American Girl once captured U.S. history’s complexity. Why not now? 

Tara Strauch is the Paul L. Cantrell Associate Professor of History at Centre College, where she teaches early American history from the colonial period to the Civil War. Her courses include American holidays and American Girl.

What does it mean to be an American Girl during the nation’s semiquincentennial?

This year isn’t just the 250th anniversary of America’s independence — it is also the 40th anniversary of American Girl, a company founded to sell families an 18-inch, doll-sized narrative of American history. 

Over the past decade, the Mattel-owned brand closed dozens of stores and restructured. Observers alleged a midlife crisis: The company launched modernized historical dolls — Kirstin with space buns — alongside brand collaborations that feel very different from the nuanced characters it was founded on. 

Those original characters brought a rich past to America’s girls and challenged us to make a better future. The current focus seems more on nostalgia for the brand’s early years than on telling historical stories. 

The dolls and books, which depict 9- and 10-year-olds, became part of daily life for millions of American girls. They were friends whose lives were shockingly different from their owners’ and sometimes comfortingly the same. As American Girl founder Pleasant Rowland introduced girls to their historical counterparts — Samantha, Molly, Kirsten, Felicity, Addy, Josephina, Kaya and Kit — the characters became companions in understanding what it means........

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