Spartanburg street honors native who designed first Black Barbie
Spartanburg's Highland neighborhood , located just west of downtown, has been the home to people whose influence extended beyond the Hub City -- blues singer Clara Smith and NFL star Stephen Davis , to name just two. Perhaps no one who grew up in the Spartanburg neighborhood has had a greater impact than Kitty Black Perkins. She's a fashion designer who created the first Black Barbie Doll for the Mattel company . To honor Black Perkins and her contributions to American culture, the City of Spartanburg has named Beacon Street, which runs through Highland, Kitty Black Perkins Boulevard. At the Oct. 26 city council meeting, Janie Salley, who represents the Highland neighborhood, read a proclamation recognizing the honorary street naming. "I am proud to be a child of Spartanburg, of Highland," Black Perkins said at the meeting. Black Perkins grew up in the neighborhood and graduated from Carver High School, the city's all-Black high school during the era of segregation. She moved to Los Angeles soon after graduating from Carver to study design. She landed a job with Mattel, and the Black Barbie was launched in 1980. She would go on to become Mattel's lead designer for Barbie products. In
