Paris had never seen anything like it it wasnt ballet or burlesque and it wasnt tribal dance either it was the spirit of an era. The spirit of blaster desire and freedom that took the french capital by storm in the 1920 s. Josephine baker dazzled white audiences with her uninhibited performances. But behind her exuberance lay troubled memories of a childhood marked by poverty and abuse. The searing sting of segregation and entrenched racism on the other side of the atlantic i. I i i i i. I i. I i would take 40 years until she felt this burden lifted. I gone with the feathers the sequins and glitter it was in military dress that she participated in a defining moment in the American Civil Rights movement i want. That there is the happiest day of my and i like i just said the baker put her global celebrity to use as a champion of racial equality this is the story of the worlds 1st black superstar. Dancing to stay alive dancing to forget the harsh missouri winters. With dance steps passed
Curtains. It didnt matter. Four days later we heard shouting. Everybody. People were screaming. The french army had arrived. I kissed my husband. We began to realize how unhappy we have been ppfor years. How lucky we were to be alive on this evening in august. Professor university of wisconsin madison Mary Louise Roberts is a history professor at the, Mary Louise Roberts is a history professor at the university of wisconsin madison. Joining us this morning on American History tv, washington journal on our focus on dday to talk about her book dday through french eyes. Professor roberts, we just heard video from the liberation of paris later that summer. Take us back to before the invasion. What was normandy like on june 5 . What were the citizens like . The french had been under German Occupation since 1940. In normandy, the food situation was better than the rest of france. It was the dairyland of france. I tell my students, the wisconsin of france. There was more abundant food. At the
Pariset never seen anything like it it wasnt ballet or burlesque and it wasnt tribal dance either it was the spirit of an era. The spirit of laughter desire and freedom that took the french capital by storm in the 1920 s. Josephine baker dazzled white audiences with her uninhibited performances. But behind her exuberance lay troubled memories of a childhood marked by poverty and abuse. The searing sting of segregation and entrenched racism on the other side of the atlantic i i i i. I. I i i it would take 40 years until she felt this burden lifted. I gone with the feathers the sequins and glitter it was in military dress that she participated in a defining moment in the American Civil Rights movement i want. That this is the happiest day of my and i like i just said the baker put her global celebrity to use as a champion of racial equality this is the story of the worlds 1st black superstar. Dancing to stay alive dancing to forget the harsh missouri winters. With dance steps passed down
Paris had never seen anything like it it wasnt ballet or burlesque and it wasnt tribal dance either it was the spirit of an era. The spirit of laughter desire and freedom that took the french capital by storm in the 1920 s. Josephine baker dazzled white audiences with her uninhibited performances. But behind her exuberance late troubled memories of a childhood marked by poverty and abuse the searing sting of segregation and entrenched racism on the other side of the atlantic i. I. I. I i i. I. I it would take 40 years until she felt this burden lifted. I gone with the feathers the sequins and glitter it was in military dress that she participated in a defining moment in the American Civil Rights movement i want. That there is the happiest day of my in my life i just said the baker put her global celebrity to use as a champion of racial equality this is the story of the worlds 1st black superstar. Dancing to stay alive dancing to forget the harsh missouri winters. With dance steps passe
And previous ep soats website our website, and click on the index tab at the 0 top of the page. [inaudible conversations] no one is here to talk to me or hear me. [laughter] thank you for coming out this evening to hear our favorite historian stephen ha hardy. And hes a longterm journalist and the history magazine. Hes a captivating speaker, at least i always feel that way after id heard him talk and he shares fascinating stories full of intrigue and courage that many of us have never heard about. Well hear about his new book, escape from paris, which is based on official american, german, french documents and as well as interviews. Its a story of droup aviators, taken to nazi occupied paris and please join me in welcoming him. No pressure there. I would like to personally thank you all for coming. I really appreciate it when people show up and i hope not to bore you. I want to give you a quick background on myself because people wonder how you wind up writing history. I was born in ca