View source for Nellie O'Malley

<small>
''"Nellie" redirects here. For the doll, see [[Nellie O'Malley (doll)]].''
</small>
{{Infobox character
|image =
<tabber> 
2005 = [[File:NellieLogo.jpg|250px]]|-|
1998 = [[File:Nellie-1998.jpg|250px]]|-|
1994 = [[File:Nellie1994.jpg|250px]]|-|
1986 = [[File:Nellie-1986.jpg|250px]]
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|imagewidth = 250px
|fullname = Nellie O'Malley
|born = October 15, 1895
|firstappearance = ''[[Meet Samantha]]''
|father = [[Minor Characters in Samantha's Series (N-Z)#Mr. O'Malley|Mr. O'Malley]] (deceased)<br>
[[Gardner Edwards]] (after adoption)
|mother = [[Minor Characters in Samantha's Series (N-Z)#Mrs. O'Malley|Mrs. O'Malley]] (deceased)<br>
[[Cornelia Edwards]] (after adoption)
|uncle = [[Mike O'Malley]]
|siblings = [[Bridget O'Malley]]<br>
[[Jenny O'Malley]]<br>
[[Minor Characters in Samantha's Series (A-M)#William Samuel Edwards|William Samuel Edwards]]
|bestfriend = [[Samantha Parkington]] (later sister via adoption)
|nickname= Miss Nellie O'Malley-All-Mended (Miss Brennan)<br>
Nellie-Girl (pejorative from Uncle Mike)<ref>''[[Nellie's Promise]]; see article''</ref>
}}
'''Nellie O'Malley''' is the best friend and later adopted sister of [[Samantha Parkington]], and the first [[Best Friend Characters|Best Friend]] released. 

In October 2008, [[American Girl]] announced their intent to archive Samantha's [[Samantha's Collection|entire collection]]; she, Nellie, and their collections were no longer available for purchase online or through catalogs with the exception of the books. The Nellie doll and all items in her collection have been [[Retirement|retired]]. After Samantha was rereleased for the [[BeForever]] retooling, it was unknown if Nellie would ever be available again; that best friend characters would not was confirmed with the rerelease of [[Felicity Merriman]] which did not include [[Elizabeth Cole]]. It is unlikely that the Nellie doll or collection will ever be available again.

==Personality and Facts==

Nellie is a young Irish-American girl with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes who is shorter and smaller than Samantha. She initially lives with her father, mother, and two younger sisters Jenny and Bridget. Nellie's parents are Irish immigrants-–Nellie does not appear to have been born in Ireland<ref>In ''The Stolen Sapphire'' she mentions her late mother's thoughts on Ireland and laments that she has yet to see her birth family's homeland.</ref>-–and thus she and her family are not looked upon well in White American society, as at the time Irish people in most White-dominated countries were not considered as equivalently White as WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) people. Ireland was also under colonization by England at the time. 

Initially, Nellie served as a foil to Samantha to reflect her poorer, more rough life; when introduced in ''Meet Samantha'' she is a shy, withdrawn young girl who has just been hired by the Rylands to serve as a housemaid. [[Grandmary]] furthermore states, when Samantha is tutoring Nellie, that she is ''helping'' Nellie, not playing with her, and there is a difference. (In the abridged rewritten book, Grandmary is much more direct in saying that Samantha should not play with Nellie shortly after their meeting, because she is a servant.) She has been taught to defer to her betters including Samantha since her family is of a lower class, even calling Samantha "miss" and fretting--rightfully--that she will be in trouble if Samantha is seen fraternizing with her. 

Nellie has worked several years of her young life by the time Samantha meets her, first in a factory and then as a house servant. In ''Nellie's Promise'', Nellie states that she spent her eighth birthday working in a factory and thus did not have a celebration that year. She is not very healthy due to the hard factory work weakening her health and the hope is that serving as a maid in a healthier location will be good for her, but eventually is dismissed by the Rylands because [[Minor Characters in Samantha's Series#Mrs. Ryland|Mrs. Ryland]] does not think she is strong enough to keep her job. She and her parents are later hired by the Van Sicklens; Nellie does laundry and dusting for the household, but is permitted to attend school and not just work.

When both parents die of flu in Winter of 1905, she and her sisters are soon sent to live with their only living relative, [[Mike O'Malley]]; they are misused and soon abandoned by him, which results in the three sisters being sent to Coldrock House. They are nearly separated, escape with Samantha's assistance, and soon after informally adopted at the end of ''Changes for Samantha'' (and formally adopted at the end of ''Nellie's Promise''). 

By the end of Samantha's central series, Nellie has been lifted in class status when she is adopted into Samantha's family. However, she still has effects from her poor upbringing. Nellie is initially extremely apprehensive of letting people get close to her or getting too informal with people she mentally perceives as her betters; even after living with Gardner and Cornelia for two months, she still calls Gardner "sir", is very distant, and does not adapt as fast as her sisters to their new life. Nellie feels--especially after her parents passing, with the promise made to her mother--that she must take care of her sisters after her parents' death and this means being useful and practical, a side effect of having been expected to work her entire life. She does not believe her new, higher-class life is permanent until Gardner and Cornelia confront her uncle Mike and make him sign his rights away. 

Even after it is clear Nellie is secure in her new life, she remains fearful of her status. She weeps near the end of ''The Curse of Ravenscourt'' that she feared she and her sisters were no longer wanted anymore and would be given up, and there are many times she is embarrassed or nervous when people notice that she came from low background or notice how well she's done for herself after adoption, such as when her peers in her academy are unsure if she is Samantha's sister or maid and in ''[[The Stolen Sapphire]]'' when she is looked down upon by [[Minor Characters in Samantha's Series (A-M)#Charlotta_Billingsley|Charlotta Billingsley]] once she learns that Nellie used to be a servant. She also remains connected to others from her past, rather than rejecting them; she assists a young man, [[Minor Characters in Samantha's Series (N-Z)#Jamie%20O'Conner|Jamie O'Conner]], who knew her family and feels sympathy for their tutor, [[Minor Characters in Samantha's Series (A-M)#Nicole%20%C3%89tienne|Nicole Étienne]], when she is accused of theft and imprisoned. 

Nellie is practical and more level headed whereas Samantha is fanciful and imaginative; for example, when Samantha imagines that [[Jessie]] has left to be an actress and creates fantastical reasons for her departure, Nellie simply concludes--correctly--that Jessie has a baby. Later, upon hearing that Cornelia is pregnant, she offers to feed and change the coming baby rather than bringing up playing with and carrying around the baby like her younger sisters bring up. She is extremely protective of her younger sisters and, to some extent, of the more naive Samantha. She is mechanically skilled. [[Minor Characters in Samantha's Series#Miss Brennan|Miss Brennan]] calls her 'Miss Nellie O'Malley-All-Mended" because of her skill in disassembling and reassembling things to repair them. She learned some car tinkering from her father as he was into motorcars. She sings well and, due to her work in the settlement house, speaks some German and Italian phrases. 

Nellie had never gone to any formal schooling until ''Samantha Learns a Lesson'', but was skilled in math due to having to know how to purchase enough food for the family on small amounts of money. She finds handwriting to be fascinating. She sees no benefit in the wealthy education she starts with after her adoption and is much more comfortable once she starts to attend a more practical-focused school and studying to become a teacher.  

American Girl characterizes her as "practical" and "hardworking."

==Family and Friends==

===Family===
* [[Minor Characters in Samantha's Series (N-Z)#Mr. O'Malley|Mr. O'Malley]]: Father, later deceased
* [[Minor Characters in Samantha's Series (N-Z)#Mrs. O'Malley|Mrs. O'Malley]]: Mother, later deceased
* [[Gardner Edwards]]: Father after adoption.
* [[Cornelia Edwards]]: Mother after adoption 
* [[Bridget O'Malley]]: Younger sister.
* [[Jenny O'Malley]]: Younger sister.
* [[Minor Characters in Samantha's Series (A-M)#William Samuel Edwards|William Samuel Edwards]]: younger brother. 
* [[Mike O'Malley]]: Paternal uncle.

===Friends===

* [[Samantha Parkington]]: Best friend and later sister. 
* [[Minor Characters in Samantha's Series#Miss Brennan|Miss Brennan]]: Teacher at a settlement house.

==Book==

* ''[[Nellie's Promise]]''

==In [[List of Samantha's Books|Samantha's Series]]==

Nellie is a major character for Samantha's first two [[Central Series]] books, ''[[Meet Samantha]]'' and ''[[Samantha Learns a Lesson]]''. In ''[[Samantha's Surprise]]'' she only has an extremely brief appearance and is not seen again until ''[[Changes for Samantha]]'' when she returns to prominence again. She is a major character for the short stories ''[[Samantha and the Missing Pearls]]'' and ''[[Samantha's Winter Party]]''. She is also present in all of Samantha's [[Historical Character Mysteries|mystery books]] which are set after her adoption by Gardner and Cornelia. 

In ''[[Samantha: The Gift]]'', many events from the central series are changed or removed to help give Nellie more spotlight; events are changed so she is the only member of her family who lives in Mount Bedford before she returns to New York, and her family never accompanies her or moves there before her parents pass away. There are few changes in ''[[Samantha: Lost and Found]]'' from the original central series. 

By the events of ''[[Samantha: The Next Chapter]]'', she, Bridget, and Jenny have moved to San Francisco; Samantha does not see them as often. Gardner, Cornelia, and William stop to visit the three on the way to visit the Far East for a vacation. 

==In ''[[Samantha: An American Girl Holiday]]''==

Nellie is a major character throughout the film; the books where Nellie has no major appearances were cut from the plot. She arrives with her family as servants starting work at the Rylands' house next door. After Samantha leaves to live with Cornelia and Gard in New York City, Nellie and Samantha keep in touch via letters; unlike in the books, it is Mrs. Hawkins who sends the letter informing the family of Nellie and her sisters being orphaned. As in ''Changes for Samantha'', Samantha first locates and then helps Nellie and her sisters run away from Coldrock House Orphanage and hides them in her attic, and they are later taken in and adopted by the Edwards. 

Other changes include (see also [[Samantha: An American Girl Holiday#Movie/Book Differences|Movie/Book Differences]]):

* Samantha does not hear about Nellie at all before she arrives with her family. Nellie only has her father as a guardian as her mother has already died.
* Nellie's entire family works for the Rylands, not just Nellie alone. The family never works for the Van Sicklens and Nellie does not return to New York City until her father dies. They are sent directly to Coldrock Orphanage, rather than being sent to live with Uncle Mike first. 
* Nellie and her sisters do not attend public school; Samantha instead teaches her to read in private.
* Nellie goes to work in a clothes factory during the stay in the attic, giving Samantha a first-hand look at factory work.
* Bridget becomes extremely ill while they are hiding, forcing Samantha's hand to reveal that they are there rather than Gertrude learning about them.
* The girls are taken in by the Edwards on Christmas morning as opposed to Valentine's Day, in keeping with the holiday theme of the movie.

She is played by '''Kelsey Lewis'''.

==[[Doll]]==

{{Main|Nellie O'Malley (doll)}}
[[File:Nelliedollface.jpg|thumb|200px|The Nellie doll.]]

*[[Face Mold]]: [[Josefina Mold]]
* Skin: Light
* Hair: Strawberry Blonde 
* Eyes: Dark Blue

{{clr}}
==Collection==

: ''See [[Nellie's Collection]]''

==Trivia==

* Nellie was the first explicitly non-Latina named doll to use the [[Josefina Mold]].
* Though Nellie in the movie is a redhead with longer hair, her doll is strawberry blonde with shoulder length hair, in contrast with the full retcon of [[Elizabeth Cole]]'s descriptions to match her movie counterpart. This may be because the book illustrations--which were not changed--remain the same and can be interpreted as either hair color, or it may be because the Nellie doll was originally meant to be limited edition and continuity between the book and movie versions of the story was not considered important at the time.
* Nellie and her sisters' adoption by the Edwards might be seen as socially improbable as the O'Malleys are Irish, Catholic and lower class (at a time when Irish and Catholic people were not considered socially equal to White Anglo Saxon Protestants and White Americans); however, given that Gardner and Cornelia are a lot less traditional-minded compared to characters like [[Grandmary]], the case is likely that they do not care whatsoever about the O'Malley girls' poor or Irish background. This is shown several times through the series: Gardner seeks and confronts Uncle Mike to force him to sign away his custody rights to ensure he will not interfere with the adoption, Cornelia openly states in ''[[The Curse of Ravenscourt]]'' for Mr. Winthrop to take his hands off her daughters (meaning Nellie and Samantha), and they together state they have four beautiful daughters. ''Nellie's Promise'' has Nellie's lower-class background and difficulties in her new life acknowledged multiple times, including when Nellie mentions that the girls at her school aren't certain if she's truly Samantha's sister or Samantha's maid and their discomfort around her. A portrayal of the classist attitudes of the time regarding Nellie and her adoption is shown with Charlotta Billingsley and her attitude upon learning Nellie used to be a servant in ''The Stolen Sapphire''.
* Nellie refers to her parents as "Ma" and "Pa" in ''Samantha Learns a Lesson''; this is replaced by the more Irish-accurate "Mam" and "Da" in ''Nellie's Promise'' and mysteries set after. 

==References==
{{Refs}}

{{BestFriendList}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:O'Malley, Nellie}}
[[Category:Nellie O'Malley]]
[[Category:Samantha Parkington]]
[[Category:Historical Characters]]
[[Category:Best Friends]]

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''This page incorporates text from [https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Nellie_O%27Malley the source wiki] ([https://americangirl.fandom.com/index.php?oldid=130794 exported version], [https://americangirl.fandom.com/index.php?title=Nellie+O%27Malley&action=history contributor history]), under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ the original text license].''