NATCHEZ, Miss. (WJTV) – A Madam C.J. Walker doll, created by Theresa Merritt, of Natchez, will be featured in a permanent exhibit at the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture (NAPAC).
Walker, who visited Natchez in 1916, was one of the first American women to become a self-made millionaire.
The NAPAC exhibit is titled, “Accenting the Natchez Black Business District.” It will open as a free public event on September 30 at 301 Main Street.
According to Bobby Dennis, the museum’s executive director, the exhibit will tell the story of Walker, an African American entrepreneur and philanthropist, and St. Catherine Street, where many businesses once thrived in the black community.
“A lot of people are not getting the full story of Natchez,” Dennis said. “How many people in Natchez know that the first Black female millionaire in our nation had a relationship with local residents?”
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A Madam C.J. Walker doll, created by Theresa Merritt, of Natchez, will be featured in a permanent exhibit at the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture. (Courtesy: Visit Natchez) -
A Madam C.J. Walker doll, created by Theresa Merritt, of Natchez, will be featured in a permanent exhibit at the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture. (Courtesy: Visit Natchez) -
A Madam C.J. Walker doll, created by Theresa Merritt, of Natchez, will be featured in a permanent exhibit at the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture. (Courtesy: Visit Natchez)
Merritt donated the Walker doll to the museum on Saturday, July 8. Merritt is a doll artisan who has created dolls for more than 30 years. Her dolls have depicted Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, and Phillis Wheatley, among other figures in African American history.