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Show firs Ladies Whitfe Mouse doll collection ' 'I ) r v . -i I -a ( ! . i . r . - : ! - ' : ' . ' y ' i ! CNE OFTHE exhibits of the First Ladies of the White House doll j ejection. The famous First Ladies of the White House doll collection can be found at the Uintah County Library. "We've had people here from all over the world to see it," said Doris ISurtoti, Uintah County Historian. Doll collectors come from all over and say this is the finest doll collection they have seen. Mrs. Hugh (Margurite) M. Colton, chairman of District 6, Utah American Bicentennial and two of her committee members, June Stewart and Alta Winward, were discussing projects for Vernal for the 1976 Bicentennial year. Mrs. Colton suggested a pageant with local ladies dressed in costumes depicting America s First Ladies. Realizing it would cost too much to make the gowns, the idea of the doll colletion was made. In December 1975 the project was on its way with Isobell Batty as chairman. There is an exhibit of the First Ladies in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D C. Here original dresses of the first ladies are displayed on mannequins. It was decided the doll collection would be the only collection with the heads sculptured to look just like the First Ladies. A doll sculpturist was found in Murray, Phyllis Park. The committee was given $1,500 for the project. Glass doll cases were needed to display these dolls in. They were made by the Ute Fab, a Ute Indian cabinet making enterprise. Local women's clubs were contacted and along with many others agreed to purchase the individual dolls and dress them in replicas of the actual dresses worn by those First Ladies. Many dolls were placed in memory of or in honor of a special individual. There were 200 local people working on this project. From all over the world material was obtained including such places as Spain, Hong Kong, Taipai and Formosa. The faces and hands of the dolls were made of porcelain and sculptured by Mrs. Parks, but the bodies were made of cloth and had to be made and stuffed by the committee. Not only were the dresses exquisite, but also the underclothing including petticoats and pantaloons. Some of these undergarments were even prettier than the dresses. Each president is represented by a First Lady and one is represented twice as his first wife, who acted as first lady, died and he remarried. All wives were not First Ladies. The term "First Lady" refers to the president's official hostess and not always was she his wife. In some cases the wife had poor health and was unable to carry out these duties. One president was not married and another divorced. In other cases the w ife did act as First Lady and later on was unable to continue and so another hostess was appointed. Whenever possible the wife was chosen to represent the First Lady in this collection. There are nine more to be added to make the collection complete. According to Mrs. Burton, a second doll case was donated to the library by Mr. and Mrs. Woodey Searle. The collection now belongs to the library. The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D C. wanted to have the collection moved there to be with their collection of gowns displayed on mannequins, but with so much work being done by the community of Vernal, it was felt the collection should stay here. It was a community project. A special book is now being compiled. It has pictures of the dolls and the ladies that made their clothes and tells about them. It is almost finished and w ill soon be out for the public to see. |