View source for Velvalee Dickinson

{{short description|US spy for Imperial Japan (1893&ndash;1980)}}
{{use American English|date=December 2025}}
{{use mdy dates|date=December 2025}}
{{infobox person
| name                      = Velvalee Dickinson
| image                     = Velvalee Dickinson FBI mugshot.jpg
| alt                       = A grayscale mugshot of a leaning white woman from the chest-up; she has medium-dark hair, and is wearing a dark coat and spectacles.  Included is a placard that says, "F.BI NYC, 65-11186-N8523, January 24 1944".
| caption                   = Dickinson's 1944 FBI [[mug shot]]
| birth_name                = Velvalee Malvena Blücher
| birth_date                = {{birth date|1893|10|12}}
| birth_place               = [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento, California]], US
| death_date                = {{death year and age|1980|1893}}
| other_names               = {{unbulleted list|Catherine Dickinson|Doll Lady|Doll Woman|Catherine Stefanis}}
| education                 = [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Stanford University|Stanford U.]] (1917/18)
| occupation                = {{hlist|[[Bank clerk]]|[[broker]]<br />|[[doll]] collector|[[espionage|spy]]}}
| employer                  = {{unbulleted list|[[Bloomingdale's]]|[[Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center|St. Vincent's Hospital]]|[[Eunice Kennedy Shriver|Eunice Kennedy]]}}
| known_for                 = [[Espionage|Spying]] for [[Empire of Japan|Imperial Japan]]
| criminal_charges          = [[Office of Censorship|Censorship]] violations
| criminal_penalty          = {{age in decimal years|1944-08-14|1951-04-23|round=2}} [[incarceration in the United States|imprisonment]]
| criminal_status           = [[Conditional release]]
| spouse                    = {{marriage|Lee Taylor Dickinson<br />||March 29, 1943|end=d}}
}}

'''Velvalee Dickinson''' (also the '''Doll Lady''',<ref name="2013-04-26 NYT" /> '''Doll Woman''',<ref name="FBI: Dickinson" /> '''Catherine Dickinson''', and '''Catherine Stefanis'''; October 12, 1893{{spaced en dash}}1980) was an American professional [[doll]]-collector-turned-[[espionage|spy]] for [[Empire of Japan|Imperial Japan]] during [[World War II]].  She was caught by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], but concerns over [[reasonable doubt]] led to conviction on lesser charges.

After {{age in decimal years|1944-08-14|1951-04-23|round=2}} of federal imprisonment in [[West Virginia]], she was [[conditional release|conditionally released]], and took work at [[Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers|St. Vincent's Hospital]] with the assistance of [[Eunice Kennedy Shriver|Eunice Kennedy]].

==Personal life==
Velvalee Malvena Blücher<ref name="1951 Singer" /> was born on October 12, 1893 in [[Sacramento, California]] to Otto Blücher and Elizabeth Bottons<ref name="2007 Social Security Administration" /> (respectively born in [[West Virginia]] and [[Kentucky]]).<ref name="1944-08-20 Sunday Star" />  She graduated from the [[Berkeley, California]] girls' school, [[Snell Seminary]], in 1913.<ref name="1944-07-29 Sacramento Union" />

Dickinson earned her [[Bachelor of Arts]] from [[Stanford University]] in 1917 or 1918, but did not receive her diploma until January 1937 because of unreturned school library books.<ref name="2020-05-24 Daily News" /><ref name="FBI: Dickinson" />  Twice divorced, her third husband was [[San Francisco]] [[broker]] Lee Taylor Dickinson.  By August 1944, she weighed {{convert|90|lb}},<ref name="2016-03-02 Smithsonian" /> with a height under {{convert|5|ft}}.<ref name="1951 Singer" />

==Career and society==
Dickinson had previously worked for the [[California Fruit Growers Association]] and as a [[bank clerk]]; both of her employers "gave excellent reports of her."<ref name="1951 Singer" />

She worked at her husband's brokerage firm from 1928–1935.<ref name="FBI: Dickinson" />  That business attracted many Japanese clients, which led Dickinson to join the San Francisco Japan–American Society (SFJAS); when "shady dealings" killed the Dickinson firm, and they were ejected from the SFJAS, an [[attaché]] of the [[list of diplomatic missions of Japan#Americas|Japanese consulate]] stepped in to pay their dues and have them reinstated.<ref name="FBI: Dickinson" /><ref name="2016-03-02 Smithsonian" /><!-- so intermingled in this sentence, both citations apply -->  Dickinson frequently visited that consulate; she socialized with [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] sailors and government officials, there and at her home.<ref name="FBI: Dickinson" />

[[File:Velvalee Dickinson's NYC doll shop.jpg|thumb|left|Velvalee Dickinson's NYC doll shop at 718 Madison Avenue]]
{{OSM Location map
|       coord = {{coord|40.76588|-73.970095}}
|        zoom = 18
|       float = left
|       width = 250
|      height = 440
|     caption = Dickinson's home & shops, all located one block east of [[Central Park]] in [[Upper Manhattan]]

|      label1 = 680 Madison
| mark-coord1 = {{coord|40.765260|-73.970580}}
|       mark1 = Red pog.svg
|  label-pos1 = right

|      label2 = 714 Madison
| mark-coord2 = {{coord|40.766400|-73.969660}}
|       mark2 = Red pog.svg
|  label-pos2 = left

|      label3 = 718 Madison
| mark-coord3 = {{coord|40.766500|-73.969610}}
|       mark3 = Red pog.svg
|  label-pos3 = left
}}
After moving to [[New York City]] (NYC) in autumn 1937, Dickinson sold [[doll]]s at [[Bloomingdale's]] for that [[Christmas and holiday season]]<ref name="2016-03-02 Smithsonian" /> before going into business for herself in 1938.<ref name="1951 Singer" />  First working out of her home at 680 [[Madison Avenue]], and then a storefront at 714 Madison Avenue, Dickinson moved her shop into 718 Madison Avenue in October 1941.  There, she sold to "wealthy doll collectors and hobbyists interested in obtaining foreign, regional, and antique dolls."  Lee Dickinson handled her accounting until his death on March 29, 1943 from [[cardiovascular disease]].<ref name="FBI: Dickinson" />  The Velvalee Malvena Dickinson Doll Store<ref name="2015-06-08 Gizmodo" /> stocked dolls from 18&ndash;19th century Paris, 19th century [[American pioneer]]s, and native children's wooden idols from the [[Dutch Gold Coast]].<ref name="1951 Singer" />  Dolls ranged in price from {{US dollar|50}}&ndash;750 (equivalent to about ${{inflation|US|50|1944|r=-1}}&ndash;{{inflation|US|750|1944|r=-1}} in {{inflation/year|US}}).<ref name="1951 Singer" /><ref name="1944-08-20 Sunday Star" />  With [[movie star]]s among her customers,<ref name="1951 Singer" /> Dickinson advertised both her shop and services in ''[[House Beautiful]]'' and [[Town & Country (magazine)|''Town & Country'']].<ref name="2016-03-02 Smithsonian" />

==Espionage==
In NYC, Dickinson's spending outstripped the income from her shop.  She especially spent on [[phonograph record]]s, to the extent that a source would later tell authorities that they were {{sic|"sick and tired" of returning phonograph records"}}<!-- sic for unclear use of quotation marks --> for their boss.  Dickinson also traveled to California annually, joined the [[Japan Society (Manhattan)|Japan Society]], often visited the [[Nippon Club (Manhattan)|Nippon Club]],<ref name="2016-03-02 Smithsonian" /> and befriended the NYC Japanese Consul General and [[Ichiro Yokoyama]].<ref name="FBI: Dickinson" />  By 1941, Dickinson was taking out loans to cover her spending.<ref name="2013-04-26 NYT" />

According to the ''[[St. Louis Sunday Morning]]'', a "well-dressed Japanese" man briefly visited Dickinson's doll shop on November 26, 1941, and gave her "a small, compact bundle":<ref name="2016-03-02 Smithsonian" />{{blockquote |text="I may not be able to come again," he said.  The proprietor replied that they might meet again, perhaps in [[Honolulu]], "No, No!" the Japanese exclaimed, "Not Honolulu."}}

In early 1942, she and her husband traveled to [[Portland, Oregon]], [[San Francisco]], and other cities on the [[West Coast of the United States]].  While there, one or both of them observed and made notes on [[United States Navy|United States Naval]] (USN) activity.  Then, using the typewriters provided at their Pacific hotels, coded letters about US ships were written and mailed to an address in [[Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]].  The correspondence was written and signed as though they had come from Dickinson's contacts in the world of doll collecting (even including one woman's return-address), however five of these letters were returned to the US undelivered.<ref name="2013-04-26 NYT" />

The returned letters were given to the [[United States Post Office Department]], who turned them over to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI).<ref name="2013-04-26 NYT" />

===Letters===
[[File:USS Saratoga (CV-3) and a destroyer underway, circa in 1942 (80-G-K-460) (cropped to Saratoga).jpg|thumb|''Saratoga'' in 1942]]
<!-- 1 -->The first letter to attract the FBI's attention was brought to them in February 1942<ref name="2001-09-11 Boston Globe" /><ref name="FBI: Dickinson" /> from [[Portland, Oregon]].  This letter discussed a "wonderful doll hospital" and referred to "[[fishnet|fish nets]]"; the FBI equated the former to a US Navy [[shipyard]], while the latter referred to [[anti-submarine net]]s that protected ports.<ref name="2013-04-26 NYT" />

In August 1942, another letter was returned to the woman in Portland; this one was dated May 1942—written soon after {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3}} left the [[Puget Sound]] for [[San Diego]]:<ref name="FBI: Dickinson" />

{| class="wikitable" style="width: 100%;"
|-
|{{quote|text=I just secured a lovely Siamese Temple Dancer, it had been damaged, that is tore in the middle. But it is now repaired and I like it very much. I could not get a mate for this Siam dancer, so I am redressing just a small plain ordinary doll into a second Siam doll...|author=Source}}
|{{quote|text=I just secured information of a fine aircraft carrier warship, it had been damaged, that is torpedoed in the middle. But it is now repaired and I like it very much. They could not get a mate for this so a plain ordinary warship is being converted into a second aircraft carrier...|author=Translation}}{{paragraph break}}
|}

[[File:USS Shaw (DD-373) with temporary bow (cropped).jpg|thumb|''Shaw'' at [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]] ({{circa|February 1942}})]]
Another letter, dated January 27, 1942,<ref name="2016-03-02 Smithsonian" /> was mailed to "Señora Inez Lopez de Molinali" at 2563 O'Higgins in Buenos Aires.  It bore a March 1 [[postmark]] of [[Grand Central Station]]<ref name="1944-08-20 Sunday Star" /> and the [[return address]] of Mary Elizabeth Wallace, a doll-collecting woman in [[Springfield, Ohio]], to whom it was returned in June.  Some information in the letter was correctly specific to Wallace (an ill nephew and a lecture she had given); the rest was not, though, including its typewritten nature<ref name="1963-02-24 Springfield News-Sun" /> and a [[signature forgery|forged signature]].  Wallace decided it was a tasteless joke, mocking her for her doll-collecting.  She gave it to her [[postmaster]], who forwarded it to the FBI.<ref name="1951 Singer" />  Among other coded language,<ref name="2016-03-02 Smithsonian" /> this letter referred to a cancelled trip to Louisville, apparently an admission to collecting no information on {{USS|Louisville|CA-28}}.<ref name="1944-08-20 Sunday Star" />  It also provided an update on a "Mr. Shaw", who had been sick, but was recovering and would soon return to work; {{USS|Shaw|DD-373}} had been damaged in the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], arrived in [[San Francisco]] shortly before the letter was mailed, and was soon returning to USPACFLT.<ref name="FBI: Dickinson" />  When interviewed by the FBI, Wallace told them about visiting Dickinson's store,<ref name="1951 Singer" /> and confirmed sharing the personal information that had gone into the letter.<ref name="1944-08-20 Sunday Star" />  When she gave them all of her correspondence with fellow doll collectors, the agency was able to match one of her other letters from Velvalee Dickinson.<ref name="2013-04-26 NYT" />

[[File:USS Honolulu (CL-48) off the Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 26 October 1942 (19-N-36362) (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|''Honolulu'' in October 1942]]
A third letter, written to Señora de Molinali, was returned to a [[Spokane, Washington]] widow in summer 1942, postmarked from [[Seattle]].  Again amidst some accurate personal information, the letter referred to "an old German bisque doll dressed in a hula [[grass skirt]]",<ref name="1944-08-20 Sunday Star" /> then in a [[doll hospital]],<ref name="FBI: Dickinson" /> which she expected would be "repaired by the first week in February."  This referred to {{USS|Honolulu|CL-48}},<ref name="1967/1996 Khan" /> which was at [[Puget Sound Naval Shipyard]] for repairs when the letter was written.<ref name="1944-08-20 Sunday Star" /><ref name="FBI: Dickinson" />  Aside from her children, the Spokane widow could only think of one person who knew the personal information in the letter: Velvalee Dickinson, whom she had met in Seattle.<ref name="1944-08-20 Sunday Star" />

In August 1942, an [[Oakland, California]]-postmarked letter was given to the FBI, and analysis showed that its contents (about warships in San Francisco for repair) "would have been of tremendous value" to the Axis.<ref name="FBI: Dickinson" />  Another, written with the name and return-address of a [[Colorado Springs]] doll collector who had corresponded and transacted with Dickinson, was intercepted by the FBI and found to be about a Navy [[cruiser]] ("a Siamese temple doll").<ref name="1944-08-20 Sunday Star" />

===Investigation===
Typewriting analysis determined that the same typist wrote all five letters (though used different typewriters).  FBI agents found connections to Dickinson from all the women whose signatures had been forged on the returned letters, and two of the women remembered "arguing with Ms. Dickinson about price or payment", leading to suspicions that she had used their names out of spite.  The FBI was further able to match the letters to the typewriters used, and learned that by 1943, Dickinson was flush with [[United States one-hundred-dollar bill]]s (after needing to borrow money only two years earlier).<ref name="2013-04-26 NYT" />

Her suspicions raised by law-enforcement agents casing her shop, Dickinson left New York for [[Portland, Oregon]] where she planned to meet with a former [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] officer&mdash;possibly then fleeing to Mexico for extraction by [[submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy|submarine]].  Followed by police and FBI, when she arrived in Portland via [[Philadelphia]], her contact's place of work&mdash;a [[Chinese restaurant]]&mdash;was closed.  She anxiously returned to New York City several weeks later, still surveilled by federal agents.<ref name="1951 Singer" />  On January 21, 1944, FBI agents ambushed Dickinson while she opened a [[safe deposit box]] in her [[Manhattan]] bank.  Two-thirds of the {{US dollar|15940|1944}} found in her box<ref name="2016-03-02 Smithsonian" /> was traced back to currency withdrawn by the [[Empire of Japan]] prior to the Pearl Harbor attack.<ref name="FBI: Dickinson" />

The bureau coordinated with [[Elizebeth Smith Friedman]] in their further analysis of the letters after Dickinson's arrest.<ref name="1997 Nash" /><ref name="2017 Fagone" />  She confirmed the use of an [[open code]],<ref name="2017 Fagone" /> as well as its use to relay information about [[warship]]s in the [[United States Pacific Fleet]] (USPACFLT).<ref name="2013-04-26 NYT" />  She also noted that Señora Inez' street number was different on each of the envelopes, suggesting that they weren't intended to actually be delivered, but instead be recognized and intercepted en route by an [[Axis powers|Axis]] operative.<ref name="2017 Fagone" /> 

===Prosecution===
Dickinson initially claimed that the money was from insurance, savings, and her doll store, but later told the FBI that she found it in her husband's bed when he was dying.  Dickinson alleged that her husband did not disclose the money's source, though she conceded it could have been the NYC Japanese Consul.  Three weeks after her arrest, Dickinson was [[indictment#United States|indicted]] by a [[federal grand jury]] in the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]] for violation of [[Office of Censorship|censorship statutes]].  She pled not-guilty and was held on [[bail in the United States|bail]] of {{US dollar|25000|1944|long=no}}.  A second federal indictment was handed down on May 5 on charges of violating [[espionage]] statutes, the [[Foreign Agents Registration Act]], and censorship statutes.  Dickinson again pled not-guilty and her bail was continued.<ref name="FBI: Dickinson" />  She was the first American woman to face possible [[capital punishment in the United States|capital punishment]] for espionage.<ref name="2001-09-11 Boston Globe" />

When the [[United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York]], [[James B. M. McNally]], was presiding over Dickinson's case, he had a 98% [[conviction rate#United States|conviction rate]].  Dickinson, then being called "The War's Number 1 Woman Spy", was scheduled for trial on June 6, 1944, but it was postponed due to domestic fervor over the [[Normandy landings]].<ref name="2016-03-02 Smithsonian" />

Because prosecutors were unsure of a conviction—Dickinson laid the bulk of the blame upon her dead husband—Dickinson was allowed to plead guilty to only the censorship-violation charges,<ref name="2013-04-26 NYT" /> providing she {{nowrap|"furnish[ed]}} information in her possession concerning Japanese intelligence activities."  With her guilty plea, Dickinson explained how she combined the questioning of unwitting civilians about the nearby warships in [[Bremerton Navy Yard]] and [[Mare Island Navy Yard]] with her own personal observations.  Dickinson explained that Japanese Naval Attaché Ichiro Yokoyama had given Lee Dickinson the Japanese instructions and {{US dollar|25000|1941|long=no}} inside her doll store in November 1941.  The FBI disbelieved these claims because (a) evidence showed that Velvalee Dickinson, not her husband, was already familiar with Yokoyama; (b) Lee Dickerson's doctor attested that he was mentally impaired at the time of the hand-off; and (c) Mr. Dickinson's nurse and maid agreed that there had been no money hidden in his deathbed.<ref name="FBI: Dickinson" />

Judge [[Shackelford Miller Jr.]] sentenced Dickinson on August 14 to ten years [[incarceration in the United States|imprisonment]] and a fine of {{US dollar|10000|1944|long=no}}.<ref name="1944-08-15 Courier-Post" /><ref name="1944-09-03 Post-Dispatch" />  On April 23, 1951, after only {{age in decimal years|1944-08-14|1951-04-23|round=2}}, she was [[conditional release|conditionally released]] from the [[West Virginia]] [[Federal Prison Camp, Alderson|Federal Correctional Institution for Women]] "to the supervision of the Federal Court system".<ref name="FBI: Dickinson" />

==Post-incarceration==
[[File:Eunice Kennedy Shriver (cropped).JPG|thumb|left|Kennedy (1952)]]
Dickinson became friends with [[Eunice Kennedy Shriver|Eunice Kennedy]] in 1950 while imprisoned in [[West Virginia]].  Kennedy helped Dickinson (going by the given name "Catherine") secure a job at [[Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers|St. Vincent's Hospital]] in 1951.  Years later, Kennedy employed her as an [[administrative assistant]] at [[Cape Cod]]; [[Ethel Kennedy]] called Dickinson "a remarkable [[secretary]]".<ref name="2018-04 Eunice" />  In November 1961, the [[Social Security Administration]] registered Dickinson's name as Catherine Stefanis ([[Social Security number]] 129129144).<ref name="2007 Social Security Administration" />  In 1963, Kennedy tried to secure Dickinson a job at the [[1964 New York World's Fair]], though [[Eileen McNamara]] could not determine whether she was successful.<ref name="2018-04 Eunice" />

The FBI could only prove Dickinson's espionage took place after the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], but documents released in the 1960s show that the agency suspected she was already providing intelligence that was gathered via the wives of Naval officers.<ref name="2001-09-11 Boston Globe" />  In September 2001, the FBI was refusing to release its Dickinson files because it was unproven that she had died, and any release would be a privacy violation; she would have been {{age in decimal years|1893-10-12|2001-09-11}} old.<ref name="2001-09-11 Boston Globe" />  In 2018, the Decatur, Illinois ''[[Herald & Review]]'' reported that Dickinson died in 1980.<ref name="2018-12-24 Herald & Review" />

==References==
<references>

<!-- dated sources sorted chronologically -->

<ref name="1944-07-29 Sacramento Union">{{cite news |date=1944-07-29 |editor-last1=Lilley |editor-first1=Chas J. |title=Local Woman in Spy Case Admits Guilt on Censorship Charge |work=[[The Sacramento Union]] |language=en |volume=141 |issue=72749 |page=7 |issn=2641-1792}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="1944-08-15 Courier-Post">{{cite news |date=1944-08-15 |location=[[New York City]] |editor-last1=Baylor |editor-first1=Harry T. |title=Woman Aiding Japs Gets 10-Year Term |work=[[Courier-Post|The Morning Post]] |language=en |volume=69 |issue=170 |agency=[[United Press International]] |page=18 |issn=1050-432X |oclc=12230254 |quote=Doll Store Owner Also Is Fined $10,000 for Giving Information}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="1944-08-20 Sunday Star">{{cite news |last1=Kennedy |first1=George |date=1944-08-20 |editor-last1=Noyes |editor-first1=Theodore W. |editor-link1=Theodore W. Noyes |title=The War's No. 1 Woman Spy |work=[[The Washington Star|The Sunday Star]] |language=en |volume=2055 |issue=36635 |pages=C-4&ndash;C-5 |issn=2331-9968}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="1944-09-03 Post-Dispatch">{{cite news |last1=Goldstein |first1=Alvin H. |date=1944-09-03 |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |title=Strange Case of the Talking Dolls |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |language=en |volume=96 |issue=364 |page=1H |issn=1930-9600 |oclc=1764810 |quote=Maneuvered by Sinister Hands in the Pay of the Japs, They Spoke the Language of Treason Until the F. B. I. Tracked Down Their Clever Mistress and Sent Her to Prison for Ten Years.}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="1951 Singer">{{cite book |last1=Singer |first1=Kurt |year=1951 |chapter=The Lady with the Dolls |location=[[London]] |title=The World's Greatest Women Spies |language=en |publisher=[[W. H. Allen & Co.|W. H. Allen]] |pages=39&ndash;50}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="1963-02-24 Springfield News-Sun">{{cite news |date=1963-02-24 |editor-last1=Teeters |editor-first1=Bert A. |title=Springfield Woman Credited With Major Role In Arrest Of World War II Spy For Japan |work=[[Springfield News-Sun]] |language=en |volume=35 |issue=41 |page=3B |issn=0744-6101}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="1967/1996 Khan">{{cite book |last1=Kahn |first1=David |author-link1=David Kahn (writer) |year=1996 |orig-year=1967 |chapter=Censors, Scramblers, and Spies |location=[[New York City]] |editor-last1=Moyers |editor-first1=Scott |title=The Codebreakers: The Comprehensive History of Secret Communication from Ancient Times to the Internet |title-link=The Codebreakers |language=en |edition=revised and updated |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |pages=513&ndash;560 |isbn=0-684-83130-9}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="1997 Nash">{{cite book |last1=Nash |first1=Jay Robert |author-link1=Jay Robert Nash |year=1997 |chapter=Friedman, Elizabeth and William Frederick |location=[[New York City]] |title=Spies: A Narrative Encyclopedia of Dirty Deeds and Double Dealing from Biblical Times to Today |language=en |publisher=[[M. Evans and Company]] |pages=219&ndash;221 |isbn=0-87131-790-7}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="2001-09-11 Boston Globe">{{cite news |last1=Arden-Smith |first1=Tara H. |date=2001-09-11 |location=[[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] |editor-last1=Baron |editor-first1=Martin |editor-link1=Martin Baron |title=A doll with a dark past |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |language=en |volume=260 |issue=73 |edition=extra |pages=B1, B3 |issn=0743-1791 |oclc=66652431 |quote=Owner seeks truth about its role in WWII spy network}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="2007 Social Security Administration">{{citation |mode=cs1 |title=Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936-2007 |publisher=[[Social Security Administration]] |via=[[Ancestry.com]]}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="2013-04-26 NYT">{{cite news |last1=Pollak |first1=Michael |date=2013-04-26 |title=Answers to Questions About New York |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/nyregion/answers-to-questions-about-new-york.html |url-status=live |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en |page=MB2 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127132355/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/nyregion/answers-to-questions-about-new-york.html |archive-date=2018-11-27 |access-date=2020-01-22 |quote=Can you tell me about an enemy agent in Manhattan during World War II called the Doll Lady? |url-access=subscription}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="2015-06-08 Gizmodo">{{cite web |url=https://gizmodo.com/the-strange-case-of-the-doll-seller-who-desperately-wan-1709899500 |title=The Strange Case Of The Doll Seller Who Desperately Wanted To Be A Spy |last=Eddy |first=Cheryl |date=2015-06-08 |website=[[Gizmodo]] |language=en |access-date=2020-01-23 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026101410/https://gizmodo.com/the-strange-case-of-the-doll-seller-who-desperately-wan-1709899500 |archive-date=2016-10-26}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="2016-03-02 Smithsonian">{{cite magazine |last1=Sears |first1=David |date=2016-03-02 |title=The Spy in the Doll Shop |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/spy-doll-shop-180958251/ |url-status=live |magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |language=en |issn=0037-7333 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712005231/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/spy-doll-shop-180958251/ |archive-date=2019-07-12 |access-date=2020-01-23 |quote=The FBI was confounded by mysterious letters sent to South America, until they came across New York City proprieter Velvalee Dickinson}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="2017 Fagone">{{cite book |last1=Fagone |first1=Jason |author-link1=Jason Fagone |year=2017 |chapter=The Doll Lady |location=[[New York City]] |editor-last1=Cheiffetz |editor-first1=Julia |editor-link1=Julia Cheiffetz |title=The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America's Enemies |language=en |edition=first |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |pages=283&ndash;306 |isbn=978-0-06-243048-9}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="2018-12-24 Herald & Review">{{cite news |last1=Campbell |first1=Cal |date=2018-12-24 |editor-last1=Weaver |editor-first1=Penny |title=Little Known Characters in America: Velvalee Dickinson |work=[[Herald & Review]] |language=en |volume=141 |issue=283 |edition=''Journal Gazette & Times-Courier'' |page=B8 |oclc=34924722}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="2018-04 Eunice">{{cite book |last1=McNamara |first1=Eileen |author-link1=Eileen McNamara |date=April 2018 |chapter=Women in Prison |title=Eunice: The Kennedy Who Changed the World |language=en |location=[[New York City]] |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |pages=110&ndash;126 |isbn=978-1-4516-4226-1}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="2020-05-24 Daily News">{{cite news |last1=Bovsun |first1=Mara |date=2020-05-24 |editor-last1=York |editor-first1=Robert |title=The Doll Woman |work=[[New York Daily News|Daily News]] |language=en |volume=101 |issue=334 |page=32 |issn=2692-1251 |oclc=9541172 |quote=Diminutive and dainty, with delicate birdlike features, Velvalee Dickinson looked very much like a doll.  But it wasn't her appearance, or her profession as the country's leading authority on rare dolls, that earned her national noteriety as the Doll Woman.}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<!-- undated sources sorted alphabetically -->

<ref name="FBI: Dickinson">{{cite web |url=https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/velvalee-dickinson-the-doll-woman |title=Velvalee Dickinson, the 'Doll Woman' |publisher=[[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] |language=en |access-date=2025-04-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218194654/https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/velvalee-dickinson-the-doll-woman |archive-date=2019-12-18}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

</references>

==Further reading==
* {{cite news |last1=Shaw |first1=Eleanor |date=1938-05-08 |location=New York City |title=Appreciation of Symphonic Music Reaches New High |work=[[The Spokesman-Review]] |language=en |volume=55 |issue=359 |page=2D |issn=2993-1274 |oclc=11102529 |quote=As Philharmonic Season Ends, Concertgoers Impatiently Await Summer Outdoor Operas and Festivals—Radio Aids Casue.}}
* {{cite news |date=1938-12-23 |location=[[New York City]] |title=Many Girls Collect Dolls Like Stamps |work=[[The Phenix-Girard Journal]] |language=en |volume=XXX |issue=51 |page=4}}
* {{cite news |last1=McManis |first1=Sam |date=2012-10-21 |editor-last1=Terhaar |editor-first1=Joyce |title=What's the code, Velvalee? |work=[[The Sacramento Bee]] |language=en |volume=300 |issue=295 |pages=H1&ndash;H2 |issn=0890-5738 |oclc=37706143 |quote=Velvalee Dickinson was an educated, possible resentful maker of dolls.}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}

{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickinson, Velvalee}}
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