The Horton Public Library has a treasure sitting above the book shelves in their small library – it is a collection of 24 pairs of WPA dolls, representing 24 foreign countries and they are a part of the “All Nations Figurines”. Figures in the “All Nations Figurines” were approx. 10″ tall whose bodies were made from various cloth scraps. Their hands are crafted from felt and heads are modeled from papier maché and then hand painted. A complete set of these figures was meant to include 26 pairs. It is said that the original cost to institutions was $1 per pair. The artists mainly comprised of women are for the most part unrecorded today. 

These depression-age dolls were created under the Work Projects Administration, formed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 to “make” work for the nation’s large number of unemployed Americans as part of his New Deal program.  “We must preserve not only the bodies of the unemployed from destitution but also their self-respect, their self-reliance, courage and determination.”–Franklin Roosevelt, 1935. In the state of Kansas, multiple production shops were located in Topeka, Kansas City, Emporia, Lawrence, Mayetta, Columbus, and Wichita. More than 126 tax-supported institutions in Kansas selected and gained the WPA projects to utilize in traveling or stationary exhibits or as visual teaching aids in schools and museums.

Usually the work created was in the construction field, such as roads, bridges, parks and buildings; but there was also a Fine Arts group consisting of artists and artisans who painted murals and crafted these unique dolls. The dolls are handmade by artisans and seamstresses.  They are dressed in detailed costumes to help give students an understanding of historic dress not only of foreign countries, but also of American historical figures from the 1600s to the 1800s. Created in the ending years of the WPA (1938-1941), requirements for the dolls stated they must be made in a durable and practical medium,  must be produced in large quantities and by workers with limited training but who could learn to train in workmanship and create an appeasing visual aids, and lastly that each figure represent accurately the theme of which it stated.

History has lost at this point where and when we officially acquired this collection. It is however believed that the have the largest most complete “All Nations Figurines” set. These dolls were housed for years in the display case at the Library and at times loaned out for display, once to the St. Joseph Doll Museum, St. Joseph, Missouri in 1989.  In 1999 it was decided by the Library Board and the Library Director that the dolls needed to be preserved and permanently displayed at the Library. This was due to increased instances of damage and degradation occurring to the dolls on their traveling adventures. An Adoption project was launched and the following dolls were given homes in glass cases made by a local cabinetmaker (our local woodworkers, Randy and David Beach).:

• Austria – adopted by Katherine Holden
• China – adopted by Mildred Barnes & JoAnn Jenkins
• Czechoslovakia – adopted in memory of Edna Belle Banning Ohlsen
• Denmark – adopted by Homer & Juanita Pederson
• Finland – adopted by Jim, Lois, Kent and Van Larson
• French Peasant – adopted by Don & Greg Kallos in honor of Horton Teachers
• German Peasant – adopted by Kevin & Mindy Shippy-Tilley
• Greece – adopted by Bill & Nancy Goins in memory of the James Kallos family
• Holland – adopted by Harold Eugene Kurtz
• Hungary – adopted by the Delphian Club
• India – adopted by the Delphian Club
• Ireland – adopted in memory of Robert Poston
• Italy – adopted in memory of Elizabeth Wilson
• Jugoslavia – adopted in memory of Carel Pults
• Mexico – adopted by AAUW
• Norway – adopted by Claire & Carolyn Olsen
• Old England – adopted by Clay & Laura Cowart
• Poland – adopted by Kenneth & Veda Knudson
• Rumania – adopted by Claire Olsen grandchildren
• Scotland – adopted by John & Nancy McClain
• Spain – adopted in memory of Mary Margaret Kurtz
• Sweden – adopted by Ken & Connie Shippy
• Switzerland – adopted by the Friends of the Library