(bright music) - [Narrator] There are a pair of dolls here that were part of a study in the 1940s about racial biases among children.

We'll examine a large collection of African art and explain the significance of having a doll with gold rings around the neck.

And later, a visit to Little Compton, Rhode Island, where a collection of artifacts large and small are offering insight into the region's history.

This is "Treasures Inside the Museum".

(bright music continues) (bright music continues) (peaceful music) Tucked away in a mall in North Attleborough is a place that is full of surprises.

The National Black Doll Museum of History and Culture is the result of one family's interest in collecting dolls that evolved into a passion for so much more.

- When you say, "The Black Doll Museum," people think there are just dolls on the shelf.

We say history and culture, because culture is everything.

- That's what I think I like about this, here, because it's a museum of history and culture as well.

- There's a story to tell about dolls and where dolls came from, and how do we get them, and where do you start?

And I have to start in Africa.

My biggest thing is that I love people.

So, I go to the Irish Cultural Center and I learn all about their history.

And I go to the synagogues and I go to all these different places because I want to learn.

But I need to learn about me.

And I feel like, so, how do I teach that to people so that they're, ease, they can find some ease with it?

We're gonna do it with the dolls.

And we're gonna, 'cause everybody has a doll and everybody has a doll story.

And so, this history here just lets people know that you can accept people and learn about people from some simple items, a doll.

- [Narrator] Every gallery here, each exhibit space is a tapestry of color, rich in culture and stories waiting to be discovered.

(bright music) Make no mistake, there are all types of dolls here.

Collections even include a variety of action figures, including these Barbies and G.I.

Joes.

This one portrays the Tuskegee Airmen.

Visitors will also see music icons and sports figures of historical significance.

A number of toy manufacturers and collections are represented here, like Integrity Toys, Our Brown Boy Joy, and Huggy Beans.

But this museum is more than a collection of toys from grandma's attic.

- A lot of times, people think that dolls are playthings, but we have to remember that dolls are actually artifacts of history.

This is a 17th century piece.

It's called a Moba divina, which is an artifact of religion in Africa.

My sister brought this piece back in her many travels that she did on that continent.

It represents the basic form that artists use today, that everybody uses a basic form.

When you do a stick form when you go to create a doll, or if they're doing it in, if they're sculpting a doll, you have to start out with a basic.

And this was the basic.

They're an artifact of history.

They tell stories.

Dolls, the stories that they tell are of the artist that created, or the manufacturing.

They can tell you about the time when it was, what was going on.

I look at them, and we have to get people to look at them, as artifacts of history to tell all the stories.

Who made it, who kept it?

Why'd you buy it?

What did it tell you when you bought it?

How old it is?

What was going on during that time period?

And a lot of times, when people sculpt and create dolls, that's what they're doing.

- [Narrator] Debra Britt's love for collecting dolls started at a young age, but growing up, she couldn't find one that looked like her, until one day, her grandmother came home with a solution.

- And she brought home a doll and she took the doll, and she put it in Rit dye and she dyed that doll black.

And then, she did the hair over and she did the clothes over.

And that's how I got my first Black doll.

- [Narrator] It wasn't long before one became two, two became four, and so on, and so on.

Today, the dolls on display not only chronicle the evolution of Black dolls, but also offer insight into the cultures where they originated.

This group is part of a collection called Dark Treasures.

- In Africa, they didn't, they don't have dolls like we have dolls traditionally.

So, when you look at pieces of dolls, they're hand-carved, wooden, stuff like that.

And the dolls were usually made for spiritual, educational, religious reasons.

Most of the dolls in Africa are done by men because men had a lot of downtime.

So, women were raising children, women were cooking, men were fishing and hunting.

So, when you're fishing and hunting, then you have time to do this kind of stuff.

You can bead, you can sit there and you can do the beading and stuff, and you can tell the stories and stuff.

(singing in foreign language) (singing continues) This is a courtship doll.

There are several of these dolls.

This is South Africa.

This is the Ndebele tribe.

These rings are significant because these rings mean that you're dating and that you're single.

So, when your boy wants to get married, he wants to date a girl, he would create this doll, put it on the doorsteps.

And then, the family, if they accepted his desire to date their daughter, they would bring the doll in.

When they brought the doll in, the girl would get rings on her neck, too, and then that would symbolize that she was dating and she was seeing somebody and that it was okay with the parents.

When you get married, those rings come off.

Your neck is now elongated and you have stature in your community and you don't have to work so hard.

(laughs) - [Narrator] The Dark Treasures collection includes dolls from different parts of the African continent.

They're all handcrafted and made using whatever the creators could find.

- So, this is an example of an African wrap doll.

It's recycled.

Actually, it's just a water bottle.

And this, this is the spray cap.

My grandmother actually taught me to make this doll.

She took a bottle and filled it with some rice and used the fabric and wrapped it.

The rice on the inside represents any fears that you have.

And on the outside, you just put all your hopes and dreams.

- [Narrator] Another type of handmade doll is the subject of different interpretations.

- In front of me is what we call our Topsy-Turvies.

- [Narrator] A Topsy-Turvy is an American cloth folk doll that is double-ended, with a white girl on one side and a Black girl on the other.

At the museum, they're often used to talk about the history of racial inequality as seen through the eyes of dolls.

- When the master came around, they would be able to flip it so they know that they was playing with the white side.

Then, when they was with mommy and everybody, they got to play on the Black side.

- [Narrator] These dolls, like so many at the museum, are grouped together and displayed in such a way as to tell a story.

Where did they come from?

How were they used?

Who made them, and what materials were used?

There are dolls here made from almost anything imaginable.

(bright music) (bright music continues) There are baby dolls and senior dolls.

And while many of them were made simply to be played with, others had a much more significant purpose.

Among the thousands on exhibit is a pair that are identical, except for the color of their skin.

- These dolls represent a study done back in the 1940s by Drs.

Kenneth and Mamie Clark.

It was done with three to seven-year-olds, basically to determine what their attitudes were toward race.

And there were four dolls that were identical, except two were Black and two were white.

And they held these dolls up, one Black doll and one white doll, in front of the little children, and discovered that the majority of children who were tested felt that the white dolls were the good dolls and the Black dolls were the bad dolls.

And then they would ask, "Which one is the prettiest?"

And the majority of children chose the white doll.

And it didn't matter whether the children were white or Black.

They all, the majority of all of the children chose the white doll.

- [Narrator] The results of that study found its way to Washington, DC, where it would become a part of a movement for social change.

- It was part of the evidence given to the Supreme Court in the Brown v. Board of Education case.

And that, along with other testimony from Kenneth Clark, led to the desegregation of public schools.

(bright music) (bright music continues) - [Narrator] Understanding and preserving the history of dolls is an ongoing process.

Every time a new face is added to the collection, the research begins and another chapter is written.

- In a museum of history and culture, it's important to display different cultures and to let the world know that Black history is not just Africa.

(bright piano music continues) - These dolls are a part of the historical section, with the dolls coming ranging from 1870s to 1930s, US and Europe, because during the 1870s, these are bed post dolls.

These are like the best dolls ever.

If you look at 'em, because we used to have the great big beds and we had those posts on the top.

And what they would do is they would carve them and they would put the features in them.

So, they're completely wood.

The whole things are wood.

And then, the clothing, most of the time, the clothing that was done, they're all hand-stitched.

But they were rags when they made the dolls.

That's what they did, they were rags.

But this is the same time period, but this was in Europe.

This doll right here is from Germany.

This is Simon & Halbig, and it's a German porcelain doll.

(bright music continues) Now, these two dolls, these are significant because these are called Lovely dolls.

Ms. Lovely, she was a woman that lived down South, I think in South Carolina.

She washed clothes, she was a clothes washer.

And she would go on the corner in front of her house and she would sell these dolls on the weekends.

And she hand-did all of the dolls.

- [Narrator] A story at every turn.

This exhibit of Native American dolls was assembled with different figures dressed to resemble the tribe they each came from.

- There's a doll, she has on white, and her dress has yellow beads hanging off it.

That is a Lacoste Sioux doll.

The Sioux tribe, their dress and their headdress is a lot of beaded embroidery stuff.

- [Narrator] When it comes to the art of making dolls, creativity knows no limits, and no borders, either.

- We have a collection called Dolls of the World where we display dolls from around the world.

And that's Southeast Asia, Asia, the Caribbean, South America, some Latin America, and some dolls from Africa as well.

We traveled together as a family, and each country that we went to, we would get a doll.

(peaceful music) This doll is a doll from Russia.

It was sent to us by a woman in Russia, and I wanna show this doll because people don't think you'll find a Black doll in Russia.

But there's a Black doll artist in Russia, and I believe she's a Caucasian woman that creates these dolls.

People think of Russia and you think of the nesting, the nesting dolls come out of Russia.

But Russia also has a big doll community as well.

- [Narrator] But it's another doll in the international collection that Felicia has a personal connection to.

- I have this doll, right here.

She's from Vietnam.

My uncle was in the Vietnam War, and when he came back from Vietnam, he bought us this doll.

I mean, I'm nine, maybe a little younger than nine years old when that was going on, so I didn't really understand what was happening until maybe some years later.

But then, I was interested on how those children lived over there.

And I got a doll, but it wasn't a play doll, 'cause most people think of dolls just as a plaything.

For me, growing up in the community that I grew up in and the world that I grew up in, it was always hard to find a doll that looked like me or dolls of even different cultures.

So, I think, for my uncle being in a war, coming back and seeing, having nieces, he's seen a doll, and that's a natural gift that you wanna give somebody or you wanna give a girl child, would be a doll.

And so, as a souvenir doll coming from Vietnam.

The impact was, the features of the doll were different than regular dolls that I saw.

And just having a doll that was different than the traditional white doll was impactful, because now I had a doll from a different culture.

- [Narrator] Today, that doll remains a personal treasure on display at the museum.

(rousing music) With so much focus on culture and history rooted in Africa, it seemed only natural to dedicate some of their gallery space here to other forms of art.

- There are doors that are here, because a door, in Africa, doors and door frames are really significant.

(rousing music continues) There's the African art.

We have albums, we have books, we have quilts, so anything that connects to history, we have.

But this large African art section that's behind me, this big guy up here is a protector.

People always think about African art when they see different pieces that's like this.

What will happen is people always try to connect it to some kind of evil spirit, some kind of voodoo or something like that.

Not necessarily true, but it's for healing and protection.

(rousing music continues) - [Narrator] Ultimately, what's really being protected here is the story of us and the rich cultures that surround us.

- In people's minds, when they think of a doll museum, they're expecting to see Barbie or they're expecting to see a baby.

They're not expecting to be able to hear stories on history.

Everybody has something in their house that's significant that they can start a collection and tell a story and tell their family story and hold onto that history.

That's why this place is important.

Not just about the dolls, it's about being able to relate to people and teach people and learn from people.

(rousing music continues) (upbeat music) (bright music) - [Narrator] Nestled behind one of the carefully-built stone walls in Little Compton, Rhode Island, is the Wilbor House, a thoughtfully-curated museum and home to the local historical society.

The property includes several buildings that allow space to cover almost every aspect of history from this rural community.

One of those buildings features exhibits that offer insight into daily life in Little Compton in years gone by.

A big part of that history revolved around farm life.

This innovative piece of equipment allowed for butter to be churned using the power of sheep.

Early transportation is well-represented here, including this oxcart, and some more comfortable options for people to get around in.

One of the most recognizable wagons in town would've been this one belonging to a local grocery store.

- This was a wagon that would've delivered groceries and meat and fish to the people of Little Compton.

One of the things we discovered is just how many different delivery services there were in Little Compton before the age of the automobile.

So, you'd have a fish vendor going up and down the street.

The bakery delivered, the vegetables delivered in the summer.

Every morning, the wagons would go out and take orders, go up and down all the streets in Little Compton, and then do deliveries in the afternoon.

So, before you had a car, you would be able to put in your order and get your groceries delivered.

The wagon is about 120 years old, now, say, about 1900.

It was stored on the commons in Little Compton for a long time, and then purchased by one of the people who worked at the store and who then donated it to the historical society.

- [Narrator] Like the old wagon, the business still survives today.

(bright music) The historical society here maintains an extensive collection of artifacts from the area, including some that predate the arrival of Europeans.

- These are historic items, both discovered by community members in Little Compton.

The first that I'd love to talk about is this copper celt, or small ax.

This is a ceremonial item.

It would not have been used for heavy work.

It may not have been used for work at all, but it's especially beautiful and symbolic item, and it would've shown everyone in this community that the person who owned this item was special and had a special status.

It was recently analyzed, along with the point, by archeologist Kevin Smith, who's been working with us on our Sakonnet history project.

And Kevin informs us that this celt is 5,000 years old and that the copper that it's made of actually comes from Lake Michigan.

And so, that completely expands our idea of the lifestyle of the Sakonnet Wampanoag people who were here 5,000 years ago by telling us that they had trade networks that stretched all the way to the Michigan area.

This is what is sometimes called a kettle point.

It is made from European copper that was specifically brought here, imported here to trade with native people.

I think these items are particularly important treasures for us at this moment in time, because we have dedicated the last few years and the next few years to gaining a deeper understanding of the Sakonnet Wampanoag people.

And we're doing everything within our power to learn more about their history, and also to reconnect with living Wampanoag people.

(footsteps tapping) - [Narrator] Another connection with the past has been made with a series of contemporary paintings.

- This is an imagined portrait of a woman who lived during the American Revolution.

Her name is Sarah Tompkins.

The painting was done by Dora Millikin, who read Sarah's story and was inspired to create this portrait.

And what we love about Sarah Tompkins is that she was a working class woman whose personal story during the Revolution happened to be preserved because she filled out her husband's Revolutionary War pension application.

This is what Sarah wrote in her pension application.

- [Sarah] Nathaniel was much in the service before as well as after our marriage before the close of the war.

When my husband was away in the service, I had to do, and did, many things out of doors that women in this town think they cannot do.

We suffered great privation at that time.

- So, part of what I love about this and her words is that we have this misconception of farm work being men's work.

And really, that's just not true.

I think a lot of families tried to pretend that the men did the work and the women were preserved or saved for more indoor work.

But time and time again, we have evidence of women, even from much wealthier families, having to go out in the fields and work alongside their fathers, their brothers, their enslaved men, their indentured servants, in order to get the farm work done, 'cause if you didn't complete your farm work, you didn't survive the winter.

- [Narrator] Another painting in this series depicts an enslaved woman named Jane.

During the Revolution, while hiding from the British, her son Caesar volunteered to serve a three-year term in the army in exchange for his freedom.

Caesar was killed before completing his service, making Jane what would today be considered a Gold Star Mother.

(peaceful music) (gentle music) Back at the historic house museum, rooms have been meticulously restored.

Guided tours include stories about different witches' marks that are located in a few different rooms in the old home.

- What are these marks?

Why were they put here?

And the reason why they were put here is because, even though this family was practicing Quakers and even though the people in the Waite Potter house were also religious, there was still this sense of superstition, I guess you could call it, in beliefs on how to keep your people protected, especially from evil spirits or from evil sicknesses.

These here are jail marks, and so they would be literal bars of light in the spirit world that would prevent the people from, or prevent the bad spirits from coming into the house.

And these here are the most interesting, in my opinion.

These are called candling marks, and you would make these by holding up a candle and allowing it to burn, for a little while.

You don't wanna set the house on fire.

When you take it off, it cools a little bit, you actually scratch into it to make it deeper.

And the idea behind that is you're actually creating a brighter and brighter and brighter mark against those evil spirits in the spirit realm.

So, if the spirit realm was the exact opposite of what we have here, just imagine everything looking as it does, only instead of these marks, there are these just bright symbols of light.

And that is scary to all of the evil spirits.

So, they won't come down into this chimney, they won't come into your house, because they're afraid of these marks.

And you would find marks like these near windows, near doors, over the chimneys, any place that would be open to the outside, where someone, some evil spirit might be able to come and get you.

- [Narrator] These marks have been dated to right about the time of the Salem Witch Trials, offering an explanation, perhaps, as to why a Quaker family would've sought out this kind of protection.

(bright music) (bright music continues) (bright music continues) (bright music) (upbeat music) - [Announcer] This program and other episodes of "Treasures Inside the Museum", as well as digital extras, are now available to watch anytime by visiting ripbs.org or the Rhode Island PBS YouTube channel.

Take a private tour with exhibit curators, get an inside look at the conservation process, and go behind the scenes to see hidden treasures.

Whether you are interested in artifacts, paintings, photography, architecture, or history, you'll be inspired to learn more.