A Personal Note from Mary E. Lyons--Why I Developed the Freedom Dolls®

If you are a parent, teacher, or librarian, you are aware of the popular book/doll combination that is currently the heart’s desire of every American girl. However, you may not know the dolls are made primarily in China. This information is not supplied by the company in its marketing material. It saddens me that children are learning about history, especially the history of slavery, through dolls made in a country with a wretched human rights record.

Also, I have heard many thoughtful adults express concern about the catalog that markets these dolls and accessories. Products offered on the colorful pages do not teach history. Instead, they teach youngsters to buy, buy, buy.

Finally, I am concerned about the quality of the dolls. Despite cheap off-shore labor, each doll/ book combination costs $88. Yet children tell me the dolls’ clothes often don’t fit and limbs easily fall off. As one girl said, "You can’t play hard with them; mine sits on a shelf."

These complaints reminded me that Harriet Jacobs, the subject of my historical novel, Letters from a Slave Girl, made magnificent rag dolls after she escaped from slavery. With pictures of her dolls to guide me, I asked a doll artisan to create Harriet and her family. Gran, Harriet, Lulu, and Joseph now travel with me when I make author appearances. They are always happy to go along, because they love to help teach women’s and African American history.

Because so many children and adults have shown interest in the dolls, I am now offering them at cost. The Freedom Dolls® are my way to provide children an authentic vehicle for learning history. They are also my way to make sure that history doesn’t forget Harriet Jacobs, a hero of the Civil War era whose contributions have been compared to those of Frederick Douglass.

About the Freedom Dolls®

Gran, Harriet, Lulu and Joseph celebrate one family’s struggle for freedom. They are based on dolls made by the real Harriet Jacobs sometime in the 1850's. Every effort has been made to replicate Jacobs’s 19th century materials and sewing techniques. These include fabric, clothing style, head wraps, buttons and button-holes, jewelry and hair. No velcro is used. Constructed by hand in an American home, every Freedom Doll® requires 10-12 hours of labor.

Accessories:
Each doll comes with a copy of Letters from a Slave Girl, a carpet bag and a list of accessory ideas. Like children of the 19th century who made their own toys, young readers can fill the bag with homemade objects easily found around the house. Compiled from details in Letters from a Slave Girl, the list will help youngsters honor the history of women and African Americans in the 19th century. What better way to play with a doll?

Clothing:
Gran is dressed in a flowing satiny flowered dress with lace on the inside of the hem. She wears a matching head dress, gold hoop earrings, a pearl necklace, two-piece satin underclothing with lace straps and ruffles, and leather shoes. As befitting the matriarch of the family, she is a stately 22" tall and has a wise face.

Harriet is dressed as she is pictured on the cover of Letters from a Slave Girl. She wears a blue flowered print dress that buttons down the bodice. The dress has white cuffs and collar. She also wears a shawl, two-piece white eyelet underclothing with straps and cotton lace, and leather shoes. Harriet is 20" tall and has a loving face.

Lulu wears a white cotton dress with pearl buttons down the bodice and a contrasting sash that buttons around the waist. Her underclothing is trimmed with lace, and she wears leather shoes. Lulu is 16" tall and has very sweet features.

Joseph wears a 19th century boy’s "suit." The two-button pants come with suspenders; the three-button vest is lined. Both are made of a homespun-like brown fabric. The pull-over white shirt has a collar and gathered sleeves with cuffs. Joseph wears a brightly-colored neckerchief and leather shoes. He is 16" tall. Because he spent seven childhood years without his mother, he has rather serious facial features.

Each doll $100 (price includes s/h)

Va residents please add $4.50 tax for each doll

Send check and your mailing address to:
Mary E. Lyons c/o Heartwood Books
5 Elliewood Avenue
Charlottesville VA 22903
or
email mary@lyonsdenbooks.com