Barbie’s Inspiring Women series is continuing to grow, with the brand now adding pioneering journalist, activist and researcher Ida B. Wells to their collection of more than 60 dolls.
Born into slavery during the Civil War, Wells became an activist for civil rights and women’s suffrage and spent almost 50 years challenging the status quo in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Inspiring generations of change-makers, Wells also co-founded the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to fight for freedom, justice and equal opportunity for all.
To further celebrate Wells’ legacy, Barbie is also partnering with Girls Write Now, a nonprofit organization that works to break down barriers of gender, race, age and poverty. As part of the campaign, Barbie is funding high school girls and gender-expansive young adults with writing and publishing programs while also introducing role models to inspire them through a Barbie Dream Gap Project donation.
The Wells doll comes dressed in a black dress with a ruffled collar and includes a copy of the newspaper Memphis Free Speech, which Wells was not only editor of but also co-owned. The new doll will be available nationwide at Amazon, Walmart and Target beginning Jan. 17. You can read more about Wells’ inspiring life by visiting WomensHistory.org.
The new Ida B. Wells doll is one of several in Barbie’s Inspiring Women Series, which launched in 2018 with dozens of dolls including Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou, Amelia Earhart, Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson.
The series has expanded even more since then and now also includes singer Ella Fitzgerald, poet Maya Angelou, nurse Florence Nightengale, Rosa Parks and astronaut Sally Ride.
One of the most recent dolls in the series is Helen Keller, which was added to the collection in May 2021. The first deafblind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree, Keller was also a renowned author, speaker, educator and advocate. The Helen Keller doll wears a striped skirt and blouse with ruffled lace details and carries a book with molded braille on its cover.
Do you have any of Barbie’s Inspiring Women dolls?
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