Black Dolls Reflecting an Array of Cultural Ideas
Dolls may not seem like the most obvious items to exhibit at a world-class museum that showcases arts and culture. Yet, given deeper examination through a curated exhbition, one realizes that dolls are an amalgam of art and craft, culture, and historic works. Beyond merely being a cherished toy to a child, handcrafted dolls reflect a wide array of cultural ideas and circumstances. As well, these dolls prove to be vitally important in the social development of children. Mass produced dolls ultimately tell us much about their societies too. But a doll made by hand is like a person. It is unique, no two are exactly alike.
The Black Dolls exhibition at the New-York Historical Society is an endearing and fascinating look at dozens of dolls, the vast majority of which were made to resemble African-Americans. There are other related items on display here such as photographs and other artworks, related toys, samples of the materials that were used for their creation and manufacture, and more.
There are dozens of dolls displayed here. They vary in size, condition, and style. But the sheer fact that there are so many Black dolls pooled together, and that they are part of a serious, historic analysis, is remarkable. In the 1800s, for example, who would have thought these dolls could have such importance in our society? Who would have considered them for analysis and documentation?
The fact that these dolls have been grouped together, as if they were a community, shows that there are collectors out there who do value them for a variety of reasons. They are honored for their historic worth, and also because people, especially women, do perceive them as a worthwhile field of collection and of interest.
But lest you think this is going to be a dry, highly academic exhibition, stroll around slowly and you will probably be moved by the dolls and the ways in which they are shown. Many are placed within doll house cutaways, or with other dolls. They do come across as a series of communities; they come across as if they have befriended one another.
And you might be tempted to wish that you could do more than just view them behind glass, but also hold them in your own arms.
The exhibition, on through June 5th, is mostly composed of dolls from the 1800s through the early decades of the 1900s, and most of these were made by hand and not in factories. Some are still quite sophisticated, as far as their bodies and their clothing. Others are quite simple. The doll makers’ identities are mostly lost to time but a few do bare documentation. There were evidently some African-American women and even men, quite skilled in needlework and cognizant of fashions of their times, who made a living from or supplemented their incomes by making dolls. Among these craftspeople are Harriet Jacobs, Leo Moss and Cynthia Walker Hill.
African-American doll makers were inspired by a need to find dolls that realistically and correctly represented black people. In 1908, after encountering difficulties finding appropriate Black dolls for the children in his family, Richard Henry Boyd, an African-American minister and businessman found a European importer. He began deigning and hand-crafting what he considered suitable Black dolls. In 1911, Boyd opened The National Negro Doll Company. Unlike the Black dolls crafted by white doll-makers that depicted disgraceful caricatures of Black people, Boyd’s dolls represented a more refined image of Black Americans.
During the early 1900s, the art of small scale, handmade Black dolls found it’s way into several American companies, among them Vogue, Horsman, and Madame Alexander, a prominent maker of specialized, collectible dolls that were based on living people. In 1947, Jackie Ormes, the first African-American female cartoonist introduced the Patty-Jo doll. Based on Patty -Jo ‘n Ginger, the cartoon panel she penned for several newspapers, the doll displayed ethnically-correct features, and broke the pickaninny and mammy stereotypes.
In 1955, African-American Beatrice Wright Brewington, an entrepreneur and educator opened B. Wright’s Toy Company, Inc. Wright designed and made realistic-looking Black dolls. Moreover, she offered instructions in the art of doll-making.
In order to nurture the self-esteem of African-American children, and preserve the legacy of Black dolls, in 2012, three sisters—Tamara Mattison, Debra Britt, and Felicia Walker, opened the National Black Doll Museum of History and Culture in Mansfield, Massachusetts. It was opened to the public and featured more than 6000 Black dolls.
It is interesting to note that some of the dolls exhibited here at the New York Historical Society were owned not only by African-American children (girls and boys), but also by children outside of the community. In fact, there are many photographs of children on display here, many produced in photography studios, showing children of various racial identities clasping their doll friends.
These dolls come from several parts of the United States, from the south and the north, made by slave women and by free women. There are displays showing the materials that went into making the bodies, the stuffing, the hair, the clothing and even the accessories. For example there are several dolls that have heads made of coconut shells. And the vast majority of these dolls were made from various scrap materials, or from worn out clothing and linens.
While much of this exhibition has a cheerful and warm feel to it, there are other harsh artifacts. For contrast, there are a few showcases with toys, games and books that are grotesquely racist to a modern sensibility. The “Game of The Watermelon Patch” and “The Dark Town Fancy Ball Picture Puzzle” are just two of the pieces which show racist attitudes that were acceptable well over 100 years ago. There are even postcards showing “Pickaninnies” and “Kute Koon Kids.” As a visitor you could question why these items were included in this exhibition; as contrast and to see how racial stereotypes were perpetuated, especially of children. But I admit I was a bit surprised to see this included, because I did think we would only see dolls and depictions of dolls.
Among the more curious dolls shown here are the Topsy-Turvy Dolls. These are two dolls connected together, one White and one Black. Whoever played with them could flip them over and play with each separately. It is a weird concept to someone in 2022, certainly. There are a small selection of such dolls, and even an enlargement of a children’s poem about such a doll. Curiously, there is no mention of the most famous child Topsy, the character in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s legendary and groundbreaking novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” You can read some of her dialogue in Chapters 25 and 27, for example. She is portrayed as a spirited and frank slave child. She should definitely be acknowledged in the exhibition.
There is also an exploration of the Mammy or Dinah doll, which reflected the quite durable racial stereotype of a Black woman domestic worker, cheerful and subservient. In stark contrast there are also male dolls, including a doll meant to represent Frederick Douglass. From a stock character to a crucially important real American, these dolls reveal so much about American attitudes and values.
At the end of the exhibit, almost as an afterthought, are a few showcases with Black dolls from the 1960s onward. These mass marketed dolls are more sophisticated than the older models, and offer a distinct look at what companies expected children to ask for as gifts. Included here are the Talking Christie doll, a Black doll in the Barbie doll line, as well as Addy Walker from the American Girl doll collection.
Follow up this exhibition by going to the Gift Shop, which sells books, mugs, postcards, totebags and other memorabilia linked to this show. And yes, there are dolls for sale too, including several with versions of African clothing. These dolls are so different from the dolls in the exhibition galleries. Ponder this.
And which doll in the exhibition was my personal favorite? A short doll toward the beginning of the display, with slightly posable arms and a rough-hewn cloth dress of one pale color. It was sweet, with its eyes, nose and slightly smiling mouth. Not all the dolls had noses, I noticed, but they almost all had vibrant eyes. Who originally owned this doll? What was the doll’s name? How did this doll survive throughout the years? How did it make its way into a New York City museum, and what will be its future? These were fanciful questions that stayed with me well after visiting the exhbition. But it demonstrates how play excites the imagination and makes everything seem possible.
New York Historical Society is located at 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024. The Black Dolls exhbition is on view till June 5.