Miniature cabin interior view. (Courtesy photo)
The Alexandria Black History Museum welcomes a new exhibition, Childhood Memories in Miniature: African American Dollhouses by Sharon J. Frazier and Linwood M. Smith, featuring more than a dozen buildings and rooms in miniature. The exhibition runs from Wednesday, Dec. 3, through Saturday, Jan. 24.
Sharon Jones Frazier and Linwood M. Smith, both lifetime residents of Alexandria, began working together on their collection in 1994, combining their talents and drawing on their memories of places and people in Alexandria. Mrs. Frazier, a retired registered nurse, developed skills in miniaturization while Mr. Smith, a retired automotive mechanic, used his skills as a craftsman to construct dollhouses to scale.
Their exhibition features a log cabin, stone home, one-room schoolhouse, and church, as well as buildings and rooms inspired by real places in Alexandria. A barbershop and hair dressing salon, a medical building, an attorney’s office, and a florist were all influenced by actual businesses in the Parker-Gray community, a historically African-American neighborhood in Alexandria.
An opening reception will be held on Thursday, Dec. 11, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and guests will have the opportunity to meet Mrs. Frazier and Mr. Smith. The reception is free and open to all. Those wishing to attend are asked to RSVP by calling (703) 838-4356.
The Alexandria Black History Museum, located in the heart of the historic Parker-Gray District, is open from Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Suggested admission is $2. For more information, please visit www.alexblackhistory.org.