Traditional costume dolls

These dolls, representing a man and a woman in traditional dress from Croatia and Serbia (then part of Yugoslavia), were made around 1937 for The Children’s Museum by artisans of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA was an employment program created by President Roosevelt in 1935 during the Great Depression. Perhaps best known for its public works projects, the WPA also employed tens of thousands of actors, musicians, writers, painters, and other artists. These WPA dolls, as well as historical dioramas, were used by the museum’s Lending Department (Loan Collection) for teachers to bring into their classrooms.

 

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited The Children’s Museum in 1937 to support the work of the WPA. After the museum sent her a follow-up gift, she wrote: “I have given the two dolls which were sent to me by the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis to the library here in the village of Hyde Park, where they are holding an exhibition of dolls. I was delighted to see how appreciative everybody was of the beautiful way in which these dolls are made and dressed. I wish so much that other museums might have the advantage of John Quincy Adams [WPA artist at The Children’s Museum]. He has a great gift for painting backgrounds. I imagine his paintings bring out the various exhibits and attract children more than any other single thing I saw in the museum.”