In July 1968, cartoonist Charles M. Schulz made history when he introduced fans of his popular “Peanuts” comic strip to Franklin, a Black boy who built a sandcastle with central character Charlie Brown after the two met at the beach.
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The first Black character to appear in a mainstream comic strip, Franklin appeared in over 100 Peanuts comics between 1968 and 1999. But while the Peanuts series made its fans laugh for decades, Franklin’s origin story is tied to a dark moment in American history.
Following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968, Los Angeles teacher Harriet Glickman wrote a letter to Schulz, hoping the Peanuts creator could use his platform to introduce a Black character. Glickman hoped the move would be a positive step towards racial tolerance during a volatile time, allowing Black children to see themselves in the comic and help “change the conditions which contribute to the vast sea of misunderstanding, hate, fear and violence.”
“Like so many others, I felt helpless and like I had to do something,” Glickman told PEOPLE in a 2015 interview.
Although Schulz was open to the idea, he was worried about creating a Black character that audiences would find patronizing or disingenuous. But after he received letters from others, he decided the time was right, and introduced Franklin Armstrong’s storyline just three months after Dr. King’s assassination.
With Franklin, Schulz was able to do what Glickman hoped—inspiring a new generation of Black cartoonists, including Robb Armstrong.
“Charles Schulz is the reason I’m a cartoonist,” he told The TODAY Show in a 2024 interview. “When he added Franklin to the cast of Peanuts, I was only 6. When I saw this little boy who looked like me, I realized that I could achieve this.”
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