22 • March 31, 2022 - April 6, 2022
THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS
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Evelyn Anderson, who shared the spotlight with Josephine Baker By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews Last week we profiled Maude Russell and, in the process, dropped the name of Evelyn Anderson, another dancer who often shared the spotlight with Josephine Baker. This being the last week in the celebration of Women’s History Month, we review the life and legacy of the beautiful Ms. Anderson, and her graceful movements on the stage. Her obituary was published in The New York Times on Nov. 23, 1994, in a short profile by Frank Prial. He cited that she was the last surviving member of the troupe that danced with Baker in the 1920s in Paris as part of “Le Revue Negre.” Anderson, he wrote, died on Oct. 29 at Misericordia Hospital in Philadelphia. The cause of death was pneumonia, and she was 87. Accompanying the notice is a photo of the gorgeous Ms. Anderson and given to the paper from the Jean-Claude Collection. That the photo would come from Jean-Claude’s collecEvelyn Anderson in 1938 courtesy of Jean-Claude Baker Collection tion was no surprise since he had compiled a large archive on his mother and her associates. troupe. There may be a bit of dis- a wealthy white woman from ChiAnd he never missed a moment crepancy on just where Ander- cago, and sought at first to build to discuss Russell and Anderson son was working before joining the troupe around Florence Mills when talking about those glori- the Revue. She told Jean-Claude as the star or the energetic Maude ous moments in Paris when they that she and Mabel Hopkins, Bea de Forest, but Josephine became captivated audiences night after Foote, and Marguerite Ricks were the star after she was depicted night with their dances and the- all working together at a cabaret in in posters promoting “Le Revue atrical routines. Asbury Park when they were hired. Negre.” The troupe was all set to As Prial notes in his piece in Jean-Claude has a rather extensive appear in Berlin and Moscow after the Times, Anderson was 18 and account of how the troupe was as- the Paris engagement but was dishad been performing with Noble sembled and the motivations of rupted when Baker signed a conSissle and Eubie Blake, proba- Mrs. Caroline [Dudley] Reagan, tract with the Folies Bergère. bly in “Shuffle Along,” when she as she searched for the right band In an interview with Jean-Claude, was recruited to travel to Paris and lead singer and dancer for her Anderson recounted those days in a yet unnamed troupe to Paris. According to Prial, in Paris. “I Caroline Dudley [Reagan] was
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was 18 years old,” she said, “and it was great to be on stage and in France.” Later in the conversation she recounted a number of incidents with the volcanic Baker, including one in which she rushed to the balcony to leap after being rejected by a man she desired. Curiously, during this period, there was another troupe called the Southern Delights, which has mentioned Anderson as being a member. It starred Honey Boy Thompson, Maud De Forest, and Miss King-Reavis. Anderson was among a few of the performers in the troupe who chose to remain in Paris and for the next 15 years she was featured at various clubs and nightspots in Paris and other parts of Europe. In fact, she was starring in the Netherlands and performing in a cabaret in The Hague when World War II broke out. When the Germans occupied the Netherlands, she, along with her partner Harry Watkins and others were deported, Jean-Claude disclosed in his biography “The Hungry Heart” with Chris Chase about the mother who adopted him. She recalled that experience with Jean-Claude, telling him what she told her partner, Watkins, after the Germans arrived. “If you see a dark cloud passing by, you’ll know it’s me running.” She and the others were returned to the States in 1943 in a prisoner exchange arrangement and a year later Anderson married Robert Robbins, an orchestral conductor, who resided in the Philadelphia area. And she was survived by two brothers.
ACTIVITIES FIND OUT MORE If there’s more beyond Jean-Claude Baker and his research, it would be astounding. DISCUSSION Obviously, much more is required about her early years, particularly where she was born and raised and who her parents were. PLACE IN CONTEXT She flowered during the Harlem Renaissance and was a special performer in Paris and Europe.
THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY March 27, 1948: Vocalist Billie Holiday was the headliner for the first time at Carnegie Hall. March 27, 1934: Arthur Mitchell, the first Black American member of a major ballet company, was born in New York City. March 27, 1969/70: Grammy-award Singer Mariah Carey was born in Huntington, N.Y.
