Josephine Baker at the Civil Rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1963
The famed entertainer and civil rights activist attended the March on Washington in August, 1963 at which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his historic "I Have a Dream" speech. Baker was in her Free French military uniform and wearing her medals. During the war she had courageously worked as a spy and helped the Free French. For these actions she was made a lieutenant in the Free French Air Force and was awarded the French Croix de guerre and the Rosette de la Résistance medals as well as being made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.
Today she was inducted into France's Pantheon, becoming the first Black woman to receive the nation's highest honour.