Name: Dorothy Counts
Made by and When: Rachel McCullough Sherrod of Starkey’s Daughter Cloth Dolls, 2022
Material: Wool-blend felt face over sculpted clay; felt arms, and legs; stuffed cotton-blend head and torso
Marks: Signed by the artist, Rachel McCullough Sherrod of Starkey’s Daughter Cloth Dolls and dated, also has a hangtag that contains the artist’s information and a certificate of authenticity
Height: 20 inches
Hair, Eyes, Mouth: Short black handmade wig, brown painted eyes, closed mouth with painted lip color
Clothes: Made by the artist, the doll’s blue plaid dress replicates the dress worn by Dorothy Counts in her iconic 1957 picture (see the gallery and the linked article), white undergarments, black slip-on shoes, gold-tone small hoop earrings; holds folded enrollment documents in the right hand.
Other: This one-of-a-kind doll honors the beautiful and courageous Dorothy Counts. In September 1957, Ms. Counts crossed the color line at Harding High School in Charlotte, NC amid protests against school desegregation from angry white students. In the words of the artist, who is a long-time resident of North Carolina, “People like her changed our landscape in a beautiful way.”
“Dorothy Counts made national news in September 1957, when at the age of 15, she became one of the first and, at the time, the only black student to enroll in the newly desegregated Harry Harding High School in Charlotte (North Carolina).” Read more at the source of the quote here.
Gallery
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