"Black Doll Collecting: Moments in Black Doll History - Beatrice Wright Dolls". "From controversy to empowerment: the history of black dolls". "Perspective | The rediscovered legacy of Jackie Ormes, the first black woman with a syndicated comic strip". ^ "Jackie Ormes: Torchy, Candy, Patty-Jo & Ginger!".^ "Former Slave Creates The First Black Doll Company For His Daughters, Here's Why | Black Then".See also Robin Bernstein, Children's Books, Dolls, and the Performance of Race or, The Possibility of Children's Literature, PMLA 126.1 (2011): 160-169."The Scripts of Black Dolls" in Racial Innocence: Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights, by Robin Bernstein, 2011.Black Dolls: A Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating Collecting and Experiencing the Passion by Debbie Behan Garrett, 2008.Collectible African American Dolls Identification and Values by Yvonne Ellis, Collector Books, 2008.Black Dolls Proud, Bold & Beautiful by Nayda Rondon, Reverie Press, 2004.The Definitive Guide to Collecting Black Dolls by Debbie Behan Garrett, Hobby House Press, 2003.Black Dolls an Identification and Value Guide Book II by Myla Perkins, Collector Books, 1995.Black Dolls an Identification and Value Guide 1820-1991 by Myla Perkins, Collector Books, 1991.Collector's Encyclopedia of Black Dolls by Patiki Gibbs, Collector Books, 1986.In January 2021, Black-doll collector, historian, and author on the subject of black dolls, Debbie Behan Garrett founded DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum, "the first and only virtual Black doll museum where antique, vintage, modern, and one-of-a-kind Black dolls are celebrated 24/7." While open to the public, it featured over 6,000 Black dolls and its mission is to continue to nurture the self-esteem of children and preserve the legacy of Black dolls. To honor the history of Black dolls, in 2012, three sisters named Debra Britt, Felicia Walker, and Tamara Mattison opened the National Black Doll Museum of History and Culture in Mansfield, Massachusetts. The Philadelphia Doll Museum is now closed. While the museum was open, roughly 1,000 Black dolls were on view. The Philadelphia Doll Museum was founded in 1988 by Barbara Whiteman. This caused controversy at the time they were released. Mattel Toys created the first Black dolls in the popular Barbie line, Francie and Christie, in 19 respectively. In addition, American Girl has also released Black dolls portraying girls of color from various points in American history such as Addy Walker and civil rights-era Melody Ellison, as well as those from the present day. Other popular collectible Black dolls include manufactured play dolls past and current, manufactured dolls designed for collectors by companies such as Madame Alexander and Tonner Doll, artist dolls, one-of-a-kind dolls, portrait dolls and those representing historical figures, reborn dolls, and paper dolls. ĭuring the 1960s and in the aftermath of the Watts Riots in Los Angeles, California, Shindana Toys, a Division of Operation Bootstrap, Inc., is credited as the first major doll company to mass-produce ethnically correct Black dolls in the United States. Also an educator, Wright began instructing girls in the art of making dolls in 1955. and mass-produced Black dolls with ethnically-correct features. īeatrice Wright Brewington, an African American entrepreneur, founded B. The doll was a realistic Black doll, breaking the mammy doll stereotype. In 1947, the first African American woman cartoonist Jackie Ormes created the Patty-Jo doll, which was based on Patty-Jo 'n Ginger, the cartoon panel she penned for newspapers at the time. Gradually, other American companies followed suit.
Between 19, Horsman, Vogue, and Madame Alexander included Black dolls in their doll lines. American entrepreneur Richard Henry Boyd founded the National Negro Doll Company in 1911 "after he tried to purchase dolls for his children but could find none that were not gross caricatures of African Americans." Īmerican companies began including Black dolls in their doll lines in the early 1900s.