legacy of Baker.
“Josephine Baker was an extraordinary artist and human being,” Strauss said. “It’s been one of my life’s great joys to amass and care for this collection.”
Strauss has produced tribute performances and created exhibitions across the country.
“I feel so fortunate to have items that capture her at her zenith – programs, posters, photographs, a costume, and Bakerfix items to name but a few,” Strauss said. “Each one reflecting a different side of her brilliance. I’m thrilled that they’ll one day belong to the people of St. Louis.”
Historian Cicely Hunter provided the audience with an overview of Baker’s life and career – which included her becoming the first African American woman to star in a French motion picture and upon her death becoming the first Black woman, and first entertainer to be interned at France’s famed Pantheon.
One of the most compelling takeaways from Hunter was her mention of Baker’s 1952 speech at the Kiel Auditorium where she gave her firsthand account of witnessing the 1917 East St. Louis race massacre from across the river.
“I was very tiny, but the terror of the whole thing impressed me so that here today, at the age of 45 years, I can still see myself standing on the west bank of the Mississippi watching the glow of the burning of negro homes lighting the sky,” Baker said, according to Hunter. “Here we were, hiding behind the skirts of grownups frightened to death, with the screams of the negro families running across this bridge with nothing but what they had on their backs as their worldly belongings.”
Sowell told the audience that early work has already begun on an exhibit that the museum is planning for 2028 – and that the collection will be a point of reference for creative and historical responses to Baker’s life and career.
“She is everywhere, people are still talking about her and interest in this once in a lifetime entertainer is only growing,” Sowell said.
And thanks to Strauss, St. Louis will be the epicenter for tangible items that reflect Baker’s storied history.
“It is a collection that is staying right here in St. Louis,” Kastor said. “Right where it belongs.”
Living It content is produced with funding by the ARPA for the Arts grants program in partnership with the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis and the Community Development Administration.
