Rag Doll Tales

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The night was cold, as cold as her feelings. A young slave mother named Mabel sewed all night. Her candlelight creation yielded a crude Rag Doll, a gift for her youngest daughter, Natty. She knew when the sun rose, she would see her child for the last time. Her heart was heavy. She named the doll Eugene, the name of Natty's father. This way, she thought, the child would always remember her roots. As the wagon drifted out of sight the young child said, "Her name is Eugene Mamma Mabel" - a remembrance of both her parents. Thus began the story of a Rag Doll named Eugene, and the legacy of a family from slavery through civil rights.