'In Search of Identity' board game made in USA by Identity Toys Inc in 1984

The board game is contained in a large rectangular box which has the title 'In Search of Identity' printed across it. The box is pale yellow with illustrated images of famous black people as well as an image on the side of the box showing a family playing the game. The box contains a game board, rubber bands, dice, five playing markers, deck of wisdom and root cards, identity cards, game instructions and an identity book. The base of the box is plain white and inside is a white card divider to organise the pieces.

The game board folds out into a square. It is mainly yellow with illustrations of famous black people in the middle along with the title 'In Search of Identity', which is printed in black. The edge of the board is divided into rectangular sections of varying colours, including black, yellow, dark red and orange. These each have different instructions printed on them, such as 'Go back to your roots' and 'Roll Again'.

The cards are rectangular and predominately yellow and white. One side has the title printed on it in black with a block of yellow colour, and the other side is a monochrome image of a famous black person with their name printed underneath. The individuals depicted are: Bill Picket, George Washington Carver, Mary McLeod Bethune, Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and Jesse Owens.

The Wisdom cards are black text printed on orange card and the Root cards are black text printed on yellow card. Each card has a title, a monochrome illustration and a descriptive line.

The dice are six-sided, white with black dots. The five playing pieces are yellow, red, yellow, blue, black and white in colour.

A piece of white paper folded twice to create an instruction booklet. The text is printed on it in black.

A small square booklet held together with a staple. It contains descriptions of a different person per page. The front is white and yellow with the title 'In Search of Identity' printed on it in black.

Given by Ann Garrett

This game was given to the museum along with other games by Ann Garret in 2009. They belonged to Bob Dixon, the well known poet, author and peace activist. He was born on 29th November 1931 and died on the 4th October 2008. Publications by him included 'Catching Them Young', 'Now Read On', 'Agitpoems', 'Playing Them False', 'More Agitation', 'Make Capitalism History' and 'The Wrong'.

'In Search of Identity' is an identity game. The object of the game is to guess your opponent's identity before they guess yours. This game educates children on black heritage and creates pride in black history and culture. Identity Toys Inc, who were based in Milwaukee, specifically made toys for black children and these were intended to make African-American children more aware of their past and culture. Other identity based games in its collection include 'Black ABC', 'Word Up", a fast paced black history word game, and 'Black Explorers', a board game that introduced children to black pioneers.

This game was previously owned by Bob Dixon, along with similar types of games. Robert Turnbull Dixon was a poet, author and peace activist. He grew up in County Durham and was very interested in assessing what affects and influences young people as they grow up. These types of games are valuable as we do not have anything like this within the collection, and they were an important part of his research for the books he wrote.

B.128:1 to 9-2009