WPA Dolls

The lobby exhibit for March features a collection of WPA dolls from the Prairie Museum of Art and History collection of "All Nations" figurines. Prairie Museum's collection of WPA Dolls consists of three parts. The first is a collection of "All Nations" figurines which were created by by Thomas County women and were on displayed in the Colby Elementary School from 1939-1979. They have been on exhibit at Prairie Museum for several years. The second part of the WPA collection is also a set of "All Nations" figurines given to the museum by DePaul Library University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas. Although similar, the two collections are different in decorative detail. The third part of the collection consists of "American Costume" figurines representing clothing fashion of men and women from 1607 to 1890. The "American Costume" collection also came from DuPaul Library.

Each pair of figurines consists of a molded papier-mache head with hand sewn cloth body. The heads of the figurines were individually and uniquely hand-painted adding hair and facial features. The finely detailed costumes are authentic, hand sewn and inspired by artist's drawings. Each pair is mounted on a wooden platform displaying the name of the country represented. Most of the men are also holding their national flag.

(Click on image to enlarge.)

WPA (Works Progress Administration, later Works Projects Administration) is part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal Program not only to put people to work building bridges, roads, and buildings, but also as artists, seamstresses, and musicians in order to promote American art and culture. The objective of WPA was to provide for people by creating paid work and also by learning new skills to enable workers to find jobs. 

This is the first time any part of the collection donated by DePaul Library University of Saint Mary has been on exhibit at Prairie Museum of Art & History. This exhibit during March is a unique opportunity to see these great figurines before most of them go back into storage.