Who: Michelle Smith, 40, a management consultant who collects African-American dolls.

        On display: More than 300 of her “babies.”

Michelle Smith and one of her dolls (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        Where: In the “doll room” on the second floor of the Northside home she shares with sons Antoine, 14, and Dwayne, 13. Ms. Smith has arranged her collection on stands and shelving that reach floor to ceiling.

        Take me away: “That's my room of solitude,” Ms. Smith says. “It's where I go to meditate and think and get away from the chaos of everyday. Also, it's a good place to get away from my children because I know that nobody will bother me there.”

        Teenage boy repellant: She laughingly admits to hiding her son's Christmas presents in the closet of her “doll room.”

        “They don't spend much time in there,” she says, grinning. “It's bad enough that they have to pass through there to get to the second-floor bathroom.”

        Family affair: Ms. Smith's interest in dolls began in childhood with her mother's encouragement. One of her first was in the image of actress Diahann Carroll as her 1960s' television character Julia.

        Buried treasure: “She's (Julia) still in good working condition,” says Ms. Smith. “My mom had her packed away. I didn't know that she still had her.”

        Ms. Smith is always on the lookout for new additions to her collection. She has purchased dolls from toy stores, the Home Shopping Network, flea markets, Goodwill stores, even Walgreen's. She estimates that they range in value from $5 to $600 each.

        Extra special: “Normally, African-American dolls are harder to find and more expensive than Caucasian dolls,” Ms. Smith says.

        “Since they are made in limited quantities, a lot of collectors use them for trading purposes.”

        Ms. Smith's favorite dolls are Victoria, a Victorian child dressed in a lacy peach and teal outfit with a large hat; Angelica, dressed in purple velvet with cream trim; and Lucinda, who is wearing a blue dress and straw hat.

        Tiny dancer: Someday, Ms. Smith hopes to own an African-American ballerina doll called Jamilia. “She was made in around 1950,” she says, “and they only made a total of 100. Right now they are running around $1,200. It's also hard to find one in good condition. All the ones I've run across have been chipped or the ballerina outfit is torn and tattered.

        “Oh well,” Ms. Smith says with a grin, I'll just have to keep looking.”

        Share your prize possessions with Marsie Hall Newbold by mail c/o The Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202: e-mail marsolete@aol.com. Please include a daytime telephone number.

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