The Experience
As it traces the evolution of black dolls, with a two-headed Topsy-Turvy Doll in a red-checked dress and folk art dolls made of rags and cornhusks, the Doll Museum presents visual images of how black people have been perceived throughout history. The more than 300 dolls displayed chronologically, from African wooden “ancestor figures” to black bisque dolls manufactured in Germany and France in the late 19th century, shed light on the history and craft of doll-making.
The collection also showcases celebrity dolls; American-made favorites, such as Amosandra and Sara Lee; and some of Roberta Bell’s African-American Heritage dolls in authentic period clothing, including one of Rev. Richard Allen at the pulpit of Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church.
History
In the mid-1980s, Barbara Whiteman started a doll collection as an adult hobby, but it grew, so to speak, topsy-turvy-like. School groups and adult collectors frequently came to her home to see her collection, so in 1996, she founded the museum in a storefront along the Avenue of the Arts in North Philadelphia to accommodate more visitors. She’s currently the executive director.