Last month American Girl announced their latest BeForever character. Her name is Melody Ellison. In her stories, Melody, a 9-year old growing up in Detroit, Michigan, during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, lifts her voice for equality and helps bring this significant time in America’s history to life for girls today. Ensuring the historical accuracy and cultural authenticity of Melody’s story and product collection was imperative, so American Girl worked for over two years with an esteemed six-member advisory board who reviewed and provided input on all aspects of Melody’s development—from the doll, books, outfits, accessories, issues, and story setting.
The people who involved on the advisory board members were the late Horace Julian Bond, chairman emeritus, NAACP Board of Directors and founding member of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Gloria House, director and professor emerita, African and African American Studies, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Juanita Moore, President and CEO of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit and founding executive director of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Rebecca de Schweinitz, associate professor of history, Brigham Young University, Utah, and author of If We Could Change the World: Young People and America’s Long Struggle for Racial Equality, Thomas J. Sugrue, professor of history at New York University and author of Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North, and JoAnn Watson, native of Detroit, ordained minister, and former executive director of the Detroit NAACP.
Also to coincide with Melody’s debut, American Girl is launching the Lift Your Voice with Melody campaign. Fans can watch the Lift Your Voice with Melody video at www.americangirl.com/liftyourvoice and then share their own inspiring videos and photos on how they make a difference, using #LiftYourVoice.
A bunch of my friends and their kids got very excited when they heard about Melody. They were waiting for a doll that their child would love. When you understand the message behind Melody, this doll is more than just a doll. American Girl is understanding that everyone has a story and it needs to be told. There are many unique people out there and Melody is highlighting that notion. I am very happy to see Melody be part of the BeForever series.