Obituaries : Lenon Hoyte; Founder of Doll Museum

Lenon Holder Hoyte, an eclectic collector of dolls--many of them priceless--who started a museum in New York City that became known to enthusiasts throughout the world, has died.

Hoyte, the founder of Aunt Len’s Doll and Toy Museum, died at a New York hospital on Aug. 1 at the age of 94, news agencies reported Thursday.

Born and raised in New York City, Hoyte attended City College of New York and Columbia University, where she received a degree in education. She taught art for 41 years at a Bronx junior high school before retiring in 1970.

Her interest in dolls began in the early 1960s, when she organized a doll show while working as a fund-raiser for a mental health clinic in Harlem. From those small beginnings she amassed a collection of dolls that eventually numbered more than 5,000.

Her collection was once described in a Newsday article as being a virtual United Nations that included dolls from France, Germany, Russia, the Philippines and many African nations. It was organized historically, from rare, antique dolls made of bisque and porcelain to Cabbage Patch dolls.

Her collection also contained black rag dolls dating from the early 1800s. These dolls, which were made by African American slaves, were made of fabric scraps, muslin or feed bags.

Hoyte told reporters that she kept the dolls, despite their sometimes stereotypical features, for their historical significance.

“They are the beginning of our heritage,” Hoyte said.

In the early 1970s, Hoyte and her pharmacist husband, Lewis, decided to turn their three-story brownstone into Aunt Len’s Doll and Toy Museum. The museum kept irregular hours, opening several times a week, and became a mecca for doll enthusiasts. She charged $2 for adults and 50 cents for children.

“People come from all over the world to see them,” she once told a reporter. “It’s an international procession.”

The collection eventually outgrew her house and she began storing her prized dolls in a space she rented across the street. In addition to collecting dolls, she also taught doll making.

But as age and infirmity took their toll, Hoyte’s museum finally closed in the early 1990s and her collection was dismantled. Thousands of pieces were sold to private collectors around the world.

In 1994, 700 of her finest antique dolls were auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York with prices ranging from $200 for a pair of German all-bisque dolls to $18,000 for “a black Bru pressed-bisque-head-bebe doll.”

Hoyte, who had no children, is survived by her brother, Dr. Oliver Holder, of Sag Harbor, N.Y., two nieces and three nephews.