France

Eva, Gloria, and Julian, Jr. resided in Paris during Julian’s Guggenheim Fellowship during an influential period for African Americans in 1920s France.

There were a number of political and social circumstances that preceded the growing number of African Americans in Paris in the 1920s. Hundreds of thousands of African Americans were stationed in France during WWI, and many of the soldiers expressed feeling more welcome in France than in the states. While the French may not have discriminated against Black Americans in the same way Black Americans faced discrimination and racism in the United States through lynching and racial violence, particularly in the South, they were still seen through a stereotyped lens. It is important to note, too, that these soldiers were there to fight for France as Allies in WWI. At the same time, the French were falling in love with an important aspect of African American culture—jazz. Black American soldiers introduced jazz to the French, and Paris would become an important hub during the Jazz Age of the 1920s and 1930s.

Disappointed with the state of the South and the treatment they received at home even after their WWI victory, some African American GIs returned to Paris as tourists and some as permanent residents. Black American musicians and artists associated with the Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance followed suit, including Josephine Baker.

During the Lewis’ time in Paris, they studied French, enjoyed fine dining, and explored the Parisian social scene. Eva received invitations to attend various musical programs and even an invitation to attend Josephine Baker’s cabaret.

Julian and Eva kept in contact regularly by sending each other letters in which they discussed their day-to-day experiences while living apart and expressed their love for one another. Julian’s mother, Cordelia, and Eva’s father, Anthony, Jr., visited while they were in Europe.