Kathie Marsh, museum specialist at the Family Heritage House Museum, recently received a unique collection from a local family.

  • Collection of dolls has arrived at the Family Heritage House Museum
  • More than 100 of the antique dolls were donated from a local family
  • The free museum is open to the public from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday

"She makes mud pies," said Marsh, pointing to one of more than 100 antique African American dolls.  

The dolls are a new addition to the museum’s permanent collection.

"They actually come with mud pies you -- can see the little handprint on her dress,” Marsh said, pointing to the perfect little brown handprint on Keisha’s white angel dress. "They are no longer manufactured, so they are pretty unique."

Almost as unique as the dolls is the story of how they came to the museum. The woman who loved these dolls collected more than 145 of them.

"Her father was a manager-- an overseer-- in the Orange Groves Palmetto," said Marsh. "She used to go to work with him."

It was there she made friends that looked like the dolls she would later collect.

They were her friends.

They were black. She was white. And they were all children in the 1930s.

"And that was what made it so unique," said Marsh.

Latha Matthews Hall Draeger collected these dolls because she never forgot the people of her childhood.

"They reminded her of the faces of the little girl," said Marsh.

Draeger passed away in October 2015. Early this year, her family began to search for a new home for their mother’s friends.

When one of her daughters finally saw the dolls set up in their new home, Marsh said she began to cry.

“She said this was exactly the place they needed to be," said Marsh.

It’s a place that can pass on the story-- of a child's lasting love for her friends.

The Family Heritage House Museum is located at 5840 26th Street W. in Bradenton at the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota.

The museum is free and open to the public from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday.

Additional times are available by appointment.