Josephine Baker was born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Carrie McDonald. Her estate identifies vaudeville drummer Eddie Carson as her natural father; Carson abandoned Baker and her mother. Carrie and Eddie had a song-and-dance act, playing wherever they could get work, and when Josephine was about a year old they began to carry her onstage occasionally during their finale. Josephine was always poorly dressed and hungry, and her playground became the yards of Union Station. From this she developed her street smarts. When Baker was eight she began working as a live-in domestic for white families in St. Louis. She was sent to work for a woman who abused her, burning Baker's hands when she put too much soap in the laundry.