Gallery Notes: Black Dolls Embracing History

Back in 2002, I had the pleasure of working with Barbara Whiteman for an exhibit I was assisting at the African American Museum in Philadelphia called Dolls To Remember.  I had recruited her to help provide a historical context to black dolls.  Seventeen years later, we meet again, this time at Philadelphia's City Hall, and on the 65th anniversary year of Brown vs Board of Education.  Barbara is the Founding Director of the Philadelphia Doll Museum and she's showcasing a selection of her dolls in an exhibition called Black Dolls Embracing History.  This project is in collaboration with Temple Contemporary.  Her museum of over 300 dolls is located just down the street from Temple University at 2253 N. Broad St. (at the corner of Broad and W. Dauphin Sts.).  They are practically North Philly neighbors.

Nicole Pollard and Barbara Whiteman, City Hall 2nd Floor, 2019

Me: 

Did you grow up playing with dolls?

BW: 

Yes, I played with both black and white dolls as a child, but mostly with black dolls.  I also remember my mother ordering some of my black dolls from magazine advertisements. 

Me:
As I recall, you first began collecting black memorabilia, and then during a visit to an antique show, you discovered black dolls that were created in Germany.  How did that experience inspire you to become a doll collector?

BW:
My discovery of European black dolls made me more aware of the European doll industry and the so-called "Golden Age of Dolls".  Both France and Germany made black ethnic dolls, but Germany made more black dolls than France.  Unlike the American doll making industry, these black dolls were well constructed and dressed in the finest of clothing and wigs.

Me:
Can you speak to the evolution of black dolls here in America and some of the circumstances surrounding their creations?  For example, what's the significance of the Addy American Girl Doll?

BW:
Early American made dolls were handmade from many types of materials, such as corn husk dolls, nut-faced dolls, and rag dolls.  When WWI prevented the import of foreign dolls from Germany, the American doll industry began to create dolls.  Many of these dolls did not reflect positive images of black people.  Many of the American black dolls had exaggerated and distorted features.  These negative images were created to humiliate black people.  Although all the Pleasant Company dolls are made from the same mode, Addy American Girl Doll presents positive physical differences in skin coloration and hair texture.

Me:
How important is it for children to have dolls that look like them, that reflect their own cultures?

BW:
A doll is defined as a three-dimensional image of a human being.  So culturally, a child may think I'm a human being, why doesn't this doll look like me or other people I know, or my own family?  As an educational toy, not only can dolls provide positive images of oneself and family but can also reflect the differences in people around the world.

Barbara Whiteman and Nicole Pollard beside "Addy" and "Thurgood Marshall".

Me:

As you know, this is the 65th anniversary year of Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka where the "doll test" by Drs. Mamie and Kenneth Clark were cited by the Supreme Court as part of their decision to end school segregation.  How have you used your collection to help tell this story?

BW:
The Clark "doll test" showed that separation of races produces feelings of inferiority among black children at an early age, with negative psychological effects.  Because racism and untrue stories about black people and their achievements, the Philadelphia Doll Museum uses its collection of 300 black dolls to reflect positive images of a people, their culture and world history. The collection has been exhibited in schools and museums in the US and Canada.

To learn more about the significance of the doll tests, please click HERE.

Nicole Pollard installing Black Dolls Embracing History. 

For Black Dolls Engaging History, I also had the pleasure of working with Nicole Pollard. She is the Project Manager for Temple Contemporary, which is part of Temple University's Tyler School of Art.  To learn more about Temple Contemporary, please click HERE.

Me:
Temple Contemporary's mission is to "creatively re-imagine the social function of art through questions of local relevance and international significance".  How does your partnership with the Philadelphia Doll Museum align with this mission?

NP:
The Philadelphia Doll Museum is an international gem right here in North Philadelphia.  We get inquiries all the time from visitors to Temple Contemporary who really come to us because they want to get closer to the dolls in the museum.    There is a human need, a social need to connect with dolls. For many of us, relating to a doll - giving it a name, a voice, or a new hairstyle was the first way we developmentally recognized what we wanted to see in ourselves and others.  Temple Contemporary recognizes and affirms this need.  It has been a joy to collaborate with the Philadelphia Doll Museum and I hope that we can continue this relationship.

Black Dolls Embracing History runs thru September 20th in City Hall, 2nd and 3rd Floors, NE corner.  City Hall hours are during the week from 9 - 5 pm and closed on weekends and holidays.

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More conversations with the Philadelphia Doll Museum:
https://hiddencityphila.org/2013/03/at-broad-and-dauphin-the-doll-museum-lives-on/
https://www.moundverseinfants.org/philadelphia-doll-museum/
https://video.whyy.org/video/experience-philadelphia-doll-museum/