Kristen Jordan Shamus

Detroit Free Press

She’s got that Motown sound and that Detroit swagger.

Melody Ellison, American Girl’s newest historical BeForever doll, is to make her debut Saturday at a pair of kick-off events at the Detroit Public Library and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

Melody, whose story is set in Detroit in the 1960s, also will be available at the new temporary American Girl store at Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi starting Saturday. Orders by catalog, online and at other stores nationally won't be available until Aug. 25.

► Related:Motown, Detroit set scene for Melody Ellison's story

► Related:American Girl store now open in metro Detroit

It's fitting that the story American Girl chose to tell to define the mid-1960s is based in Detroit, said Gloria House, professor emerita of African-American studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, who was active during the civil rights movement herself.

"Why not have her be a little Detroit girl?" she said. "Detroit was so much the mecca of civil rights and movement activities during that period from the '60s right until the '80s, really, with so many movement organizations based here. Dr. (Martin Luther) King (Jr.) did his trial run of his 'I Have a Dream' speech here in (1963), and there was the historic and ongoing connection between the rural South and the towns of the South, where families had migrated to Detroit.

"There were so many reasons why it worked to have the family based in Detroit. There could be so much commentary about the civil rights movement and sort of rooting a story here, and being able to talk about what was going on in the South, the cultural and familial roots of the South and how they played out in the urban North. So Detroit helped them tell a much richer story than they might have been able to tell had they placed the child somewhere else. That’s the way I see it, anyway."

At the time, Detroit also had one of the nation's largest NAACP branches and it had the most black-owned businesses in the country along with a growing black middle class.

Yet, said Juanita Moore, president and CEO of the Wright Museum, "there were still these significant issues around race and discrimination, even in Detroit, with all of that progressiveness that was happening here.

"That's a story that needs to be told so people don't get the sense that it was just happening and a challenge and a problem in the South. And you also get to understand by reading about the Ellison family how Detroiters were dealing with it, and how they were fighting discrimination."

Through historical fiction, the books "really show what democracy is all about — that one voice and one person can work for change and to make things better," Moore said. "The truth about the civil rights movement is that all of those individuals, they were not rich, they were not powerful. But they created change that changed the way every single person in this country lives today, and impacted human rights movements worldwide. Just to think about that young girl Melody, although a fictional character, it says any one of us can do that, even a young girl."

To ensure local children will be able to read Melody's story and learn the lessons in her books, American Girl donated $100,000 in books — its two paperback volumes, "No Ordinary Sound" and "Never Stop Singing" — to Detroit's 22 public library branches, said Julie Parks, a company spokeswoman. Any child who visits the library can get a free copy of either book until the end of the year. Branches also will stock copies of the books to loan out to patrons with a library card.

"Storytelling and books are really at the heart of what American Girl does, so partnering with the Detroit Public Library system just made perfect sense," Parks said. "It was a natural fit for us. ... We want to make sure those books are to be given away. ... If they run out, we will provide more books through the end of 2016. ... We are also giving them $50,000 in cash for children’s programming, their children’s area improvements, things like that, and also $25,000 in dolls."

Several of those dolls will be given away Saturday at the kickoff event at the main Detroit Public Library branch at 5201 Woodward, Detroit. More will be awarded to winners of the library's summer reading program, and still more will be given away during Noel Night festivities, said Jo Anne Mondowney, executive director of the library.

Mondowney called the donation significant: "It totals around $175,000," she said.

"The author of the books, Denise Lewis Patrick, is to appear at the main library on Saturday, Aug. 20, from 2-4 p.m. and at that time, she will be talking about the books and how she came to write the volumes. At that time, there will be a free giveaway for several of the dolls. We’ll be giving away about 20 of the dolls at that time through a drawing. We think that's the fairest way."

Parks said American Girl was concerned about the historical accuracy of Melody and her story. So the company consulted with an advisory board that had a rich knowledge of Detroit's history and the history of the civil rights movement. The board included Moore, House, the late civil rights leader Julian Bond and JoAnn Watson, the former Detroit city councilwoman who also served as executive director of the Detroit Branch NAACP, Parks said.

Together, they helped determine how Melody should look, deciding details about her clothing, accessories and even the texture of her hair.

"In the late '60s, the majority of African Americans did have straight hair," said Moore. "It may not have been bone straight, but it was straightened. In addition to our own recollections growing up as '60s girls, there also was historical research. There were four black women at that table who grew up in the '60s in different parts of the country and you know, we changed the texture of the hair several different times as they put the doll together to get to what we considered to be something that would be typical, closer to the reality.

"She could have had ponytails; she could have also had braids. But little girls can also do that with her hair. ... You have to remember that American Girl is a business, too, and all little girls want to play with their doll's hair. They want to change their clothes and play with their hair. ... I can't wait to see a little girl playing with this doll, and I can't wait to see them connect and interact with her story. It's a story that really will resonate so well with young girls."

Melody joins 15 other historical American Girl dolls the company has issued in the last 30 years. The doll, which sells for $115, comes with a hound's-tooth tri-colored dress, matching headband, patent blue shoes, white socks and underwear, along with a paperback book.

Melody's story has resonance even today, said House.

"There is a very lively movement of young African Americans and their allies who come from various races and cultures, Black Lives Matter and other movements on the scene now that in many ways, they pick up from where the movement and organizations of the '60s and '70s left off, even if they are focusing on one specific aspect of repression and oppression in the United States today, and that is police brutality and violence. But they really pick up from where the civil rights movement left off. Police brutality was one major issue in the civil rights movement of the '60s as well.

"Melody's story helps young girls understand what the civil rights movement is all about. If a child has read the story and has a handle on that, they understand it’s people organizing at various levels to respond to social injustices. ... The story is told in a way that 9-, 10- and 11-year-olds can ... understand that people of all ages can be involved, and that young people played a big role in the civil rights movement of the '60s as they are playing in the current movement."

And, said Moore, even current-day politics.

"Without the civil rights movement, there would be no first African-American president of the United States, and now the possibility of the first woman president," Moore said. "Then you start to talk about the Black Lives Matter movement, and it helps young people understand that there still is work to do, but that they still can ... they can do that best when they educate themselves."

Contact Kristen Jordan Shamus: 313-222-5997 or kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus.

Meet Melody

The Detroit Public Library is giving away 20 new Melody Ellison American Girl dolls through a drawing at an event Saturday at the main library, 5201 Woodward, Detroit. The event, from 2 to 4 p.m., features Denise Lewis Patrick, the author of the Melody Ellison books, "No Ordinary Sound" and "Never Stop Singing." The event is first come, first served, and anyone with questions may call the children’s services department at 313-481-1361.

The library also will award some dolls to children who participated in its summer's reading program.

Any child who would like to read Melody's books may go to any branch of the Detroit Public Library and get a free book from now until the end of the year.

The Saturday evening event at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History is by invitation only and is sold out. However, Melody will be on display at the museum as part of its Reflections in Black Dolls exhibit that opens Sept. 20 and features 80 to 90 dolls dating to the 1800s.

How to buy Melody

The doll sells for $115, and comes with a three-color hound's-tooth sleeveless dress, a matching headband, blue patent shoes, white socks and underwear along with the paperback book, "No Ordinary Sound."

Starting Aug. 20, you can purchase the doll at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History for a short time or at the temporary American Girl Store at Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi. After Aug. 25, the doll also will be available online at www.americangirl.com or by phone at 800-845-0005.

In addition, American Girl is selling accessories and companion products that pair with Melody, including a wooden recording studio and a block-party set, which features a bottle of Vernor's ginger ale.