Cheryl Dale has never been a doll person. But when the Genteel Arts Academy put out its call for entries for reproduction 1855-1865 dolls in the sewing and needlework competition at the annual Ladies and Gentlemen of the 1860s Conference, the Mathews resident was up to the challenge.

She won both Judge’s Choice and People’s Choice in the Masters Class for Rebecca Ann “Annie” Bishop, a Civil War-era contraband doll that’s period correct, all the way from the top of her spoon bonnet-covered china head to the bottom of her black kid shoes.

Dale is a living history buff who has been a member of a Revolutionary War group and a black powder club, among others. Originally a history major at the College of William and Mary, Dale decided she didn’t enjoy studying “dates, wars and politics.” What interested her were social mores, period clothing, historical homes, and child-raising techniques of days gone by. She switched her college to V...