SARALEE DOLL (1951)

“A Little Ambassador of Peace”In 1949 a white Florida businesswoman named Sara Lee Creech noticed two African American girls playing with white dolls. Also a social activist, she decided to lead the controversial effort to create a lifelike black doll that would “represent the beauty and diversity of black children.” With the help of African American friends and community leaders, and former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, the Ideal Toy Company agreed to mass-produce the doll.

Unfortunately, sales did not match the hopes of Ideal, and the company stopped manufacturing the doll in 1953.

CHRISTIE and JULIA (1968, 1969)

“Star of Television”America’s Civil Rights movement helped influence Mattel to release a controversial “Colored Francie” doll (1967) that had a dark complexion but did not have African American features—she was basically a Caucasian Francie (marketed for a decade as “Barbie’s modern cousin”) with brown tint.

A year later, Mattel released Barbie’s friend, Christie (1968)—usually considered the first African American doll in the Barbie line. Ken’s friend, Brad, joined the line a year after that (1969). Mattel’s African American Julia doll was based on the breakthrough television show Julia starring Diahann Carroll, who played a widowed mother and nurse.

Christie Julia