BUFFALO, N.Y. — A popular exhibit that celebrates both Black History Month in February and Women's History Month in March has returned to the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library.
Now its fourth year, the Black Doll Exhibit is on display at the Frank E. Merriweather, Jr. Branch Library on Jefferson Avenue. Curator Lisa Jacobs-Watson, creates the show each year from her own personal collection of dolls.
"I have well over 100 dolls, so I love sharing them with the community" she said. "I love being part of this initiative."
This year's theme is "We Are Beautiful: An Evolution of Black Dolls."
"As a collector, I've evolved. I started out with a lot of fashion dolls. I've extended the collection. Now I have some play dolls, and this year we just decided to kind of bring to the forefront the fact that doll manufacturers are at a new level, and dolls of the old are not dolls of the new. We've come a long way with the way the dolls look, the way that they are presented, the way that they're retailed, and that evolution from what they used to be way back when."
There's also an American Girl connection this year. Lackawanna native Connie Porter, the author of the "Addy" books in the American Girl series, will be at the library on Thursday evening to help launch the exhibit.
The event begins at 6 p.m. and attendees can enter to win an Addy doll and make a doll craft.
You can check out the Black doll exhibit at the Frank E. Merriweather, Jr. Branch Library through April 1.