MADISON, Wis.— Wisconsin legislator Francesca Hong, the state’s first Asian American representative, said she was excited about one Dane County toy maker’s newest creation.

What You Need To Know

  • Top Dane County doll manufacturer American Girl doing something never done before

  • They made Corrine, their first doll of Chinese decent, the 2022 Doll of the Year

  • Doll's storyline depicts a fun-loving outdoor adventurer but was inspired by Asian hate incidents and the pandemic

  • American Girl giving a portion of proceeds to AAPI Youth Rising

"So this is really, really powerful," Rep. Hong said. "Because being an Asian woman can often be very isolating."

Middleton-based American Girl recently debuted their 2022 "Girl of the Year," Corrine. She is the company’s first "Girl of the Year" of Chinese decent. The company previously sold a historical doll character, Ivy, of Chinese decent. Ivy is no longer available on American Girl's website; she was "retired" in 2014. 

Rep. Hong said she played with her Molly doll growing up and said her son, 5-year-old son, George, also like playing with her old Molly doll, but was thrilled to learn about this new effort to increase Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders representation.

She and her son learned more about the new doll during a Zoom interview with Corrine's author, Wendy Wan-Long Shang and AAPI Youth Rising Founder Mina Fedor.

Fedor is just 13-years-old. AAPI Youth Rising is a student-led organization "with a mission to turn small actions into positive change." American Girl has donated $25,000 to the group's "ONE/180 Pledge," which calls on schools to dedicate at least one school day a year to teaching kids about AAPI history and culture. 

American Girl is taking donations on behalf of AAPI Youth Rising through Dec. 30, 2022. If you're interested in donating, visit one of their storefronts, click here or call 1-800-845-0005. 

Rep. Hong asked Wan-Long Shang about the inspiration for the work surrounding the fun-loving winter adventure narrative.

"When American Girl reached out to me, we were in those... first few raw months after the attacks on women in Atlanta," Wan-Long Shang said. "We really wanted to write about the time that we're in, because that's what part of American Girl is about; it's giving kids an opportunity to see their situations reflected back to them."

That was why Wan-Long Shang wrote about overcoming bullying and stereotyping to help young women of different Asian backgrounds become the stars of their stories.

"The Asian woman was [normally portrayed in popular media as] a nerd or like the unpopular kid or something. They were never like the one leading the charge of something," Fedor said about why she liked the book featuring a Chinese protagonist and why she was thrilled American Girl was sharing a portion of the proceeds with her non-profit.

Meanwhile, Rep. Hong said Corrine's story was particularly special. She just introduced new legislation on Anti Asian and Pacific Islander hate awareness and special historical curriculum, APIDA, would be taught in Wisconsin schools.  

"It's having this understanding of each other really helps keeps us from you know, being in a place where we're fearing one another or building resentment," Rep Hong said. "Which is why that education piece about our histories and being able to share where our answers are from or, or how we're in this country or, you know, all of that is understanding one another is what's going to keep us from from putting violence in our communities,"

You can learn more about AAPI Youth Rising, here.