Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from radiotopia.

My name is Jody Avergan.

Today we continue our look at how American Girl Dolls explain America and this is our

Addie deep dive episode. So who is Addie? Well in the fall of 1993 about six years

after launching the line American Girl doll introduced its

fifth historical character representing the Civil War era and Addie is the

line's first black character and a character who was born into slavery. This is how American Girl Dodd describes Addie's background.

Addie Walker is an African American girl who at the start of her stories is enslaved with her family on a North Carolina plantation during the last years of the Civil War.

In fall of 1864 she escapes with her mother Ruth to the free north and the two arrive and settle in Philadelphia.

Addie spends much of her central series hoping to have her whole family reunited in freedom.

So let's talk about Addie's arrival in 1993 and what she has meant over the years.

For 17 years, Addie was the only black historical doll

in the series.

She was the only non-white doll up until 1998.

One cultural critic wrote, quote,

Addy has been a polarizing figure,

revered by many as an inspiring character

and as an important educational tool

and criticized by others as a vehicle for wallowing in black suffering.

It's good that we have that cultural critic here on the show, the one who wrote that.

Aisha Harris is back.

From NPR, the new book, Wann Be Reckonings with the pop culture that

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