A New Era: Celebrating Black Dolls Presented by New York State Senator April N.M. Baskin

New York State Senator April N.M. Baskin announced today that the sixth annual Black Doll Exhibit, A New Era: Celebrating Black Dolls and The New Era of Beauty will be presented in four Buffalo & Erie County Public Libraries now through April 1, 2025.  For the past five years, during Black History Month, local doll collector Lisa Jacobs-Watson has curated library displays using her doll collection to examine the importance of representation and how dolls can be critical to one’s development of identity and imagination. Themes of perseverance, empowerment, pride, and creativity for women and girls of all ages and colors has been the center point of each display.

“I am so proud to sponsor this Black Doll Exhibit, dating back to 2020,” said New York State Senator April N.M. Baskin (SD-63). “The way we perceive ourselves is crucial to strong physical and emotional health. With this remarkable exhibit, children can identify with dolls that look like them and be inspired and empowered in their own skin. Such representation can only serve young girls and boys to achieve their true potential through play, education, and cultural conversations.”

“I am once again honored to be the curator of this year’s exhibit while sharing part of my collection. We are pleased at the increasing number of onlookers who show appreciation for black and brown dolls year after year. These dolls represent beauty, potential, and the vast amount of creativity that goes into producing them. I am motivated to keep using dolls to influence youngsters toward seeing themselves in a positive light during their playtime,” said collector
Lisa Jacobs-Watson.     

A special public showing of Black Barbie: A Documentary film from Netflix will be shown in the downtown Central Library Auditorium on Saturday, February 22 at 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., followed by a virtual Q&A with the writer/director Lagueria Davis. Black Barbie is the untold story of the first Barbie doll created as a Black woman and the pivotal role that three trailblazing women had in working with the Mattel Company in 1980 to produce a doll that looked like them. The program will be moderated by news anchor Pheben Kassahun. It is free and open to the public.

Library doll display locations are listed on the next page.

Doll displays can be viewed now – April 1, 2025 at: 

For more details, call the Library System at 716-858-8900 or visit www.BuffaloLib.org.   Interviews and photos are available by request. Media is welcome to attend the film showing and program on Saturday, February 22 at 11:00 a.m. at the Central Library’s Auditorium.