Life Began for Her at 65, I. Roberta Bell Part 3 of 3

Bell's African American Heritage doll series includes L-R, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and W. C. Handy. Photo courtesy of B. W. Flowers

Life Began for Her at 65, I. Roberta Bell, Educator, Doll Maker, Black Historian

Continued from Part 2

In 1982, Mrs. Grace Meier of Paris, Illinois, donated her set of 26 Heritage dolls to her alma mater, Eastern Illinois University. [12] The dolls remain a sub-collection of the Tarble Arts Center Folk Arts Collections.

Some of the Heritage dolls are also in the hands of fortunate doll enthusiasts and today can be purchased only on the secondary market from those willing to part with them.

A catalog of Bell's dolls made from 1969 through 1974 appears in The American Doll Artist Volume II by Helen Bullard on pages 181-182. [13]  Each doll has a parenthetical number which possibly indicates that doll's edition size.

Catalog of Bell's Dolls, 1969-1974:

1969

George Washington Carver. (78) In lab apron. Eminent scientist known as the “Savior of
Southern Agriculture” and the “Peanut Wizard.”

Mary McLeod Bethune. (82) Famous educator, humanitarian, and advisor to President Franklin Roosevelt.

Harriet Tubman. (60) Known as “The Moses of her People,” she led over three-hundred slaves to freedom during nineteen journeys to the South.

Sojourner Truth. (58) Abolitionist-suffragette. Born in slavery and when freed, felt it her duty to “sojourn up and down the land and tell the truth about the evils of slavery.” Changed her name from Isabella Baumfree to “Sojourner Truth.”

Paul Laurence Dunbar. (25) Known as “The Poet of the People,” he wrote both in conventional English and in the various Negro dialects.

1971

Jean Baptiste Point [du] Sable. (14) First citizen of Chicago, Illinois. A wealthy trapper and fur trader, he married a Potawatomi Indian.

W. C. Handy. (20) “The Father of the Blues.” Famous for “St. Louis Blues,” “Memphis Blues,” and “Beale Street Blues.”  Wrote many oratorios and serious music as well.

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams. (15) The first open heart surgeon. The Chicago Tribune in 1893 carried this headline about him, “SEWED UP HIS HEART.” Founder of Provident Hospital and Nurses’ School.

1972

Frederick Douglass. (12) Abolitionist-orator, newspaper editor, United States Recorder of Deeds, and Minister to Haiti for the United States.

Anna Murray Douglass. (10) Wife of Frederick Douglass, she aided him financially and with moral support, in his escape from slavery.

Solon C. Bell. (12) Labor leader. Founder of the first union among dining car employees on the Union Pacific Railroad in the 1930s.

Asanti Queen Mother. (8) Representing queen from Ashanti (Ghana), a section of Africa from which most of the African slaves came. She could easily have been the ancestor of any contemporary Black American. Costumed with much gold jewelry and gold trim.

Matthew Henson. (10) Accompanied Admiral Peary in expeditions designed to discover the North Pole. When the pole was reached, on April 6, 1908, Peary handed the United States flag to Henson, who placed it at the pole. They were the first to reach the North Pole.

Amos Fortune. (9) Born a prince in Africa, he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in America.  According to the epitaph on his tombstone in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, “purchased liberty, professed Christianity, lived reputably, and died hopefully, Nov. 17, 1801, at the age of ninety-one.”

1973

George Glenn. (12) Black cowboy who rode the Chisholm Trail from Abilene, Kansas, to San Antonio, Texas.

James Beckwourth. One of the famous “mountain men.” Explorer, guide, and teller of all tales.  He is credited with putting Reno, Nevada, on the map by discovering the lowest point across the Sierra Nevada mountains. It became a favorite route settlers used to get to the Northwest. 

Oliver Lewis. (8) A black jockey who rode Aristides to win the first Kentucky Derby in 1875.  

Dr. W.E.B. DuBois. (5) One of the greatest scholars of all time; he received a Ph.D. from
Harvard University, studied at the University of Berlin, became one of the founders of the NAACP, and has been listed in Who’s Who In America since its first publication.

1974

Prince Hall. (5) A black pioneer abolitionist in Massachusetts, a minister in the Methodist church, he organized the first black Masons, and was a member of the Continental Army. He influenced the Massachusetts State Legislature to provide free school facilities to all.

Benjamin Banneker. (5) Mathematical wizard and inventor. He published an almanac in 1791, made the first clock wholly made in America, and helped to survey and layout the streets of Washington, D.C. 

Elizabeth Keckley. (10) Dressmaker, friend, and confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln.

Other Bertalbel's Dolls

Mom Du Jos was inspired by the main character in the book of the same name by Erick Berry.

In addition to the Heritage series, one-of-a-kind dolls have been attributed to Mrs. Bell.   It is unknown how many one-of-a-kind dolls she made; however, one is known that was fashioned after the character in the book, Mom Du Jos the Story of a Little Black Doll by Erick Berry (Doubleday, Doran  & Company, Inc., 1931.) Using the description provided by the author of this title, I. Roberta Bell, sculpted the doll’s head and hands which were fired in a dark brown porcelain and attached to a sawdust-filled brown cloth body.

This close-up image illustrates the facial scarification.

Mom Du Jos represents a member of the Haussa tribe of Northern Nigeria and bears the traditional cheek scarification of the Haussas. The doll’s handwritten hang tag indicates it is an exclusive original doll with its original fez made by Bell on October 3, 1980.  Missing its fez, the doll now wears a white turban.  The clothing was made by Falcon Garth.  Read more about Mom Du Jos and see additional images here.

An elderly Pedlar doll quite possibly is a one-of-a-kind Bertabel doll. This doll stands 15 inches with porcelain head, lower arms/hands; light brown cloth body, hands, and feet. She carries a basketful of wares which contains a toy truck, white Victorian-style porcelain doll, plastic hammer, and utensils. A sleeping man wearing a sombrero, plastic car, false teeth, pan and skillet, and three pairs of plastic scissors hang from the sides of the basket. The hang tag indicates the artist made this doll in April 1986 at age 82.

Copy of an envelop that held a Dr. George Washington Carver paper doll by "Bertabel's Dolls," ©1971

In addition to three-dimensional dolls, at least one known paper doll of Bell’s Dr. George Washington Carver doll exists. With a copyright of 1971, the front of the trifold paper doll sheet reads, “This paper doll is made from a photograph of the portrait doll of Dr. George Washington Carver, created by I. Roberta Bell, artist, member of the National Institute of American Doll Artists.”

George Washington Carver paper doll by Bertabel Dolls is printed on trifold paper.

The paper doll text includes a brief biography of Dr. Carver and a note to the child that reads, “As you play with this paper doll, try to discover as much as you can about this great, famous black American. Your teacher and school librarian can help you. Above the copyright is a note to “watch for other paper dolls of Famous Black Americans by I. Roberta Bell, doll artist. [14]  The Carver paper doll is a copy of an original that Bell sent to a woman in Mokena, Illinois along with a handwritten note dated, December 9, 1972, that reads:

Dear Hilda,
Please accept these as a gift from me. I’m sorry not to have answered sooner.

Love & Merry Xmas!

Sincerely,
Roberta

Along with the above George Washington Carver paper doll, this handwritten note was mailed by Mrs. Bell to someone named Hilda on December 9, 1972.

During the 1981 interview with Black Heritage, Bell was asked if she would have liked to have been a doll artist her entire life. She answered, “Yes and no. I don’t regret anything that I have done. I feel that all of these things were stepping stones to what I am now doing. I feel that I am a much better person. I feel that I am able to lecture and relate to young people, because of my teaching and social work experience. God has a plan for everybody, and although I had hoped to and wished all of my life to be an artist, I feel that God was not ready for me to do it. I feel that the time is right now. There is an emphasis on Black history now. For once, I feel that I did the right thing at the right time. Often I say that life began for me at sixty-five.” [15]

Ida Roberta Bell died in 1992. Her work and memory live on through her dolls and other artwork. She remains ever present in those whose lives she enriched as an educator, in others who knew and loved her, and through the I. Roberta Bell Minority Scholarship offered through Eastern Illinois University to eligible incoming, freshmen. [16]

__________

     12.  I. Roberta Bell Sub-Collection at Tarble Arts Center Eastern Illinois University (Most of the
            thumbnail images of Mrs. Bell's dolls at this site can be enlarged.)

     13.  Helen Bullard, The American Doll Artist, Volume II, pages 181-183 (Athena Publishing

            Company, 1975).
     14.  Dr. George Washington Carver paper doll and a handwritten note to recipient courtesy of Ms.

            Bettie Ativie

     15.  Gilbert A. Williams, Ph.D., interview with Mrs. I. Roberta Bell.
     16.  [https://eiu.academicworks.com/opportunities/1939] I. Roberta Bell Minority Scholarship.