Brenda B. Mosely African American Doll Collection
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Yolanda Bello Doll 
Tuskegee Bomber Pilot - Inside Packaging 
African American "Raggedy Ann" Doll 
Princess of South Africa Barbie Doll - Type
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Dolls
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Brenda B. Mosely African American Doll Collection
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Some toys and dolls perpetuate racist imagery, but others genuinely expand representation or reflect the racial identity of their owners.
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A large collection of African American dolls that belonged to Brenda B. Mosely (1950-2012) of Newark, DE. Her entire collection consisted of over 3000 African American-themed dolls that were housed in the basement of her Newark home in a private doll museum. Themes in the private museum included Afro-centric dolls dressed in African costume, glamor dolls, antique/vintage dolls, historically themed dolls, rag dolls, and family dolls (babies, grandmothers etc.). Several of the dolls depict derogatory racial stereotypes and caricatures.
About her museum, Mosely wrote "This museum is a tribute to the historical contribution of people of African descent. We want fellow human beings across the globe to know and never forget that here in this colossal American empire and past American century lives a great people of color who walked with much dignity and discernible effect to be true to themselves and their ideals of freedom against overwhelming odds and adverse circumstances.”
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1900s
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Newark, Delaware
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Brenda B. Mosely
Dolls
Toys
African Americans
Stereotypes
Caricatures
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Collection: Brenda B. Mosely
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Dolls: Various Creators
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The Delaware Historical Society has over fifty dolls and associate artifacts from Brenda B. Mosely's original collection.
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Mixed Media
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A large collection of African American dolls that belonged to Brenda B. Mosely (1950-2012) of Newark, DE.
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Gift of Eric R. Mosely, Sr.
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Delaware Historical Society
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The copyright and related rights status of this Item has not been evaluated. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information.