Two historic Alabama women — one who was known as “the sweetheart of Southern Baptists” and another who was involved in founding two Alabama Baptist colleges — have been commemorated with dolls dressed in period clothing.
The dolls depict Kathleen Mallory, who served as executive secretary of national Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) from 1912 to 1948, and Julia Tarrant Barron, who assisted in founding Judson College in 1838 and Howard College (now Samford University) in 1841.
Amelia Bowers and Jean Peck, members of the William Rufus King Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in Selma, created the dolls as a DAR project.
Each DAR chapter in the state was asked to commemorate a woman from the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame (AWHF), which recognizes those who have made contributions to both the state and nation.
“I chose these two ladies because they had the most impact on us in this area,” said Bowers, a member of Elkdale Baptist Church, Selma, in Selma Baptist Association.
Helen Hahn — first vice regent with the Alabama Society of the DAR and a member of First Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, in Tuscaloosa Baptist Association — said 22 dolls dressed by DAR chapters would be used as centerpieces during the Alabama Tea on July 9, 2009. That tea will be held in conjunction with the national DAR meeting July 8–12 in Washington.
Following the tea, the dolls will be offered to Kate Duncan Smith DAR School in Grant, which serves kindergartners through 12th-graders in Marshall County, Hahn said.
Bowers created clothing for the 19-inch Barron doll by referring to a portrait in Samford’s library that shows her in a dark navy velvet dress with a blue-lilac satin inset. Bowers strove to use similar materials in making the doll’s clothes.
The clothing for Peck’s 18-inch Mallory doll is based on what she’s wearing in a portrait displayed at First Baptist Church, Selma, in Selma Association. The doll’s ensemble of a pale blue Swiss batiste skirt and blouse with sleeves of French lace is embellished with a silk-satin girdle.
Peck said the one exception to the use of modern fabric in the doll’s attire is the undergarments. Those were made from a 1900s flounce petticoat that a friend purchased at an estate sale.
Great care was given not only to the clothing but also to selecting dolls that actually resemble Mallory and Barron.
“I tried to find dolls that had the same general facial features that the ladies had,” Bowers said.
The efforts even went as far as finding a doll wig via the Internet to provide the proper color for Mallory’s auburn hair and rearranging the doll’s stuffing to give the appearance of wearing a corset.
According to Cindy Johnson, librarian and archivist with national WMU, Mallory was integral in the growth of the Southern Baptist organization during her 36-year tenure, which continues to be the longest of any WMU employee.
She saw WMU’s membership grow to 806,000 as a result of her leadership.
“Mallory was so loved that she became known as the ‘sweetheart of Southern Baptists,’” Johnson said.
Not only did Mallory lead WMU members to raise millions of dollars for missions but also served as editor of Royal Service, WMU’s flagship magazine that was succeeded in 1995 by Missions Mosaic.
“She also led WMU as an organization to encourage women to be involved in personal ministry in their communities and also to become aware of the struggles of women in foreign countries,” Johnson said.
Plus Mallory worked to retool the Southern Baptist system of finance, which resulted in the formation of the Cooperative Program.
Admiration for her was so great that the large conference room in the national WMU office in Birmingham bears her name, as does a hospital in Laichow-fu, China, that was built with donations from Alabama Baptists.
As a tribute to Mallory’s many efforts, state Baptist churches collect the Kathleen Mallory State Missions Offering each September to support ministries of Alabama WMU. About half of its annual budget is funded through the offering.
Barron was a key player in Alabama Baptist life on several fronts — through her efforts to help establish Judson and Howard colleges and The Alabama Baptist newspaper.
“She has had a lot of impact on this state because those two universities have put out a lot of fine people,” Bowers said.
According to the Web site of the AWHF, which is housed at Judson, Barron’s son John Thomas Barron was one of the first to attend Judson. When he outgrew the all-girl school, his mother stepped up to help establish Howard.
John Thomas Barron was Howard’s first graduate in 1846.
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