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:''"Samantha" redirects here. For the doll, see [[Samantha Parkington (doll)]].''

{{infobox character
|name = Samantha Parkington
|image = <tabber>
BeForever = [[File:SamanthaBFlogo.png|250px]]|-|
Classic = [[File:Samanthalogo.png|250px]]|-|
1986 = [[File:Samantha86.png|250px]]|-|
</tabber>
|imagewidth = 250px
|fullname = Samantha Mary Parkington<ref>''[[Clue in the Castle Tower]]'', pg. 146: ''[Samantha] loved to look at the yellowed parchment paper where her whole name, Samantha Mary Parkington [...]''</ref>
|born = May 26, 1895
|nickname = Sam
|firstappearance = ''[[Meet Samantha]]''; ''[[Manners and Mischief]]''
|serieslocation = Mount Bedford, NY{{ref|Mount Bedford is a fictional town. It was however based on [http://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/20/nyregion/mount-kisco-is-astir-over-the-fate-of-the-ragtime-mansion.html Mount Kisco, New York]; a house in 81 West Main Street served as the basis for Samantha's residence. A [[Wikipedia:Bedford (town), New York|similarly-named town]] does exist, though.}} New York City, New York {{ref|This is in most books after [[Changes for Samantha]].}}
|timeline = Late Summer 1904 to Summer 1907
|grandparents = [[Mary Edwards]] (maternal grandmother) [[Minor Characters in Samantha's Series (A-M)|William Edwards]] (maternal grandfather; deceased) [[Archibald Beemis]] (maternal step-grandfather)
|father = [[Minor Characters in Samantha's Series (N-Z)#Mr. Parkington|Mr. Parkington]] (deceased)
|mother = [[Lydia Parkington]] (deceased)
|uncle = [[Gardner Edwards]]
|aunt = [[Cornelia Edwards]]
|bestfriend = [[Nellie O'Malley]]
|friends = [[Ida Dean]] [[Minor_Characters_in_Samantha's_Series#Ruth_Adams|Ruth Adams]] [[Agnes and Agatha Pitt]]
|otherships = [[Raquel Reyes]] (great-great-granddaughter), [[Julia Reyes]] (great-granddaughter)
|grandchild=Grandma Meg (granddaughter)}}
'''Samantha Parkington''' is one of the first three [[Historical Characters]], representing the Progressive Era/Turn of the 20th Century in America. Samantha was first released in ''1986'' at the launch of Pleasant Company along with [[Kirsten Larson]] and [[Molly McIntire]].

In October 2008, [[American Girl]] announced that they would [[Retirement|archive]] Samantha's [[Samantha's Collection|entire collection]]; she, [[Nellie O'Malley]], and their collections would become unavailable for purchase. The [[Samantha Parkington (doll)|Samantha doll]] initially sold out on Feb 3, 2009, and official archiving was on May 31, 2009. [[List of Samantha's Books|Samantha's books]], the movie, and the two [[Mini Dolls]] remained available for purchase.

On February 17th, 2014, American Girl's Facebook page stated that Samantha would be rereleased in Fall 2014 <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/americangirl/posts/687593937950436?stream_ref=10 Facebook Statement]</ref>; she was rereleased with the launch of [[BeForever]] and the first character to be rereleased from the archives. She is also part of the 35th Anniversary Special Edition Rerelease. She was also reinterpreted as a modern era doll in 2026, the [[Modern Era Samantha]] doll.

==Personality and Facts==
Samantha (occasionally nicknamed Sam) is an orphan who, at the start of the series, is living with her old-fashioned [[Mary Edwards|Grandmary]] in the fictional town of Mount Bedford, New York. Samantha only remembers her parents faintly; they died the summer after she turned five. She seeks the approval of Grandmary and does not want to disappoint her or worry her. She has been partially raised by her Uncle Gardner who is the major father figure in her life; she wants to please him and does not want to be left out of his life even after his marriage.

Samantha is curious which leads to her asking a lot of questions from the people around her and thus questioning the status quo. She can be very defiant when she feels she has been wronged. She is very interested in her parents and their lives, as they died in a boating accident when she was five years old and is compared in looks to her mother. She has a rough side such as climbing trees and feels it is very hard to be a young lady. She often thinks fancifully, such as when she believes Jessie has left to be an actress and that her uncle may be a spy. Samantha is rather bold and mischievous and playful, generally going places she should not, sneaking off, and even standing up to her mocking neighbor, Eddie Ryland. Samantha is beguiling and bursting with ideas, and is very imaginative.

Samantha is fun and loves to laugh. She is loyal, giving, and helpful. Her friends consider her a lifesaver because she's all heart and ready to help others.

Samantha likes progress and new inventions; she is interested in how things are changing in all ways in her life. However it's hard for her to adjust to changes within her family; Samantha initially felt Cornelia as a guest was ruining her plans in ''[[Samantha's Surprise]]'' and didn't like the idea of her and Gardner having a connection. At times she comes off as very naive due to her sheltered life; [[Nellie O'Malley|Nellie]]'s more difficult life originally served to contrast to Samantha's well-to-do life. She is also very giving; notably, she gifted her brand-new [[Nellie's Doll|doll]] to Nellie soon after receiving it, saying it could be a companion to her. She also gives Nellie time and support to help her become better at school upon her return. She does not think this is merely helping a poorer person (''noblesse oblige'') and sees Nellie as an actual friend.

She loves to read and her favorite book is ''The Wizard of Oz''. Samantha can play the piano, although she does not think she has much musical skill. She loves to paint and someday wishes that she could be as good of an artist as her mother [[Lydia Parkington]] was. Samantha is not extremely skilled at embroidery but does good work; in her first book she completes a sampler, and in ''[[Samantha's Ocean Liner Adventure]]'' she embroiders a handkerchief. She either wants to be a painter like Mary Cassatt or the first female US President. Samantha is very good at public speaking and knows how to bring attention and persuade people of her ideas easily. She gives a speech in ''[[Samantha Learns a Lesson]]'' which helps her realize she's good at public speaking. She realizes that she is a great leader in ''[[Samantha's Special Talent]]''.{{ref|'''''[[Samantha's Special Talent]]''''', [[Samantha's Short Story Collection|pg.187]]: ''"I'm grateful for the money raised, and I'm impressed by Samantha's talents as a leader," Mr. Hardy said.''}}

American Girl characterizes her as compassionate and kind. She was also characterized at the American Girl Publishing site as "bright" and "generous."{{ref|[http://www.americangirlpublishing.com/characters/samanatha/samanatha.aspx American Girl Publishing - Samantha]}}

===Connection to Raquel Reyes===
[[File:Samantha-Raquel-Bio.png|250px|left|thumb|Samantha as shown in Raquel's books.]]
[[Raquel Reyes]] is her great-great granddaughter on Raquel's maternal side, with Grandma Meg being her granddaughter and Julia being her great-granddaughter. According to ''[[Raquel's Journal]]'', she grew up to become a teacher and founded a girls' school in the 1920s.

{{clr}}
==Family and Friends==
{{See also|Minor Characters in Samantha's Series}}
===Family===
* [[Minor Characters in Samantha's Series (N-Z)#Mr. Parkington|Mr. Parkington]]: Samantha’s deceased father.
* [[Lydia Parkington]]: Samantha’s deceased mother.
* [[Mary Edwards]]: Samantha's grandmother, Grandmary.
* [[Minor Characters in Samantha's Series (A-M)|William Edwards]]: Samantha’s deceased maternal grandfather.
* [[Archibald Beemis]]: Samantha’s maternal step-grandfather
* [[Gardner Edwards]]: Mary Edwards' son, and Samantha's uncle.
* [[Cornelia Edwards]]: Samantha's aunt and Gardner's wife.
* [[Agnes and Agatha Pitt]]: Cornelia's younger twin sisters.

===Friends and Minor Characters===
* [[Nellie O'Malley]]: Samantha's best friend.
* [[Bridget O'Malley]]: Nellie's little sister.
* [[Jenny O'Malley]]: Nellie's little sister.
* [[Eddie Ryland]]: A troublesome neighbor in Mount Bedford.
* [[Jessie]]: Grandmary's seamstress.
* [[Elsa]]: The maid.
* [[Mrs. Hawkins]]: the cook.
* [[Hawkins]]: the butler and driver.
* [[Mike O'Malley]]: Nellie's uncle.
* [[Ida Dean]]: Samantha's friend from school.

==Books==
''See [[List of Samantha's Books]]''

==Other Media==
* [[Samantha: An American Girl Holiday]]: movie

===Movie Books===
* [[Samantha: An American Girl Holiday: The Complete Telescript of Samantha's Movie]]
* [[Lights! Camera! Samantha!]]

==[[Doll]]==
[[File:Samanthadollface.jpg|thumb|250px|The Samantha doll.]]
{{Main|Samantha Parkington (doll)}}

* [[Face Mold]]: [[Classic Mold]]
* Skin: Light
* Hair: Dark brown
* Eyes: Brown
{{clr}}
==Collection==
:''See [[Samantha's Collection]]''

==Trivia==

* While Samantha was initially marketed by Pleasant Company (and later American Girl) as from the [[Wikipedia:Victorian era|Victorian Era]], [[Wikipedia:Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] died in 1901 and the series starts in 1904. There is always a slight overlap and blending of eras in history; however, the attitudes, social airs, issues, technology, and fashions of the stories place Samantha more properly as [[Wikipedia:Edwardian era|Edwardian]] by British metrics or, more accurately, the American [[Wikipedia:Progressive Era|Progressive Era]]. This is especially seen in the blurring of class issues seen through Samantha and Nellie. In the full Victorian Era, it was considered in very poor taste and unrefined for the wealthy to interact or befriend those beneath their station (such as their servants) or consider them equals, or consider the needs of the poor and working-class beyond pity and disconnected philanthropic donations. For example, Nellie and her sisters would have most likely not been adopted by another rich family, but Gardner and Cornelia are considered very progressive for their time and do not care about their daughters' previous class level in both supportive and personally ignorant ways. The series can be perceived as Victorian due to [[Mary Edwards|Grandmary]], who is very traditional in mindset; however, she does change her mind and opinions quite often throughout the series, showing a shift in attitude from Victorian to Edwardian if classifying American eras by British terms. The more accurate for the United States would be a change from [[Wikipedia:Gilded Age|Gilded Age]] mentalities to Progressive Era. American Girl now accurately refers to the period as the "Turn of the Twentieth Century" or "America's New Century," though they occasionally refer to the era erroneously as Victorian and cite Grandmary's mentalities as the reason.
* Along with [[Addy Walker]], Samantha's original Central Series illustrations were replaced in 1998 as part of the Mattel deal. They and [[Molly McIntire]] are the only historical characters to have full image reillustrations done before post-BeForever formats. (Molly's illustrations changed hands twice with the last illustrator completing the changes by 1989.)
* Samantha is the first Historical Character to be explicitly related to another character or have any mention of descendants, with her connection to Raquel Reyes.

==See Also==
* [[Locations in Samantha's Series]]

==References and Footnotes==
{{refs}}

<tabber>
Full Historical List = {{HistoricalList}}|-|
BeForever Historical List = {{BeForeverHistoricalList}}
</tabber>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkington, Samantha}}
[[Category:Samantha Parkington]]
[[Category:Historical Characters]]
[[Category:BeForever]]

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''This page incorporates text from [https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Samantha_Parkington the source wiki] ([https://americangirl.fandom.com/index.php?oldid=131717 exported version], [https://americangirl.fandom.com/index.php?title=Samantha+Parkington&action=history contributor history]), under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ the original text license].''

Samantha Parkington - Revision history

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