Jackie Ormes

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American artist and writer known as the first African-American woman cartoonist and creator of the Torchy Brown comic strip and the Patty-Jo 'n' Ginger panel. Ormes contracted with the Terri Lee doll company in 1947 to produce a play doll based on her little girl cartoon character. The Patty-Jo doll was on the shelves in time for Christmas and was the first American black doll to have an extensive upscale wardrobe. As in the cartoon, the doll represented a real child, in contrast to the majority of dolls that were mammy and Topsy-type dolls. The dolls were popular with both black and white children. In December 1949, Ormes's contract with the Terri Lee company was not renewed, and production ended. Patty-Jo dolls are now highly sought collectors' items. She married accountant Earl Ormes in 1931. The pair had one child, Jaqueline, who died of a brain tumor at the age of three. Ormes would remain married to Earl until his death in 1976. Ormes was a passionate doll collector, with 150 antique and modern dolls in her collection. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Chicago on 26 December 1985, aged 74. Ormes was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame in 2014. Link to Wikipedia biography