Josephine Baker is the first Black woman to be inducted into France's Pantheon

Josephine Baker is the first Black woman to be inducted into France's Pantheon Enlarge this image toggle caption HARCOURT/AFP via Getty Images HARCOURT/AFP via Getty Images PARIS — Josephine Baker, the American-born entertainer and civil rights activist who first achieved fame in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s, was given France's highest honor on Tuesday when she was inducted into the French Pantheon, the nation's mausoleum of heroes. Enlarge this image toggle caption Thibault Camus/Pool/AFP via Getty Images Thibault Camus/Pool/AFP via Getty Images Baker is widely admired in France, but the decision to induct her into the Pantheon has met with some controversy: Critics say that while Baker may have represented France's "universalist" approach — which technically does not identify citizens by race or ethnicity — honoring her does not erase often entrenched racism against French people of African or Arab origin. Enlarge this image toggle caption Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Scouring auctions, Saint-Exupéry collected photos, furniture, playbills and dresses that span Baker's life. toggle caption Eleanor Beardsley/NPR Baker wanted to show that racial and cultural harmony were possible Baker called the children she adopted her "rainbow tribe."