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SUMMARY:Portraits of Childhood: Black Dolls from the Collection of Deborah Neff
DESCRIPTION:Portraits of Childhood: Black Dolls from the Collection of Deborah Neff explored themes of race, gender, and identity through 135 handmade Black dolls dating from around 1850 to 1940 as well as almost 60 period photographs and paintings depicting dolls posed alongside both children and adults. A selection of more recent Black dolls from the Museum’s collection provided additional perspectives on the exhibition’s themes to consider. Educators, students, and community members were invited to respond to the exhibition thoughtfully and critically through visiting both independently and in organized groups, participating in workshops and facilitated conversations, and attending public lectures.\n\n\nPast Events\n\n \n\nJohnson County Community College Capstone Honor Students – December 16, 2024 | 3-4PM\nUMKC Multi-Genre Graduate Students – December 9, 2024 | 6:30-7:30PM\nSherry Evon Whetstone – November 10, 2024 | 2-3PM\nKelly G. Loeb, MSW – October 19, 2024 | 2-3PM\nMother Mary Moses Moore, Leonard Johnson, Sharon Sanders Brooks, and Sanaya Smith – October 13, 2024 | 2-3PM\nDr. Deja Beamon – October 4, 2024 | 11AM-12PM\nDr. Carmaletta Williams – August 28, 2024 | 11AM-12PM\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBlack Dolls Symposium with Keynote Speaker Tiya Miles\nThe National Museum of Toys and Miniatures hosted a research symposium on February 6th and 7th, 2025, on the historical significance of Black dolls in America, c. 1850-present. This symposium was part of programming for the exhibition Portraits of Childhood: Black Dolls from the Collection of Deborah Neff, which was on view through March 3, 2025, and featured lecture, “Material Culture as Archive: Finding Black Women’s History in Sacks and Dolls,” by keynote speaker Dr. Tiya Miles.\nTiya Miles is the author of eight books, including four prize-winning histories about race and slavery in the American past. Her latest work is the biography Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People. Her 2021 National Book Award winner, All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake, was a New York Times bestseller that won eleven historical and literary prizes, including the Cundill History Prize and the Frederick Douglass Prize. All That She Carried was named A Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, NPR, Publisher’s Weekly, The Atlantic, Time, and more.\n \n\n \nThis research symposium on the historical significance of Black dolls in America, c. 1850-present, featured 17 presenters from around the world. It featured a lecture by keynote speaker Dr. Tiya Miles, “Material Culture as Archive: Finding Black Women’s History in Sacks and Dolls.”\nPresenters\n\nDeja Beamon (University of Missouri-Kansas City), “Black Girlhood: Intersections of Theory, Memory, and Material Culture”\nMarlee Bunch (University of Illinois), “How Dolls Carry Forward Stories and Oral Histories”\nWanett Clyde (The New York City College of Technology, CUNY), “Size, Shape, Textile, Texture, Color, Condition: The Physicality of a Doll”\nDestiny Crockett (Rutgers University-Camden), “’Grandma Ruby and Me’: Black Age and Archiving Girlishness”\nRandall K. Johnson (University of Missouri-Kansas City), “Race, Dolls and The Law”\nLoren Macon (University of Missouri-Columbia), “From Play to Perception: Exploring Race, Identity, and Beauty Standards through Bratz Dolls”\nKaren McCarthy Woolf (Goldsmiths College, University of London), “Were s/he inclined to speak…”\nJanine Napierkowski (Girl Scouts USA), Blake Changnon (The Changnon Family Museum of Toys and Collectibles), and Connie Porter (American Girl author), “Addy Walker: Why She Matters”\nEmily L. Newman (East Texas A&M University), “’What’s Hair Got to Do with it:’ CROWNing Black Dolls”\nMadelyn Shaw (Independent Scholar), “Bodies of Evidence: The Material Culture of Black Dolls”\nKarina Simonson (Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies, Vilnius University), “Black Dolls in White Spaces: Navigating Cold War and Race in the Baltics”\nKipton D. Smilie (Missouri Western State University), “Black Dolls in American Public Schools: Implications of a History of Absence”\nRhoda Terry-Seidenberg (Bronx Community College), “Coconut and Bananas: Dolls from the Black Diaspora”\nSabrina Thomas (Duke University), “Zora’s Sara Lee: The First Anthropologically Correct Negro Doll”\nTelia Mary U. Williams (Northern Illinois University), “Doll Story: A Fashionable Legal History of Resistance to, and Engagement with, Sumptuary Laws by Enslaved Persons in Antebellum and Postbellum America.”\n\n\nProgram Schedule\nThursday, February 6, 2025\n10:30-10:50am: Opening Remarks\nPetra Kralickova (Executive Director, The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures)\nNatasha Ria El-Scari (Director of University of Missouri-Kansas City Women’s Center)\n10:50am-12:10pm: Session I, Black Girlhood\nDeja Beamon (University of Missouri-Kansas City)\n“Black Girlhood: Intersections of Theory, Memory, and Material Culture”\nDestiny Crockett (Rutgers University-Camden)\n“‘Grandma Ruby and Me’: Black Age and Archiving Girlishness”\nRhoda Terry-Seidenberg (Bronx Community College)\n“Coconut and Bananas: Dolls from the Black Diaspora”\n12:10-12:20pm: UMKC Student Reading by Josephine Sebunyenzi\n12:20-1:20pm: Lunch\n1:20-2:40pm: Session II, Law and Education\nTelia Mary U. Williams (Northern Illinois University)\n“Doll Story: A Fashionable Legal History of Resistance to, and Engagement with, Sumptuary Laws by Enslaved Persons in Antebellum and Postbellum America”\nRandall K. Johnson (University of Missouri-Kansas City) “Race, Dolls and The Law”\nKipton D. Smilie (Missouri Western State University) “Black Dolls in American Public Schools: Implications of a History of Absence”\n2:40-2:50pm: UMKC Student Reading by Kyra Afolabi and Community Reading by Phyllis Becker\n2:50-3:00pm: Break/public departs\n6:00-7:00pm: Keynote by Tiya Miles (Harvard University) “Material Culture as Archive: Finding Black Women’s History in Sacks and Dolls,” UMKC Student Union Theater\n7:00-8:00pm: Book sale and signing, UMKC Student Union Theater\n\nFriday, February 7, 2025\n9:00-9:25am: Coffee and pastries\n9:25-10:20am: Session III, Race and Identity\nSabrina Thomas (Duke University)\n“Zora’s Sara Lee: The First Anthropologically Correct Negro Doll”\nKarina Simonson (Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies, Vilnius University)\n“Black Dolls in White Spaces: Navigating Cold War and Race in the Baltics”\n10:20-10:30am: UMKC Student Readings by Lanisha Stevens, Tiana Ford, and Iyanna Moss\n10:30-10:40am: Break\n10:40am-12:00pm: Session IV, Material Culture and Identity\nEmily L. Newman (East Texas A&M University)\n“‘What’s Hair Got to Do with it:’ CROWNing Black Dolls”\nMadelyn Shaw (Independent Scholar)\n“Bodies of Evidence: The Material Culture of Black Dolls”\nLoren Macon (University of Missouri-Columbia)\n“From Play to Perception: Exploring Race, Identity, and Beauty Standards through Bratz Dolls”\n12:00-1:00pm: Lunch\n1:00-2:20pm: Session V, Addy Walker: Why She Matters\nJanine Napierkowski (Girl Scouts USA)\nBlake Changnon (The Changnon Family Museum of Toys and Collectibles)\nConnie Porter (American Girl author)\n2:20-2:30pm: UMKC Student and Community Readings by Alex Tretbar, Courtenay Kantanka, Annie Newcomer, and Ebele Mgbemena\n2:30-2:40pm: Break\n2:40-4:00pm: Session VI, Telling Stories\nWanett Clyde (The New York City College of Technology, CUNY)\n“Size, Shape, Textile, Texture, Color, Condition: The Physicality of a Doll”\nKaren McCarthy Woolf (Goldsmiths College, University of London)\n“Were s/he inclined to speak…”\nMarlee Bunch (University of Illinois)\n“How Dolls Carry Forward Stories and Oral Histories”\n4:00-4:10pm: Closing Remarks\n\n\n \nScreening and Talkback with Lagueria Davis\nThe National Museum of Toys and Miniatures was thrilled to partner with Lagueria Davis, Writer and Director of BLACK BARBIE: A DOCUMENTARY, for a film screening and talkback on December 5, beginning at 6PM. This exciting conversation was moderated by Natasha Ria El-Scari, Director of the UMKC Women’s Center.\nAttendees discovered the untold story of the first Black Barbie and the pivotal role trailblazing Black women at Mattel had in creating a doll who looked like them.\n\n\n \nTalk and Signing with Zoe Oli\nThe National Museum of Toys and Miniatures hosted Zoe Oli, 12-year-old CEO of Beautiful Curly Me, for a presentation, book/doll sale, and signing.\nBeautiful Curly Me is an Atlanta-based Toy and Media company on a mission to instill and inspire confidence in young girls. Along with a line of beautiful black dolls and empowering puzzles, Zoe is also the author of several children’s books.\nZoe has been featured on various platforms including Good Morning America, Black Enterprise, Forbes, and The Kelly Clarkson Show. She is a Time & Nickelodeon Kid of the Year Finalist and the world’s youngest black TEDx speaker.\n\n \n\n \nTalk and Book Signing with Brit Bennett\nBrit Bennett hosted a talk and book signing with The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures.\nBrit Bennett is the New York Times best-selling author of the dazzling coming of age novel The Mothers and the National Book Award nominated novel, The Vanishing Half. Already a much buzzed about social commentator, well-known for her powerful personal essays, Bennett is one of today’s most exciting new voices in literary fiction. Her lectures are as unflinching and memorable as her writing and give audiences a window into her craft while exploring broader themes of race and systemic injustice.\n\n\n \nMake and Sip with Karen E. Griffin\nKaren E. Griffin (KE), Artist in Residence at Englewood Arts Center, led a Make and Sip at The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures!\nAn opportunity to connect with the exhibition Portraits of Childhood: Black Dolls from the Collection of Deborah Neff in a memorable way, participants created a 2D art piece reflecting on the meaning of clothing and its relationship to identity. In this handcrafted experience, attendees formed a 1-14”L x 11”W art piece using a dress pattern designed by Griffin, fabric, glue, buttons, and rickrack. No experience was required.\nArt supplies, wine, and light refreshments were provided.\n\n\n \nMake and Sip with NedRa Bonds\nAttendees joined NedRa Bonds—artist, educator, activist, and great grandmother—for a holiday Make and Sip at The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures.\nAn opportunity to connect with the exhibition Portraits of Childhood: Black Dolls from the Collection of Deborah Neff in a memorable way, participants created handmade holiday ornaments using household materials.\nArt supplies, wine, and light refreshments were provided. This event was 21+.\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nThis exhibition would not be possible without the incredible support and collaboration generously shared by the following individuals and sponsors:\nAdvisory Group\nDr. Deja Jontelle Beamon\nKeichanda Dees-Burnett\nNatasha Ria El-Scari\nTiana Ford\nMorgana Wilborn\nInterpretation Writers\nKyra Afolabi\nDr. Deja Jontelle Beamon\nPhyllis Becker\nNedRa Bonds\nDr. Antonio Byrd\nAdrianne Clayton\nNatasha Ria El-Scari\nTiana Ford\nKaren E. Griffin (KE)\nSheri Hall\nDr. Roland A. Hemmings Jr.\nIyanna Moss\nGlenn North\nJosephine Sebunyenzi\nLanisha Stevens\nSonié Joi Thompson-Ruffin\nMorgan Wafer-Lyman\nDr. Carmaletta M. Williams\nThis project was supported in part by the City of Kansas City, Missouri Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund ( https://www.kcmo.gov/city-hall/departments/neighborhood-services/neighborhood-tourist-development-fund-ntdf ) and the Hall Family Foundation ( https://www.hallfamilyfoundation.org/ ).\n\n \nPhotographs of the Deborah Neff Collection\nEllen McDermott Photography, New York.\n\n
URL:https://toyandminiaturemuseum.org/events/portraits-of-childhood-black-dolls/
CATEGORIES:Past Exhibition,Toys
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