Peanuts’ Franklin Exhibit Opens at Wingate University
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The Hinson Art Museum at Wingate University is hosting an exhibit focusing on Peanuts character Franklin. Franklin was the first African American character in Peanuts. Charles Schulz added the character to his strip after assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. at the behest of a school teacher with the hope of promoting tolerance and interracial friendship.
From the exhibit news article:
“Dear Mr. Schulz,” wrote Harriet Glickman that April. “I’ve been asking myself what I can do to help change those conditions in our society which led to the assassination and which contribute to the vast sea of misunderstanding, hate, fear and violence.” She suggested that he could help promote tolerance and interracial friendship by adding a Black character to his popular comic strip.
Schulz said he had been considering the idea, and that summer Charlie Brown met Franklin at the beach. High-resolution reproductions of original comic strips from the multiday storyline of their meeting are part of the exhibit coming to Wingate, as is correspondence between Glickman and Schulz. The exhibit will also include display and text panels and character dolls and will tell the story of how Franklin got the last name Armstrong, a nod to JumpStart cartoonist Robb Armstrong.
The exhibit runs Feb. 10 through April 7.
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