Pleasant Rowland has been described as exhibiting "J.D. Salinger-esque reclusiveness."
Indeed, when asked for an interview to discuss the present and future of Aurora and her Aurora Foundation, Rowland declined. She instead agreed only to answer select questions e-mailed to Aurora Foundation Executive Director Katie Waller, which were then forwarded to Rowland.
Even then, Rowland declined to discuss what seems to be at the heart of the conflict in Aurora: some residents' feeling of disenfranchisement in the decision-making process - that Rowland does what she, and not they, want.
So, who is Pleasant Rowland, and how did she amass the fortune she's now giving away to arts and educational organizations, and spending in Aurora?
Rowland, now 64, grew up in Chicago. She described herself as the daughter of a self-made businessman who worked hard for the success he achieved, as did she, as the creator of Pleasant Co. in 1986. The "mother" of the American Doll collection, she sold the company to Mattel for $700 million in 1998.
Before she created the line of historic books, dolls and their accessories for 7- to 12-year-old girls, she had been an elementary-school teacher, a television news reporter and anchor, vice president of the Boston Educational Research Co., a children's textbook writer and the publisher of Children's Magazine Guide.
The idea for American Girl, she wrote in an article for Fortune Magazine three years ago, came to her in 1984.
Her husband invited her along to a convention in Williamsburg, Va.
"Off I went, thinking I would have a little vacation," she wrote. "Instead, it turned into one of the seminal experiences of my life."
Her own love of history and sense of power while sitting in the middle of it, made her wonder if there was a way to bring it alive for children.
The following Christmas, when she tried unsuccessfully to find an appropriate doll for her young nieces, a plan came together.
She took some of her savings - she had $1.2 million and invested $200,000 of it - and entered the market with the American Doll Collection for Christmas 1986. The first year, sales were $1.7 million. They reached $7.6 million the second year, and kept growing from there.
"People look at me today and somehow think I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth," she told Madison (Wisc.) Magazine. "It isn't true. I never inherited any wealth. I made the money I made through hard work."
Her family, she said, did not come from a background of philanthropy. Although she has always been a financial contributor to Wells College since graduating from there in 1962, Rowland said her marriage to Jerry Frautschi in 1977 showed her his "incredible family tradition of giving back to the community.
"I began to think of ways I could do that," she said.
And she's done it in a big way. Her efforts in Aurora are a small part of The Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation. Much of what she's given has benefited hundreds of institutions and organizations in Wisconsin, where she and Frautschi live. Their $200 million contribution created the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison.
She has also contributed $5 million to the Chicago Botanical Gardens' Evening Island project in memory of her father, Edward Thiele.
Her most significant financial support for Wells College didn't begin until she was was asked to give a graduation keynote addrress.
"I didn't come back to the college until the mid-1980s," Rowland said. "I returned to college to deliver a commencement address and saw that the college's public spaces were in need of refurbishment."
That renovation took two years and included the auditorium and lobby in Macmillan Hall, the president's office, the admissions office and living rooms in all of the dormitories. Rowland made most of the decisions and was a frequent presence on campus during that time, supervising the project. Rowland also oversaw restoration work to Taylor House, where Wells College presidents have lived.
"This was my gift to my college," Rowland said.
"It was her picking it all out, the fabrics, the carpet, everything," Waller said.
That hands-on attention to meticulous detail has also been evident in Aurora's transformation under Rowland's guidance.
She moved a building, which now houses Posie's Florist, a few feet to offer a better view of Cayuga Lake and she brought in an arborist to make sure trees were placed correctly.
"She is a woman whose work speaks for who she is," Waller said. "She's not looking for personal (notoriety). But she doesn't just give a check; she gives herself, her talents as well as her money. That's who she is."
As Rowland put it in the interview with Madison Magazine, "(I'm) not Martha Stewart and I don't pretend to be, and I don't want to be."
Even then, Rowland declined to discuss what seems to be at the heart of the conflict in Aurora: some residents' feeling of disenfranchisement in the decision-making process - that Rowland does what she, and not they, want.
So, who is Pleasant Rowland, and how did she amass the fortune she's now giving away to arts and educational organizations, and spending in Aurora?
Rowland, now 64, grew up in Chicago. She described herself as the daughter of a self-made businessman who worked hard for the success he achieved, as did she, as the creator of Pleasant Co. in 1986. The "mother" of the American Doll collection, she sold the company to Mattel for $700 million in 1998.
Before she created the line of historic books, dolls and their accessories for 7- to 12-year-old girls, she had been an elementary-school teacher, a television news reporter and anchor, vice president of the Boston Educational Research Co., a children's textbook writer and the publisher of Children's Magazine Guide.
The idea for American Girl, she wrote in an article for Fortune Magazine three years ago, came to her in 1984.
Her husband invited her along to a convention in Williamsburg, Va.
"Off I went, thinking I would have a little vacation," she wrote. "Instead, it turned into one of the seminal experiences of my life."
Her own love of history and sense of power while sitting in the middle of it, made her wonder if there was a way to bring it alive for children.
The following Christmas, when she tried unsuccessfully to find an appropriate doll for her young nieces, a plan came together.
She took some of her savings - she had $1.2 million and invested $200,000 of it - and entered the market with the American Doll Collection for Christmas 1986. The first year, sales were $1.7 million. They reached $7.6 million the second year, and kept growing from there.
"People look at me today and somehow think I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth," she told Madison (Wisc.) Magazine. "It isn't true. I never inherited any wealth. I made the money I made through hard work."
Her family, she said, did not come from a background of philanthropy. Although she has always been a financial contributor to Wells College since graduating from there in 1962, Rowland said her marriage to Jerry Frautschi in 1977 showed her his "incredible family tradition of giving back to the community.
"I began to think of ways I could do that," she said.
And she's done it in a big way. Her efforts in Aurora are a small part of The Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation. Much of what she's given has benefited hundreds of institutions and organizations in Wisconsin, where she and Frautschi live. Their $200 million contribution created the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison.
She has also contributed $5 million to the Chicago Botanical Gardens' Evening Island project in memory of her father, Edward Thiele.
Her most significant financial support for Wells College didn't begin until she was was asked to give a graduation keynote addrress.
"I didn't come back to the college until the mid-1980s," Rowland said. "I returned to college to deliver a commencement address and saw that the college's public spaces were in need of refurbishment."
That renovation took two years and included the auditorium and lobby in Macmillan Hall, the president's office, the admissions office and living rooms in all of the dormitories. Rowland made most of the decisions and was a frequent presence on campus during that time, supervising the project. Rowland also oversaw restoration work to Taylor House, where Wells College presidents have lived.
"This was my gift to my college," Rowland said.
"It was her picking it all out, the fabrics, the carpet, everything," Waller said.
That hands-on attention to meticulous detail has also been evident in Aurora's transformation under Rowland's guidance.
She moved a building, which now houses Posie's Florist, a few feet to offer a better view of Cayuga Lake and she brought in an arborist to make sure trees were placed correctly.
"She is a woman whose work speaks for who she is," Waller said. "She's not looking for personal (notoriety). But she doesn't just give a check; she gives herself, her talents as well as her money. That's who she is."
As Rowland put it in the interview with Madison Magazine, "(I'm) not Martha Stewart and I don't pretend to be, and I don't want to be."
