In November, 1996 and in the fall of 1998, the Museum installed two preview exhibits in the Museum's lobby. Meanwhile, the curator and registrar were preparing for a large doll exhibit to open in March 1999. A doll conservator came to perform specialist repairs and give advice on the collection. Research about the individual dolls continued.

The original collector was a member of the Midwestern Doll Club and was later co-founder, charter member, president, and vice-president of the Lake Michigan Doll Study Club. She was a member of the United Federation of Doll Clubs (UFDC) and a respected UFDC doll judge. Her dolls have been displayed in many regional and national exhibitions, winning numerous ribbons including the UFDC's Presidents Choice Award in 1976 for the most outstanding doll. Her husband donated the doll collection to the Illinois State Museum in 1995 in memory of his wife. The collection consists of over 1,000 dolls and accessories assembled over a fifty-year period. Included in the collection are rare china, parian, bisque, papier mache, wooden, composition, cloth, French, German, German character, and artist dolls. The dolls date from the 1700s through the 1990s.