Grayson, a freelance writer who moved to Washington, D.C. three years ago from Emeryville, began collecting black paper dolls in 1994. Part of her collection of 118 paper dolls is on exhibit through February 29. at the F. W. Olin Library at Mills College.

The exhibit, entitled, "Precious Playthings: Black Paper Dolls, 1885-2003," is part of Mills' Black History Month celebration, said Janice Braun, a special collections curator.

Among the 41 paper dolls on display are an 1885 black baby girl, a 1946 "mammy" doll included as a prize inside a Cracker Jack box, a paper doll of singer Billy Holiday, a 1969 "Black is Beautiful doll, and a set of 1993 paper dolls of Martin Luther King Jr. and his family.

More current images in the show include paper dolls of black personalities, such as Starr Jones from "The View" talk show and basketball player Dennis Rodman, as well as San Francisco activist, the Reverend Cecil Williams.

"These precious paper playthings reflect not only the fashion trends of the period in which they were created, but also the values and mores of the times," said Grayson, who earned a master's degree in liberal studies at Mills in 1996.

Grayson is writing a book on the history of black paper dolls. With the printing of the first black paper doll some 140 years ago, she said, stereotypes of blacks have been chronicled in magazines, newspapers, comic strips, and greeting cards.

Her research led her to find "Topsey," one of the first black paper dolls to be produced for advertising purposes. "Topsey" was a character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's book, "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

Before the 1950s, images of blacks in the mainstream press and popular culture were "subservient and menial," Grayson said. Two examples of this portrayal of black women at the exhibit include "Aunt Dinah, the Colored Cook," appears in an April 1911 issue of McCall's magazine; and "Mammy Cook and her Thanksgiving Dinner" paper doll, published in "The Delineator," November 1912.

To counteract these early images of black women, Grayson made sure that her exhibit featured "Torchy Brown", "a shapely, sophisticated, no-nonsense fashion maven" cartoon character, which was created in 1937 by Jackie Ormes. Ormes was the first syndicated black female illustrator and her work appeared in the black-owned Pittsburgh Courier.

"After the Civil Rights Movement, you start seeing (black) families. You start seeing more realistic depictions," Grayson said.

The former Bay Area resident, who was born in Alameda, said she began collecting the dolls because she doesn't remember playing with them as a child. Finding new and rare paper dolls, she said, has become a fantastic experience for her.

"It's a way to learn history -- through toys -- because that's how children learn, and that's how attitude and values and reinforced," she said. "In this collection, there's something to learn about and not to be forgotten."

Reach Ana Facio Contreras at (510) 339-4506 or## acontreras@cctimes.com.