Why did it take a random fan letter to get a black kid into Peanuts?

In 1968, two weeks after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., a white schoolteacher and mother of three from the suburbs of Los Angeles wrote to the most successful cartoonist of the time, and one of the top entertainers of any type, Charles Schulz. She suggested that he add a black character to his immensely popular Peanuts comic strip.

In a great article in Hogan's Alley, the Magazine of the Cartoon Arts, Nat Gertler quotes Harriet Glickman's letter:

"[T]he introduction of Negro children into the group of Schulz characters could happen with the minimum of impact." Not content to seek a token appearance, she expressed the "hope that the result will be more than one black child…. Let them be as adorable as the others…but please…allow them a Lucy!"

By "allow them a Lucy," she seemed to be saying that the black characters should be as specific, quirky, and even unlikable, as the rest of the (white) Peanuts gang.

Remarkably, Schulz wrote back to her, with a thoughtful letter expressing sympathy with her sentiment, but doubt that such a new character would be well received in the black community.

Charles Schulz wrote a letter to schoolteacher Harriet Glickman on April 26, 1968, addressing the challenge of adding a black character to the cast of "Peanuts." Although Franklin first appeared that July, Schulz's letter then sounded anything but optimistic.

— Tom Heintjes (@hogansalley.bsky.social) 2026-04-26T13:06:08.768Z

Dear Mrs. Glickman:

Thank you very much for your kind letter. I appreciate your suggestion about introducing a Negro child into the comic strip, but I am faced with the same problem that other cartoonists are who wish to comply with your suggestion. We all would like very much to be able to do this, but each of us is afraid that it would look like we were patronizing our Negro friends.

I don't know what the solution is.

Glickman offered to send letters from her "Negro friends" with their thoughts on the concept, and Schulz said he would be "anxious to hear what your friends think," but reiterated his concern that he would "receive the sort of criticism that would make it appear as if I were doing this in a condescending manner."

Glickman sent Schulz two such letters, and intended to send more, but didn't need to. A few months later, on July 31, 1968, Peanuts introduced Franklin, a black kid who befriends Charlie Brown at the beach, later visits Charlie Brown's neighborhood, and then became a somewhat regular, if bland, character.

I find it amazing that one of the most famous artists in America responded so sincerely and actively to a random letter from a reader about an issue that was very sensitive and politically charged at the time. And unfortunately still is.

Here's some background on how the Franklin character came to be, it started with a letter from school teacher Harriet Glickman to Charles Schulz, he initially pushed back, but she kept writing and had others write him too. #Peanuts

— Strictly 4 My Navigators (@lizzslockeroom.bsky.social) 2025-07-31T15:43:28.127Z

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