Photo: American Girl via Instagram
To celebrate their 30th anniversary, American Girl has announced an awesome new addition to their collection of historical dolls. Meet Melody Ellison: A nine-year-old, Motown-loving girl from Detroit, who’s living in the ’60s and loves to sing. She’s also American Girl’s first-ever Civil Rights-era doll and the company’s third African American doll.

Go behind the scenes and learn about the history of the 1960s and the making of the Melody character in our newest YouTube video, link in bio. #BeForever #agbehindthescenes
A photo posted by American Girl (@americangirlbrand) on Feb 16, 2016 at 10:03am PST

To ensure historical accuracy in Melody’s courageous story, American Girl got a six-panel advisory board made up of historians and educators. What’s even better is the fact that among them was Civil Rights activist Julian Bond. They made sure to cover all the things that would have been fun for Melody in the ’60s, along with everything that would have been challenging.
“We do approach every character very thoughtfully so this isn’t something we rush into. We’re not looking to address critical demand?we’re looking to tell stories in the most authentic and genuine way that we possibly can.” said Julia Prohaska, vice president of marketing at American Girl, to CBSnews.
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