Double Victory (28 page)

Finding restaurants that would serve the band members in the South posed a huge dilemma for the Sweethearts. Sometimes they had to go for hours between meals. Sometimes the white band members went into a restaurant and ordered
takeout for the black members. Usually the white café owners required black customers to come to the back door to get the food—and to leave the parking lot immediately afterward. And some café owners refused to serve even takeout orders when they saw black women in the bus. When the Sweethearts played at military camps around the country, the black soldiers knew about the difficulties of traveling and made sure the band members had plenty of food from the camp mess before they set out for their next show.

The Sweethearts did their part for the soldiers too. In May 1943 the US Office of War Information's Radio Section started producing special programs over the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS). The programs were beamed by shortwave radio to fighting men in all corners of the globe. A special weekly variety show called
Jubilee
was produced for black men and women serving overseas. Many black entertainers performed on the
Jubilee
programs—Hattie McDaniel, Billie Holiday, Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, Butterfly McQueen, and the International Sweethearts of Rhythm.

When black servicemen heard the Sweethearts on the
Jubilee
programs, they began a letter-writing campaign to the USO begging for the Sweethearts to travel overseas to entertain the black troops. Letters came from all over the world where black soldiers were serving—Alaska, North Africa, Australia, Burma, the South Pacific, and Europe. The USO contacted the Sweethearts' manager and arranged for their overseas tour. They promised the band members a weekly salary of $84—a definite improvement over the $20 weekly salary most Sweethearts earned touring in the States. When the Sweethearts heard that they were going overseas for a six-month tour they were delighted, but they weren't told
where
they were going. It wasn't until they boarded the ship that they learned they were headed
to Europe—France, Germany, and Italy—where the war was over but where there were thousands of black soldiers waiting to see them.

Anna Mae Winburn directed the Sweethearts as they performed in the Olympia Theater in Paris in August 1945. Their show was recorded and played on the radio for those soldiers who couldn't attend the performance in person. Next they played at the University of Paris, where the Sweethearts reported that the soldiers whistled and stomped their feet “until the roof appeared to be descending upon us.” In Italy the Sweethearts, featuring trumpeter Tiny Davis and tenor sax player Vi Burnside, entertained the soldiers of the 36th Division. It was reported that by the end of each show the soldiers were “eating out of their palms.” In Germany the Sweethearts were attached to the Third Army and performed two shows every night everywhere the soldiers were stationed—small towns and large cities. The Sweethearts wore Women's Army Corps (WAC) uniforms while they performed and while they traveled. But they weren't prepared for the harsh weather as winter approached. The soldiers in charge of supplies at the military camps made sure the Sweethearts had warm coats, scarves, boots, and long underwear. The Sweethearts had three army trucks—and three GIs—assigned to them as they traveled across the continent.

Traveling and eating weren't a problem for the Sweethearts while they were in Europe. They were treated like queens at the military camps—getting comfortable beds and the best food available. Sometimes they stayed in fine hotels where servers in formal attire attended to their needs. They reported stopping in Nuremberg at the Grand Hotel for a meal and seeing the lavish rooms where Hitler had stayed when he was in the city. In Munich some of the Sweethearts actually slept in a room that Hitler had occupied. While in Germany, the Sweethearts lived
for a time in a sumptuous house with 25 rooms, sunken gardens, expansive porches, and stately windows with views of the flower gardens.

Anna Mae Winburn and her Sweethearts said they would never forget how they had been treated during their time in Europe. No cramped bunks on Big Bertha. Just clean, comfortable accommodations at the end of each long day. No stale takeout meals eaten on the run. Just fine food provided by servers dressed in formal attire. No police officers peering into their faces, searching for signs of whiteness. Just adoring soldiers gazing with admiration and gratitude.

The Sweethearts had done their part for the war effort—in the United States and in Europe. But they had to travel to wartorn Europe to experience the respect they deserved.

The Nightingale of the European Theater

Margaret Simms was a black woman living in Jacksonville, Florida, who wanted to do her part for the war effort. In December 1942 she decided to join the Red Cross. She was accepted and got her assignment. Her education in business administration made the Red Cross think she would be an excellent assistant club director in England, so they arranged her passage on a troop ship filled with soldiers headed to the battlefields of Europe. Many of the soldiers must have been frightened as they made their way across the Atlantic. But someone had heard that the black Red Cross volunteer could sing. The commanding officer thought a little music could be just the thing to take the soldiers' minds off their destination. Margaret was asked to give a shipboard concert, and she was a hit.

By the time the ship reached England, the Red Cross had heard about Margaret's singing abilities and reassigned her to
a position that allowed her to use her musical talents—rather than her business administration skills. Margaret was assigned to entertain the troops stationed across Great Britain. Sometimes she went to the military camps, where she persuaded the soldiers to sing along with her as she performed their favorites: “My Buddy,” “When Day Is Done,” and “You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To.” Margaret's repertoire was a blend of Negro spirituals and the classics. Posters advertising Margaret's shows proclaimed:
SHE SINGS, YOU SING, EVERYBODY SINGS.
At Red Cross clubs Margaret sang solo, performing “Still as the Night,” “The Lord's Prayer,” “None but the Lonely Heart,” and Brahms's “Cradle Song.” By August 1943, Margaret had traveled back and forth across Great Britain, covering 40,000 miles and performing for 300 audiences. She'd been all over England and to Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland. Margaret's rich, beautiful voice was described as “magic-like.” Her reputation had earned her the titles Nightingale of the European Theater and Songbird of the South.

In Cherbourg, France, Margaret was near exhaustion after giving 10 concerts in seven days at hospitals for wounded soldiers. But she didn't stop. Back in England she borrowed a pair of boots from a soldier as she journeyed into the outlying regions through knee-deep mud to sing spirituals at an open-air concert in which she performed without accompaniment. The soldiers joined in when she sang their favorites—“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” “Why Adam Sinned,” and “On My Journey Now.”

“Mud? I like it! And I'm perfectly happy here, singing in the mud!” laughed Margaret.

In 1944, Margaret took a break from the mud for a visit back to the United States. By September 1945 Margaret was back in France, heading up a trio of performers. Constance Randall of Washington, DC, and Minto Cato of New York City joined
Margaret in entertaining troops who were waiting for deployment to their next assignments. The Nightingale of the European Theater was once again doing her part for the war effort—making homesick soldiers feel a little less lonely.

“Arriving in camp, all the weariness you may have felt immediately drops away at the sight of hundreds of soldiers in fatigues with mess kits in the chow line—smiling, grinning, kidding, welcoming you—glad for the sight of someone in a dress from home,” Margaret explained.

The Toast of Europe

Intriguing stories seemed to follow Josephine “Jo” Baker wherever she went. She had grown up in poverty in America but in the 1920s had made her way to Paris, where she became a celebrated singer and dancer. Her singing abilities were questionable, but there was no doubt that her dancing skills were exceptional. Josephine Baker became the rage of Paris—and all of Europe. She was a glamorous star and became a very wealthy woman. A black woman with Josephine's power and influence was a fascinating spectacle to many Europeans in the years leading up to World War II, and Josephine took advantage of her star status. She attended lavish social events and struck up friendships with prominent people across Europe.

But Josephine was much more than a pretty face and a glitzy entertainer. She was a woman who loved her adopted country and hated the Nazis who were invading France's neighbors in 1939. When Josephine was asked to become an undercover spy for the French, she was eager to undertake this risky assignment.

She continued to travel—entertaining and partying with high-level officials. But now Josephine did much more than sing and dance. She came into contact with people who had valuable
information about the enemy. Before Italy entered the war on the side of Germany, she spent time with Italian officials and learned about their activities. She listened as she mingled with military and political leaders. As she traveled, she watched the movements of the enemy's military. And when she was alone, she took notes and hid them in her underwear or wrote messages with invisible ink on her sheet music. As Josephine traveled to southwestern France, Portugal, Spain, and North Africa to perform she acted as a courier, passing her secret messages and documents to other spies along the way.

Very few people knew about Josephine's spy work at the time. But every serviceman in Europe and North Africa knew about Jo Baker, the entertainer. Every serviceman wanted to see her, and Josephine wanted to meet as many of these soldiers as possible. She knew they needed some relief from the horrors of the war. So Josephine went out on tour to sing and dance to entertain the troops—for free—wherever they were stationed.

Josephine Baker in Paris, 1949.
Library of Congress, Carl Van Vechten Collection, LC-DIG-ppmsca-07816

She performed at Red Cross clubs, hospitals, airports, and military camps in Oran, Casablanca, and Fez. In Algiers Josephine performed a benefit concert for the children's department of the Red Cross. High-ranking French, British, and American military officers attended and contributed money to the children's fund. Wherever she went she sang the soldiers' favorite songs: “Thanks for Everything,” “Two Loves Have I,” “Mama, I Want to Make Rhythm,” “Tipperary,” “Over There,” “The Only Girl in the World,” and “Gertie from Bizerte.”

In August 1943, Josephine was performing in Algiers to a crowd of 2,000 when her voice became weaker and weaker. Weeks of constant touring and entertaining without rest had caused her to lose her singing voice. But she refused to leave the stage and finished her concert by softly reciting the words of her songs rather than singing them. The soldiers were just as happy with her speaking voice as they had been with her singing voice.

At another camp in 1943, Josephine was performing during an evening show on an improvised wooden stage in a dusty field. Thousands of soldiers sat on the ground around the stage. As Josephine strode onto the stage in her flamboyant gown of purple and red stripes and swept up to the mike, the crowd erupted in a roar of approval. She sang in both French and English. After two encores she reappeared on the stage in a tight-fitting, low-cut evening dress of green and gold—just as the air raid sirens wailed and the camp bugles sounded. A voice came over the loudspeaker: “Air raid! Air raid! Disperse into the fields at once.” The soldiers and Josephine scattered, running for cover. They watched as the sky lit up with flashes of light from exploding bombs. They heard the crack of gunfire and
the sound of exploding shells. The “air show” went on for some time. Then suddenly, it stopped. The all-clear siren sounded. Josephine stepped back up on the stage and picked up where she had left off. She closed her show with the singing of the “Star-Spangled Banner.”

Josephine Baker's reputation as an entertainer was well known and controversial. Her risqué costumes and evocative dancing were offensive to some. During the war Josephine's performances were appreciated by soldiers who needed a break from the horrors of war. It wasn't until after the war that everyone learned of her life as a spy. The French government honored Josephine with their Croix de Guerre for feats of bravery. Josephine Baker's contributions to the performing arts may be questionable, but her role in helping to win World War II was undeniable.

A Long Way from Harlem

When Coretta Alfred was a young girl singing in her Baptist church in Harlem, New York, she couldn't have imagined the adventurous life she would lead as an adult. But those years as a choir singer prepared her for what was to come.

The situation in the Soviet Union was bleak in June 1941. Hitler's army had invaded from the west. The Soviet citizens had heard many stories about the atrocities committed by the German soldiers. By October the Germans were close to the capital city. German planes were dropping bombs on Moscow daily.