In 1928, Josephine Baker spent three weeks in Vienna as part of her European tour. Her visit there caused a tremendous commotion within this already volatile city. She recalled, in one of her autobiographies, that “The capital was flooded with leaflets denouncing me as the “black devil.” . . it was made clear that I was the embodiment of moral decadence.” Baker’s visit finally resulted in a special debate held in the Austrian parliament which addressed the impact of her visit on the status of public morality.
(text from anna novakov, art history teacher, st. mary's college, California)
