State Museum to celebrate doll's 90th anniversary

The University of Nebraska State Museum at Morrill Hall will celebrate the 90th anniversary of historic Japanese friendship ambassador doll Miss Mie with a homecoming celebration and exhibit opening from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 1.

Activities begin at 1:45 p.m. with remarks by the Miss Mie Friendship Association, a ribbon cutting and a musical performance by the New York-based Masayo Ishigure Ensemble. Visitors can participate in paper folding art with origami artist Linda Stephen, Japanese calligraphy with the Global Friends of Japan and a paper doll activity to learn more about Miss Mie’s traditional dress and accessories. Children and families are encouraged to add notes to the museum’s writing prompt activity “Friendship is…” Light refreshments will be served. Regular museum admission will be charged for the event.

The exhibit marks Miss Mie’s homecoming from a recent visit to Mie Prefecture in Japan, where it was on display in another museum. The doll and its accessories will be on display in Morrill Hall through Dec. 31. The exhibit is a partnership between the NU State Museum, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Kawasaki Reading Room, Lincoln-based company Morio USA, the Nebraska State Historical Society and the Nebraska Arts Council and Nebraska Cultural Endowment

Miss Mie has been in the NU State Museum’s anthropology collections since 1928. The doll first arrived in the United States from Japan in 1927 when 58 friendship dolls were sent to the 48 states as gifts to American children in exchange for the American Blue Eyed Dolls given to the children of Japan. Small groups of these “goodwill ambassadors” traveled to 479 cities throughout the United States in 1927. After the tour, some of the dolls found homes in museums and other institutions throughout the United States.