Life Began for Her at 65, I. Roberta Bell Part 2 of 3

From the Bertabel African American Heritage Dolls series are L-R, Harriet Tubman, Rev. Richard Allen, Sojourner Truth, Dr. George Washington Carver, and Frederick Douglass. (This image is a scan from a Philadelphia Doll Museum postcard.)

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

Continued from Part 1

A total of 26 dolls are included in Bell’s Famous Black Americans series (in later years referred to as African American Heritage Dolls).  In addition to the Dr. George Washington Carver doll, the Heritage dolls are fashioned in the likeness of such greats as Rev. Richard Allen, founder of the first national Black church in the United States, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, 1816.  

L-R:  Mary McLeod Bethune doll is shown in full view with another image of her bio hang tag and clenched hand. (Clench-hand photo courtesy of Your Favorite Doll.)

Bell's second doll is a portrait of educator, Mary McLeod Bethune, whom Bell also had an opportunity to meet.  As Bell expressed when interviewed by Gilbert A. Williams, Ph.D. for Black Heritage (1981), “If you read some of her biographies, you’ll find that she took a tour of Europe in the company of some doctors and their wives.  Well, my aunt and uncle were in that group.  My uncle was a doctor and knew Mrs. Bethune.  She visited them. One time Mrs. Bethune even stayed next door to me.  My mother had a friend, a beautician, who was rooming with us.  That night, Mrs. Bethune rang our doorbell.  She always talked with her hands clenched, that’s why I made her hands clenched on the doll.  She said, ‘I understand you have a beautician in the house.  Then I’d like my hair touched up.’  And I often say that she had her hair done in my home.”  

Harold Washington, the first Black mayor of Chicago, is the last doll in Bell’s African American Heritage series. 

Most Heritage dolls stand 18 inches tall and are marked “Bertabel.”  While the heads and hands are porcelain, they have sawdust-filled bodies.  Extensive research was involved before making each doll and its period-appropriate clothing.  According to Bell, “Unless I have read enough to know a person and believe in that person, I cannot make a doll.” [10]

The first six pages of "Doll Emissaries of Black History, a Study of an Artist and Her Dolls," by Frank B. Jones, April 6, 1976, are part of the Ida Roberta Bell Papers at the Chicago History Museum.  Jones' paper was submitted to Professor Warren E. Roberts, who taught at Indiana University Bloomington from 1949 to 1994.  Professor Roberts was one of the founders of the American study of folklife and material culture.

In his paper, Jones describes meeting Bell through his mother who had become friends with the artist after they met at a dentist’s office.  Jones writes, “My mother’s enthusiasm about Mrs. Bell [was] passed on to me in these words: ‘I met a talker just like me.  We had the best time.  She was so interesting.  She makes Black history dolls.  I want you to meet her.’  Though a spark of my mother’s excitement caught on to me, I was rather conservative in terms of what I was expecting.  I anticipated seeing a few dolls and having a fairly pleasant, albeit brief, talk with my mother’s new friend.  My mother, brother, and best friend went with me to visit Mrs. Bell.  Though I was curious about Mrs. Bell and her work, I was in a hurry, having made other plans for places to go and things to do.  Thanks to Mrs. Bell my plans were changed and happily so.”

Mrs. Bell is shown in this undated image that arrived with a doll purchased
by the author of this post.

So intrigued and fascinated by her work and the woman, Jones made several return visits to Bell’s home to interview her for his paper which focused on:  1) the artist as craftsman, educator, and collector; 2) the formation of the artist—training and influences; 3) the materials and techniques of Mrs. Bell’s dollmaking; and 4) the motivation, function and application of the work.  Jones described Bell as “a warm, vibrant woman, excited about her work, deservedly so, [who passed] this excitement on to anyone around her…   a woman of great patience.” [11]  

It is unfortunate that the entire results of Jones’ study of Mrs. Bell and her work are not included in the museum’s documentation of her work.  From the portion that is available, it is certain that Mrs. Bell was passionate about her work and willing to share and discuss her love for doll making with anyone who would listen.  

Also from the Bertabel African American Heritage doll series is Ashanti Queen Mother.

Where the Dolls Are

Complete sets of 26 Heritage series dolls were donated to museums throughout the United States.  At the time research was done for this article, the Philadelphia Doll Museum owned one set of 26 dolls and the University of Arkansas Museum owned another.  According to Gloria Young, anthropology instructor, University of Arkansas self-paced online courses, and curator of their 2012 exhibit of Bertabel’s dolls, their Heritage set was “acquired as a gift from the Geuther Doll Museum in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, in 1986 when that museum closed. Although we have 26 dolls, we may not have exactly the same collection as other museums and/or people have. These dolls were probably obtained by the Geuthers before Roberta Bell made the doll of Harold Washington… so we don't have that one. Instead, the 26th doll is the Ashanti Queen Mother.”

Continue reading here.

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     10.  Jones paper.
     11.  Jones paper.