Bringing History Alive: American Girl and Public Memory of the American Civil Rights Movement

The American Girl Company was founded to bridge a gap in history education in US middle-grade literature, specifically targeting young girls. In addition to releasing a series of American Girl dolls— expensive, 18-inch dolls, each representing a significant time in American history- each “girl” was paired with historical fiction books that told her story. In 2016, Melody Ellison was released by American Girl, becoming the company’s third-ever Black historical character. Many American Girl fans were excited about this release, especially Black doll collectors. Melody, whose story is grounded in the history of the Civil Rights Era, gave Black parents the choice to buy a doll that looked like their child but was not entrenched in the traumatic history of enslavement.

Analyzing Melody, her accessories, and her books as material culture, this paper explores how Melody’s story engages public memory of the Civil Rights Movement. Based on my analysis of these texts, I argue that Melody’s story, as written for girls aged 8-12, complicates public memory of the 1960s by including varied perspectives and various instances of racism often left out of middle-grade education. The books exemplify how racism permeates every aspect of a Black person’s life, from job hunting to buying a house or shopping at a store, and how different members of Melody’s family choose to engage with the Civil Rights movement or not.

While scholars have written about Barbies, American Girl is a newer text. American Girl explicitly seeks to educate young girls about American history and allow them to explore lessons of identity, courage, and resilience. This mission of education is unique for a doll company. Yet while there has been some investigation into Addy Walker and her implications as an enslaved doll, there is no scholarship that considers Melody Ellison through the lens of public memory of the Civil Rights movement.

Leaning on consensus memory of the Civil Rights movement often leads to forgetting methods of protest, grassroots organizers, and specifically, the contributions of women. Melody’s first book is dedicated to, “Everyone who hears the call of justice, and answers.” Suggesting that her story can inspire young girls to act similarly. Melody and her story provide a chance to examine what and who is forgotten in the public memory of the period. Analyzing her books offers an opportunity to examine how media about the Civil Rights movement may impact future generations, in their understanding of the past and their sense of justice in the future.

Visually, my poster will include: my research question and my main points of investigation, the media I analyzed, and images of Mattel’s marketing efforts for Melody in print, online, and at various American Girl Store locations. The poster will also show American Girl’s progress of racial representation over time, and content from the books and online Black doll museums and archives. I will discuss themes that both align and differ from the normative, public memory of the Civil Rights movement.