Handmade "Mammy" doll: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A canvas doll in the form of a stereotypical "Mammy" character owned by a white child.

This hand-sewn doll is constructed of a stuffed, rough cotton canvas material in dark brown. She wears a bright shawl above her oat-colored three-quarter sleeve shirt and long plaid skirt and a plaid headscarf. Her facial features are hand-painted large dark eyes, a wide nose and smile. She still has one bronze-colored hoop earring attached to her proper left ear. Her ankles are taped and she is depicted as having black (canvas painted) shoes.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1915
• Created by: Unidentified
• Owned by: Helen Drew Colison, American, 1907 - 2004
• Type: dolls
• Medium: cotton (fiber) with metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 15 3/4 × 12 5/8 × 2 3/8 in. (40 × 32 × 6 cm)
• Place used: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Caricature and cartoons
• Topic: Children
• Topic: Play
• Topic: Stereotypes
• Topic: Women
• Object number: 2021.34
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Helen D. Colison
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: No known copyright restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.