When Mary Strauss decided to donate her lifelong Josephine Baker collection to the Missouri Historical Society, it was more than just an extraordinary gift of memorabilia. Strauss, a Jewish St. Louisan best known for helping save the Fox Theatre, has spent decades honoring Baker, the hometown entertainer who became an international legend.
While the Josephine Baker collection itself doesn’t spotlight Baker’s ties to Jews in France during World War II, Strauss’s donation is a reminder that Baker’s legacy carries a story that should never be forgotten: the Jewish producer who first recruited her for espionage, the Jewish communities she helped shield and the hidden acts of defiance that made her not only a star but also a resistance hero.
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How the collection began
Strauss says her interest in Baker began long before she realized it would grow into a full collection.
“I didn’t set out to have a collection,” Strauss said. “It started with a poster, then a program and then another piece. Over time, it just grew, because Josephine fascinated me. She was from St. Louis, she was larger than life, and she stood for things that mattered.”
Her home became a museum of sorts, filled with rare photographs, posters and personal items. Now, she says, it’s time to share them with the wider community.
“It felt important that these pieces live where people can learn from them,” Strauss said. “Josephine is not just history. She’s an inspiration.”
A Jewish story not in the artifacts
What’s missing from Strauss’s Josephine Baker collection is the chapter Baker wrote during World War II, when she risked her life in Nazi-occupied France. It was an era of her life that did not leave behind collectible artifacts, but rather acts of defiance and courage that could not be captured in memorabilia.
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Her espionage work began thanks to Jacques Abtey, a French intelligence officer who became her handler and Abraham Marouani, a Jewish stage producer who first introduced her to resistance circles. With their guidance, Baker stepped off the stage and into one of the most dangerous roles of her life, risking her celebrity and her safety to undermine the Nazi regime.
In a 2022 biography on Baker, The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum details how she carried coded messages written in invisible ink on her sheet music and even pinned notes to her undergarments—knowing German officers were unlikely to search a world-famous performer. At her chateau in the south of France, she sheltered refugees, including Jews, insisting that “no one be turned away.” She also refused to dismiss the Jewish musicians in her orchestra, standing firm even when Nazi officials demanded otherwise. “I will not separate from my orchestra because they are Jews,” Baker declared.
Cicily Hunter, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, says that absence in the artifacts makes Strauss’s donation even more meaningful.
“This is where the story expands beyond the items themselves,” Hunter said. “Baker’s Jewish connections in France remind us she was not only a performer but also a resister. She understood persecution and stood up against it and that’s an important part of her legacy.”
Memory, identity and giving
For Strauss, the act of giving away the collection is its own form of preservation — a Jewish act of memory.
“Josephine Baker was always bigger than her stage roles,” Strauss said. “She lived her beliefs. That’s something I’ve carried with me, and I hope others will too.”
Hunter adds that by donating her collection, Strauss ensures Baker’s story continues to inspire in St. Louis and beyond. “Mary has preserved a legacy, not just of Josephine, but of what it means to stand for justice,” she said.
Strauss’s donation places Baker firmly in Missouri’s historical record, while reminding us of the Jewish chapter of her life — one written in courage and resistance, even if not captured in a single artifact.
