legacy until death
Even at the long term of her fame, Josephine Baker still was a highly exposed dancing goddess. She had managed to persuade Egypt's King Farouk to make a public appearance at one of her honorable concerts. Later, she would perform at Buchenwald for the liberated inmates who were too frail to be moved. Baker became the first American-born woman to receive the highest French military honor, the Croix de Guerre. In the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, "Place Joséphine Baker" was named in her honor. She has also been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame and the Hall of Famous Missourians. Her name has also been incorporated at Paris Plage, a man-made beach along the river Seine "Piscine Joséphine Baker". It wasn't until In France year of 1954, Baker decided to start a family. She wanted to stand against segregation and adopted ethnically mixed children to an atmosphere of harmony. She called her lovely children her "Rainbow Tribe." By 1962, she had adopted twelve children, ten boys and two girls. They were as listed: Janot, who was Korean her son, Akio her Japanese son, Luis her Colombian son, Jari her Finnish son, Jean-Claude her Canadian son, Moïse her French Jewish son, Brahim her Algerian son, Marianne her French daughter, Koffi her Ivorian son, Mara her Venezuelan son, Noël her French son, and Stellina her Moroccan daughter.
Two of Baker's sons who are Jean-Claude and Jari, grew up to go into business together, running the restaurant Chez Josephine on Theatre Row, 42nd Street, New York, which celebrates Baker's life and works.
She gave a series of farewell performances in the 1950s, largely to raise funds for her large family. On 8 Apr. 1975 she opened in Joséphine, a revue based on her life at the Bobino Music Hall in Paris, but she died only four days later.Baker had a stroke in her sleep and lapsed into a coma. She died later that day. Twenty thousand people attended her funeral at the church of the Madeleine in Paris, and the ceremony was broadcast on French national television.