If someone told you that you could see Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara at the Bassett Historical Center would you believe them?  Well, you should because it is true!

Gladys Edna Stone was born on 30 January 1907 to Reed Lewis Stone, one of the founders of Bassett Furniture Industries, and Nancy Susan “Dink” Bassett Stone.  Gladys married Leonard Clyde Carter, son of Daniel Lee Carter and Anna Mary Watts Carter, on 21 September 1926.

Gladys Carter had a passion for collecting dolls and this showed in her unique one of a kind 5,000 piece doll collection.  Many of her dolls were made by a French doll maker named Bernard Ravca.  When he visited with Mrs. Carter and viewed her collection he noted that her collection was one of the most outstanding doll collections in the entire United States.  He also commented that the way that she displayed the dolls was with a keen understanding and with excellent taste.  Some of her dolls were arranged to portray a story book title or an historical or important event.  Her collection of dolls included ones that she purchased for herself and some were gifts from friends and family members brought back from their trips.

The Carters lived on Ridgewood Road in Bassett, Virginia in a house which they named “Lenglad Hall”, a clever way of merging their names, Leonard and Gladys, together.  The house next door to “Lenglad Hall” was purchased by the Carters and turned into a life size dollhouse.  Over the years, Mrs. Carter shared her love of doll collecting with the community allowing numerous Girl Scout troops, Brownie troops, book clubs, garden clubs, church groups, youth groups, and numerous others to tour her dollhouse.  After Mrs. Carter passed away on 17 July 2000 at the age of 93, a large part of her doll collection was donated to an antique toy museum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Recently, the Bassett Historical Center received several dolls from Mrs. Carter’s collection which were donated to the Center by Drs. David and Susan Morris.  These were some of the dolls given to Mrs. Carter by Albert and Lucy Lee Carter and David and Susan Morris.  And, yes, you guessed it.  Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara were two of the dolls recently donated.

Note:  Not to be outdone in the world of collecting, but it is worth mentioning that Mr. Leonard Clyde Carter had a very impressive coin collection which included foreign paper money; gold pieces; quarters, dimes, and pennies all in chronological order; and various rare and unique coins.