Hillsboro resident publishes second book

     "A name is important in any language. But when spoken in friendship, a name becomes even more special. Maybe that is why it happened - the magic. It was Christmas time in 1926."

     These are the opening lines from an illustrated children's book published in time for the holidays, "Finding the Friendship Dolls, A True Story: How Children Can Help Create World Peace through Toys."

     The themes of giving, friendship and forgiveness permeate the storyline in this new book by Wilmington College's Charlotte Pack. Pack, who serves as assistant curator of WC's Peace Resource Center and Meriam R. Hare Quaker Heritage Center, also is the author of the 2007 book "Time Travels: 200 Years of Highland County History."

     Pack will be on hand to autograph books Dec. 10, from 4 to 6 p.m., during an open house at the Peace Resource Center.

     "The book explores the feelings of children and the ability adults and children alike have to choose peaceful alternatives to violence," Pack said.

     "Finding the Friendship Dolls" has actual Ohio, American and Japanese Christmas ties. This historical fiction is based on Ellen C., a doll named and dressed in Wilmington by the Friends Junior Sunday School class.

     Ellen C. Wright, a member of Wilmington College's first graduation class in 1875 and a beloved faculty member at the College through her retirement in 1920, inspired the creation of the doll, Ellen C. The story is told through her eyes as she comes alive at Christmastime and travels to Nagasaki, Japan, where she learns the ways friendship can overcome great obstacles.

     It follows the historical events of the 1927 Friendship Doll Project when America and Japan exchanged dolls as an effort in "children's diplomacy." The doll project was intended to ease the rising tensions between the two nations over the United States' 1924 Immigration Act, which effectively ended Japanese immigration into the United States.

     The Committee on World Friendship Among Children sponsored the national project in which America sent 12,763 dolls to Japan and Japan sent 58 artisans' "Dolls of Gratitude" to America. Ohio became the "banner state" by sending more dolls than any other - a whopping 2,283!

     The Women's Committee of the Ohio Council of Churches encouraged the program in Ohio. The largest number of dolls came from Cleveland with 700, Cincinnati 600, Dayton 345 and Columbus with 164. Rural communities also participated - Clinton County sponsored 58 dolls, including Ellen C. Ohio was the only state to receive three Japanese "Gratitude Dolls." They were placed at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Cleveland Museum of Art and Ohio Historical Society.

     During World War II, most the dolls in Japan were deemed as "from the enemy" - and destroyed. The Japanese dolls in the United States were put out of site as war in the Pacific Theater commenced. All these years later, 306 American dolls have been discovered in Japan while 45 of the 58 Japanese dolls have been recovered in the United States.

     "Ellen C. was saved by a kind Japanese teacher who valued peace more than war," said Pack, noting that this teacher and other "brave individuals" that helped save the doll figure prominently in the story.

     She said her book was inspired by the upcoming exhibit at Wilmington College, "Bridges of Friendship: How Children Learn about Other Cultures,"

scheduled to open March 3 and run through Sept. 30, 2010. The exhibit highlights how children learn about different cultures through books, dolls, festivals and music.

     Featured in the exhibit will be Ellen C. and a Japanese doll, Miss Osaka-fu, which is on loan from the Ohio Historical Society.

     "Ellen C. will travel from her present home in a Hirado (Japan) kindergarten class to Wilmington for a five-month homecoming," Pack said. "It took two years for Ellen's arrangements to be completed so she can come home. Ellen C. is such a treasured piece of history."

     "Finding the Friendship Dolls" can be purchased at a discounted price through the Peace Resource Center at Wilmington College, prc@wilmington.edu, at M & W Bookstore in Hillsboro, or at Amazon.com. Book purchases support the work of peace education at the Center. To learn more about the upcoming exhibit, visit www.wilmington.edu/prc/.