In 1918 Evelyn Berry and Victoria Ross started a doll company called Berry & Ross. These two women were the first African American female large-scale manufacturers of black composition dolls. Considered trailblazers within their community, Berry and Ross opened their doll factory at 36-38 West 135th Street in Harlem, New York.
Retailers in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and other cities carried the Berry and Ross Dolls in their department stores. The company also sold dolls in Africa, a Berry and Ross doll sold for 29 cents to $3.50 for a 16-inch Doris with long flowing curls. The dolls were appealing to black and white children.
In the ‘1919 Ad in Crisis," a magazine for the NAACP Magazine, Sherry Howard wrote about the Berry & Ross Dolls, stating that "Berry's famous brown skin dolls was designed and made by colored girls in a factory owned and controlled by colored people." Howard continues, "These dolls are not the old-time, black face, red lip Aunt Jemima colored dolls but dolls well-made and truly representative of the race in hair and features." #BerryandRoss #blackhistorymonth#blackownedcompanies #blackhistory #blackmakers #blackmakers #HarlemWorld #HarlemHistory #blackcreators #ourhistory #americanhistory #blackownedbusiness #blackwomenownedbusiness