When Lagueria Davis decided to move to Los Angeles to further her film career, she implored her mother to ask their older cousin — Beulah Mae Mitchell, called “aunt” by the filmmaker and 30 years her senior — whether she could temporarily stay in her Englewood apartment while finding her feet in the City of Angels.
Ms Davis didn’t know her aunt very well, but she knew that she had worked for Mattel, and she remembered at least one childhood visit when Ms Mitchell had turned up with a doll.
