The Orange County Regional History Center in Orlando, has extended the display of a 150-year-old doll named Nina, on loan from the Museum of the Confederacy, due to its popularity in the museum’s recent Florida in the Civil War limited-run exhibit. The doll, used to smuggle medicine and supplies to the South past Union blockades during the Civil War, will remain on display through the end of the year inside the museum’s African American Community permanent exhibit, giving more visitors an opportunity to see this unique piece of history.
Nina received national attention when scientists from the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, Va., examined X-rays of the doll to determine if it could have been used to smuggle supplies during the Civil War. It is believed that the doll, approximately three feet long, had its hollow papier-mâché head stuffed with medicines, such as quinine or morphine for wounded and malaria-stricken Confederate troops, in the hopes that Union soldiers would not inspect the toy while looking for contraband.
Nina is displayed at the History Center along with VCU Medical Center’s X-ray of her body that reveals the empty cavity used for smuggling.
The display has been added to the African American Community exhibit that includes references to the Civil War as it relates to African Americans in Central Florida.
