BELLE GLADE, Fla. — About 70 years ago, eight Black children in Belle Glade got dolled up for an experience they would never forget.
Two of those children, Mary Evans and LaVoise Taylor Smith, still remember when they had the opportunity to be a part of history, although they might not have recognized it in the early 1950s.
They both went on to have successful careers in education and serving their community, but before they were even old enough to have a job, they had already made a big impact for Black children everywhere.
The eight children were the inspiration for what became the first doll to accurately depict an African American child, in a way that parents and kids felt connected to the toy.
Even though it has been decades, the two still remember the moment they became the inspiration to a doll that got the attention of many, including first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
“Growing up, I knew that I was the model for a doll, but I had never seen it or anything like that until the doll got to Delray, I believe,” Evans said.
She said she ran into Smith at church, they talked about their experience, “and that's how this got started again,” she said.
WPTV’s Victor Jorges spoke with the two women at Lawrence E. Will Museum in Belle Glade, where the Saralee dolls are exhibited.
"It is for me, a sense of great pride in 2024 that I can know that I am a part of her-story, her story,” said Smith, proudly looking at the display with some versions of the original doll, sketches, and photographs of the process. "I remember that there were several children that came in and an artist who came in and took sketches of us over our heads of especially focusing on our heads, hair, the shapes of our faces.”
They remember, once the dolls came out, they would look at them to see which part of the doll was based on one of their features.
"So it didn't look like me by myself. It didn't look like Mary by herself," Smith said. "And there was one boy among the group. It was a coming together of eight children in the early '50s. I was proud of that.”
The two women remember one person that made it all happen— a white woman by the name of Sara Lee Creech. They still lovingly call her Mrs. Creech.
They said she had a special connection with kids, and a strong commitment to making sure kids’ toys looked like the children playing with them.
"She had a personal interest in us as little girls to make sure that we had experiences like all other little girls had, and therefore she created the doll,” Smith said."
For the two women, Creech was way ahead of her time.
It’s been decades since this doll was produced. It is no longer being made, but the women recognize they played an important role in diversifying products, including kids’ toys, makeup and clothes so Black people feel represented.
“[I’m] happy to live in 2024,” Smith said, “[and] to see from where I have come, to where I am now.”
Evans and Smith both went on to have successful careers in education. They both taught, were leaders in their community, and eventually principals at schools in Palm Beach County.
The educators agreed history is a foundation for people to know where their ancestors have been, what they’ve gone through, and what can be learned from their experiences.
"We have kids that are growing up in Belle Glade now, that will benefit from knowing the story,” Evans said. “Sometimes, when kids have low self-esteem, and they see the things that happened to others, then they feel like, hey, I can do this. So, we do really need to get the story out to our younger generation."
Smith and Evans are still friends with a connection very few people can say they have— being the muse for a toy they played with themselves.
“This needs to go down in history, you know, we need to tell the story to many people,” Evans said.
“And it's right here in Belle Glade, here in Palm Beach County,” Smith said.
Looking ahead, the educators said they are proud of how far they’ve come, their role in the historic doll, and leaving their own mark in their community.
“It is a totally different world,” Evans said. “Progress has been made, that's for sure."