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Dolls come in all colors at St. Petersburg's Woodson museum

 
LARA CERRI   |   Times The Carter G. Woodson museum is collecting black dolls to give to lower income children because the supply in most retail stores is low and doesn't offer as many price options as there are for white dolls. The color of dolls that children prefer has long been an issue in building a good self image.
LARA CERRI | Times The Carter G. Woodson museum is collecting black dolls to give to lower income children because the supply in most retail stores is low and doesn't offer as many price options as there are for white dolls. The color of dolls that children prefer has long been an issue in building a good self image.
Published Dec. 13, 2017

ST. PETERSBURG — As a little girl, Terri Lipsey Scott played with a baby doll named Sindy in Savannah, Ga. Scott is black, Sindy was white. Dana Battle, also black, had a white doll named Toni, in Los Angeles. There weren't many affordable dolls that reflected their race in the late 1950s and early 1960s, said Scott, director of the Carter G. Woodson African American Museum.

This is why she and Battle, a museum board member, know how important it is for the museum to collect donated dolls of varying hues Sunday at its open house.

Four years ago, when local lawyer Shannon Ligon suggested the community "Bring a doll of every hue; bring a doll that looks like you" to the museum, Scott jumped at the idea.

"The black dolls were so unattractive. They did not make them to be gorgeous dolls," Scott recalled from her childhood recently. "Then when I got to an age when they were made to look a little more beautiful, my family couldn't afford them."

The availability of dolls with dark skin colors has gotten better, but there still aren't enough in enough price ranges, Scott said. Scott doesn't want to leave out children who don't play with dolls or discount the importance of literacy so this year's event is named "Bring Out the Dolls, Balls & Books."

Donations, which have already started coming in, will be given to the Childs Park YMCA, the Christmas Toy Shop and the St. Petersburg Police Department's victim assistance services along with other programs in the area that help low-income children.

It's not just low-income children who have a hard time finding dolls that look like them. Faith McPherson, a teacher in Hillsborough County, said her family had money to pay for black Barbies or other dolls but the supply was limited.

"We weren't really into Black Friday shopping, but my mom had to go out early (the day after Thanksgiving) to get me one or they would all be gone in a day," she said recently while shopping at Target at 8151 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N.

Of the almost 100 styles of dolls of all sizes, types and prices on one aisle at the Target fewer than 10 were black. At the Walmart at 201 34th St. N, about 10 of 40 different styles of dolls were black on one aisle of toys.

When young black girls don't have black dolls to play with or don't see many to choose from in the stores, it can affect their self-image and self-confidence, Scott said.

"We grew up thinking that white was beautiful and that black was unattractive. There was a sad stereotype that white was better," she said.

Through the museum, programs are hosted for young black girls at events to build self-esteem and pride. The Woodson is currently displaying a very large collection of Black Holiday Barbies that was gifted to the museum by Dr. Carol Motley.

Scott is quick to say she is glad for children of all races to have dolls they can relate to from varying backgrounds. The open house and collection of books, balls and dolls is from 5 to 7 p.m. at 2240 Ninth Ave. S.

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Katherine Snow Smith can be contacted at kssmith@tampabay.com. Follow @snowsmith.