AP

Black artist Josephine Baker honored at France’s Pantheon

Nov 29, 2021, 10:11 AM | Updated: Nov 30, 2021, 1:07 pm

Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the Fre...

Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thomas Coex/Pool Photo via AP)

(Thomas Coex/Pool Photo via AP)


              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thomas Coex/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thomas Coex/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thomas Coex/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thomas Coex/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              French President Emmanuel Macron, center, officials attend a ceremony honouring France U.S.-born entertainer, anti-Nazi spy and civil rights activist Josephine Bakerin at the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Image of U.S.-born entertainer, anti-Nazi spy and civil rights activist Josephine Baker is projected on the Pantheon monument during a ceremony in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Image of U.S.-born entertainer, anti-Nazi spy and civil rights activist Josephine Baker is projected on the Pantheon monument during a ceremony in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              The coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument, rear, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Josephine Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              A coffin carrying soils from the U.S., France and Monaco will be deposited inside the Pantheon monument, rear, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Josephine Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker and a red carpet lead to the Pantheon monument, rear, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021 , where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. A coffin carrying soils from the U.S., France and Monaco will be deposited inside the Pantheon. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              The coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument, rear, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Josephine Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              A coffin carrying soils from the U.S., France and Monaco will be deposited inside the Pantheon monument, rear, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Josephine Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker and a red carpet lead to the Pantheon monument, rear, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021 , where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. A coffin carrying soils from the U.S., France and Monaco will be deposited inside the Pantheon. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thomas Coex/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thomas Coex/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              French President Emmanuel Macron, center, officials attend a ceremony honouring France U.S.-born entertainer, anti-Nazi spy and civil rights activist Josephine Bakerin at the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Image of U.S.-born entertainer, anti-Nazi spy and civil rights activist Josephine Baker is projected on the Pantheon monument during a ceremony in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              The coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument, rear, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Josephine Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              A coffin carrying soils from the U.S., France and Monaco will be deposited inside the Pantheon monument, rear, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Josephine Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker and a red carpet lead to the Pantheon monument, rear, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021 , where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. A coffin carrying soils from the U.S., France and Monaco will be deposited inside the Pantheon. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thomas Coex/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thomas Coex/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              French President Emmanuel Macron, center, officials attend a ceremony honouring France U.S.-born entertainer, anti-Nazi spy and civil rights activist Josephine Bakerin at the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              The coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument, rear, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Josephine Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              A coffin carrying soils from the U.S., France and Monaco will be deposited inside the Pantheon monument, rear, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Josephine Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker and a red carpet lead to the Pantheon monument, rear, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021 , where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. A coffin carrying soils from the U.S., France and Monaco will be deposited inside the Pantheon. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thomas Coex/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              French President Emmanuel Macron, center, officials attend a ceremony honouring France U.S.-born entertainer, anti-Nazi spy and civil rights activist Josephine Bakerin at the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              A coffin carrying soils from the U.S., France and Monaco will be deposited inside the Pantheon monument, rear, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Josephine Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thomas Coex/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Six carriers of the Air Force and Space carry the cenotaph of Josephine Baker, covered with the French flag, into the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Thibault Camus/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              French President Emmanuel Macron, center, officials attend a ceremony honouring France U.S.-born entertainer, anti-Nazi spy and civil rights activist Josephine Bakerin at the Pantheon in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where she is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              The coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument, rear, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Josephine Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              A coffin carrying soils from the U.S., France and Monaco will be deposited inside the Pantheon monument, rear, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Josephine Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Pictures of Josephine Baker adorn the red carpet as the coffin with soils from the U.S., France and Monaco is carried towards the Pantheon monument in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, where Baker is to symbolically be inducted, becoming the first Black woman to receive France's highest honor. Her body will stay in Monaco at the request of her family. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
            
              Prince Albert II of Monaco stands for the Monaco national anthem, during a ceremony honoring Joesphine Baker at the Monaco-Louis II Cemetery in Monaco, Monday, Nov. 29, 2021. France is inducting Missouri-born cabaret dancer Josephine Baker who was also a French World War II spy and civil rights activist into its Pantheon. She is the first Black woman honored in the final resting place of France’s most revered luminaries. A coffin carrying soils from places where Baker made her mark will be deposited Tuesday inside the domed Pantheon monument overlooking the Left Bank of Paris. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
            
              Prince Albert II of Monaco delivers a speech during a ceremony honouring Joesphine Baker at the Monaco-Louis II Cemetery in Monaco, Monday, Nov. 29, 2021. France is inducting Missouri-born cabaret dancer Josephine Baker who was also a French World War II spy and civil rights activist into its Pantheon. She is the first Black woman honored in the final resting place of France’s most revered luminaries. A coffin carrying soils from places where Baker made her mark will be deposited Tuesday inside the domed Pantheon monument overlooking the Left Bank of Paris. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
            
              Josephine Baker's grave is pictured at the Monaco-Louis II Cemetery in Monaco, Monday, Nov. 29, 2021. France is inducting Missouri-born cabaret dancer Josephine Baker who was also a French World War II spy and civil rights activist into its Pantheon. She is the first Black woman honored in the final resting place of France’s most revered luminaries. A coffin carrying soils from places where Baker made her mark will be deposited Tuesday inside the domed Pantheon monument overlooking the Left Bank of Paris. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
            
              Monaco's honor guards arrive at a ceremony held to honor Josephine Baker at the Monaco-Louis II Cemetery in Monaco, Monday, Nov. 29, 2021. France is inducting Missouri-born cabaret dancer Josephine Baker who was also a French World War II spy and civil rights activist into its Pantheon. She is the first Black woman honored in the final resting place of France’s most revered luminaries. A coffin carrying soils from places where Baker made her mark will be deposited Tuesday inside the domed Pantheon monument overlooking the Left Bank of Paris.  (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
            
              FILE - Performer Josephine Baker strikes a pose during her Ziegfeld Follies performance of "The Conga" on the Winter Garden Theater stage in New York, Feb. 11, 1936. France is inducting Josephine Baker – Missouri-born cabaret dancer, French Resistance fighter and civil rights leader – into its Pantheon, the first Black woman honored in the final resting place of France's most revered luminaries. (AP Photo, File)
            
              FILE - Josephine Baker with patients at a American hospital in Paris, France, where she sang for French soldiers on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 1939. France is inducting Josephine Baker – Missouri-born cabaret dancer, French Resistance fighter and civil rights leader – into its Pantheon, the first Black woman honored in the final resting place of France's most revered luminaries. (AP Photo, File)
            
              FILE- Actress Josephine Baker in her apartment at the Hotel Forresta near Stockholm, Sweden on Dec. 7, 1957, with three of her adopted children, Marianne, left, Koffi, center, and Brahim. France is inducting Josephine Baker – Missouri-born cabaret dancer, French Resistance fighter and civil rights leader – into its Pantheon, the first Black woman honored in the final resting place of France's most revered luminaries. (AP Photo, File)
            
              FILE - Charlie Chaplin congratulates entertainer Josephine Baker after her performance at the charity gala "Le Bal des Petits Lits Blancs," at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, on May 20, 1953. France is inducting Josephine Baker – Missouri-born cabaret dancer, French Resistance fighter and civil rights leader – into its Pantheon, the first Black woman honored in the final resting place of France's most revered luminaries. (AP Photo, File)

PARIS (AP) — Josephine Baker — the U.S.-born entertainer, anti-Nazi spy and civil rights activist — was inducted into France’s Pantheon on Tuesday, becoming the first Black woman to receive the nation’s highest honor.

Baker’s voice resonated through streets of Paris’ famed Left Bank as recordings from her extraordinary career kicked off an elaborate ceremony at the domed Pantheon monument. Baker joined other French luminaries honored at the site, including philosopher Voltaire, scientist Marie Curie and writer Victor Hugo.

Military officers from the Air Force carried her cenotaph along a red carpet that stretched for four blocks of cobblestoned streets from the Luxembourg Gardens to the Pantheon. Baker’s military medals lay atop the cenotaph, which was draped in the French tricolor flag and contained soil from her birthplace in Missouri, from France, and from her final resting place in Monaco. Her body stayed in Monaco at the request of her family.

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to “a war hero, fighter, dancer, singer; a Black woman defending Black people but first of all, a woman defending humankind. American and French. Josephine Baker fought so many battles with lightness, freedom, joy.”

“Josephine Baker, you are entering into the Pantheon because, (despite) born American, there is no greater French (woman) than you,” he said.

Baker was also the first American-born citizen and the first performer to be immortalized into the Pantheon.

She is not only praised for her world-renowned artistic career but also for her active role in the French Resistance during World War II, her actions as a civil rights activist and her humanist values, which she displayed through the adoption of her 12 children from all over the world. Nine of them attended Tuesday’s ceremony among the 2,000 guests.

“Mum would have been very happy,” Akio Bouillon, Baker’s son, said after the ceremony. “Mum would not have accepted to enter into the Pantheon if that was not as the symbol of all the forgotten people of history, the minorities.”

Bouillon added that what moved him the most were the people who gathered along the street in front of the Pantheon to watch.

“They were her public, people who really loved her,” he said.

The tribute ceremony started with Baker’s song “Me revoilà Paris” (“Paris, I’m Back”). The French army choir sang the French Resistance song, prompting strong applause from the public. Her signature song “J’ai deux amours” (“Two Loves”) was then played by an orchestra accompanying Baker’s voice on the Pantheon plaza.

During a light show displayed on the monument, Baker could be heard saying “I think I am a person who has been adopted by France. It especially developed my humanist values, and that’s the most important thing in my life.”

The homage included Martin Luther King’s famed “I have a dream” speech. Baker was the only woman to speak before him at the 1963 March on Washington.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Baker became a megastar in the 1930s, especially in France, where she moved in 1925 as she sought to flee racism and segregation in the United States.

“The simple fact to have a Black woman entering the pantheon is historic,” Black French scholar Pap Ndiaye, an expert on U.S. minority rights movements, told The Associated Press.

“When she arrived, she was first surprised like so many African Americans who settled in Paris at the same time … at the absence of institutional racism. There was no segregation … no lynching. (There was) the possibility to sit at a cafe and be served by a white waiter, the possibility to talk to white people, to (have a) romance with white people,” Ndiaye said.

“It does not mean that racism did not exist in France. But French racism has often been more subtle, not as brutal as the American forms of racism,” he added.

Baker was among several prominent Black Americans, especially artists and writers, who found refuge in France after the two World Wars, including famed writer and intellectual James Baldwin.

They were “aware of the French empire and the brutalities of French colonization, for sure. But they were also having a better life overall than the one they had left behind in the United States,” Ndiaye, who also directs France’s state-run immigration museum, told The Associated Press.

Baker quickly became famous for her banana-skirt dance routines and wowed audiences at Paris theater halls. Her shows were controversial, Ndiaye stressed, because many activists believed she was “the propaganda for colonization, singing the song that the French wanted her to sing.”

Baker knew well about “the stereotypes that Black women had to face,” he said. “She also distanced herself from these stereotypes with her facial expressions.”

“But let’s not forget that when she arrived in France she was only 19, she was almost illiterate … She had to build her political and racial consciousness,” he said.

Baker became a French citizen after her marriage to industrialist Jean Lion in 1937. The same year, she settled in southwestern France, in the castle of Castelnaud-la-Chapelle.

“Josephine Baker can be considered to be the first Black superstar. She’s like the Rihanna of the 1920s,” said Rosemary Phillips, a Barbados-born performer and co-owner of Baker’s park in southwestern France.

Phillips said one of the ladies who grew up in the castle and met with Baker said: “Can you imagine a Black woman in the 1930s in a chauffeur-driven car — a white chauffeur — who turns up and says, ‘I’d like to buy the 1,000 acres here?'”

In 1938, Baker joined what is today called LICRA, a prominent antiracist league. The next year, she started to work for France’s counter-intelligence services against Nazis, notably collecting information from German officials who she met at parties. She then joined the French Resistance, using her performances as a cover for spying activities during World War II.

In 1944, Baker became second-lieutenant in a female group in the Air Force of the French Liberation Army of Gen. Charles De Gaulle.

After the war, she got involved in anti-racist politics and the civil rights struggle, both in France and in the United States.

Toward the end of her life, she ran into financial trouble, was evicted and lost her properties. She received support from Princess Grace of Monaco, who offered Baker a place for her and her children to live. Baker died in Paris in 1975 at age 68.

___

AP journalists Jamey Keaten and Arno Pedram in Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, France, and Bishr Eltouni in Monaco contributed.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Image: A cargo ship is stuck under the part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after ...

Associated Press

Authorities identify 2 bodies recovered at site of Baltimore bridge collapse

A major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below.

22 hours ago

Photo: Mountaineer Jim Whittaker has died at 95....

Gene Johnson, The Associated Press

Lou Whittaker, among the most famous American mountaineers, has died at age 95

Lou Whittaker, a legendary American mountaineer who helped lead ascents of Mount Everest, K2 and Denali, has died at age 95.

22 hours ago

File photo: Former Sen. Joe Lieberman speaks in Washington on Jan. 18, 2024....

Associated Press

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP pick in 2000, dead at 82

Former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in 2000, has died.

22 hours ago

islamic state attack...

Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press

What we know after the Islamic State group claims responsibility for Moscow massacre

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people.

4 days ago

Moscow shooting...

The Associated Press

Russia: 60 dead, 145 injured in concert hall raid; Islamic State group claims responsibility

Assailants burst into a concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing over 60 people, injuring more than 100.

6 days ago

Photo: Britain's Kate, Duchess of Cambridge visits 282 (East Ham) Squadron, RAF Air Cadets, Cornwel...

Associated Press

Kate Middleton announces she has cancer, is undergoing chemotherapy

Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, says she is undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer. She has been out of view since Christmas.

6 days ago

Black artist Josephine Baker honored at France’s Pantheon