Mendocino Coast Doll Club president and Fort Bragg resident Jayne Bush will share her knowledge of collectible dolls at the Kelley House Museum on Sunday, May 6, beginning at 4:00 p.m.. Admission is $5 for Kelley House Museum members and $7 for the public.
Josie, from Paris, and Aurora Lee, from Mendocino
Two dolls belonging to Daisy Kelley (1859 – 1953), named Aurora Lee and Josie, will be on display during the lecture. Daisy was the oldest child of Mendocino pioneers William and Eliza Kelley and the Kelley House was her family home. In Aurora Lee’s bodice was tucked a note in Daisy Kelley’s handwriting that reads, “My name is Aurora Lee and I was born in Mendocino in 1866 and have lived here all my life. I was so glad when Josie came from Paris. We live in a cedar trunk in the attic and have such lovely times together. We are always invited when there is a sewing class party and we love to go.” Aurora Lee and Josie were donated to the Kelley House Museum in 1980 by Daisy Kelley MacCallum’s nieces, Katherine Kelley and Margaret Kelley Campbell.
Dolls are among the artifacts on view at the Kelley House Museum during the spring exhibit “Up From Below: Dolls, Pipes and Bottles,” which runs from May 4 to June 18, 2018. Some of the dolls on display were rescued from the Kelley House Pond and belong to a group known as “Frozen Charlottes.” They were likely German made and date from approximately the 1870s to the 1890s. They were made in molds out of porcelain or similar material.
Jayne Bush has been in Fort Bragg since 1972 and is retired from the Mendocino Coast Clinics where she worked as a Family Nurse Practitioner. As president of the Doll Club, she provides members with information on an array of dolls at their monthly meetings.