08/31/2025
It was a turbulent time. The nation was divided. People were hurting across the country.
She wondered what she could do to help ease the pain, to bring people together.
After the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, she decided to write a simple letter.
According to NPR, she said:
'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.'”
~~~
Hi, this is Jon.
There is a popular quote that circulates every once in a while that reads “One person can make a difference and everyone should try.”
Several posts on Facebook recently went viral, featuring the story of how the Peanuts’ character Franklin was born.
This is the story behind the story.
The post, which was originally published by the Peace Page in 2018 and then copied verbatim without credit by sites looking to increase their reach, told the story of the courage of Charles M. Schulz and the importance of the introduction of Franklin.
During the first incarnation of this story, a reader in the comments shared his reaction of seeing Franklin for the first time.
Many of you know the rest of the story from the Peace Page (see original link in comments) and the hijacked versions currently circulating, but in this post I wanted to emphasize the role of the one person who started it all and made the difference with a simple letter.
According to the Press Telegram, “she was a white, 42-year-old suburban Los Angeles school teacher and mother raising three children when Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968.”
Her name was Harriet Glickman.
Although the Peace Page has shared her story before and that of Mr. Schulz and also of Franklin, we felt her story was even more relevant today because of her courage and the fact she never gave up.
~~~
"Harriet has a very interesting place in history," according to The LAist. "In 1968, she wrote to 'Peanuts' creator Charles Schulz asking him to do something remarkable at the time: integrate his famous comic strip."
Glickman didn't know whether Schulz would actually read her letter or even whether he would receive the letter.
Glickman was especially aware of the power of comics among the young. “And my feeling at the time was that I realized that black kids and white kids never saw themselves [depicted] together in the classroom,” she said in the Washington Post.
She hoped this would bring the country together and show people of color that they are not excluded from American society.
At the time, Schulz, the creator of the enormously popular “Peanuts” comic strip, was already being "published in hundreds of newspapers around the United States reaching nearly 100 million readers," according to the Press Telegram.
Surprisingly, Schulz did respond, but wasn't sure whether it would be right, coming from him, he didn't want to make matters worse, he felt that it may sound condescending to people of color.
But Glickman wouldn't give up.
She persisted, continuing her correspondence with Schulz, even having Black friends write to Schulz and explain to him what it would mean to them.
She told Schulz that "the gentleness of the [Peanuts would be] 'the perfect setting' for such representation," according to CBR.
“I am well aware of the very long and tortuous road ahead,” she added. “I’m sure one doesn’t make radical changes in so important an institution without a lot of shock waves from syndicates, clients, etc. You have, however, a stature and reputation which can withstand a great deal.”
This conversation would continue until one day, Schulz told Glickman to check her newspaper on July 31, 1968.
On that date, the cartoon, as created by Schulz, shows Charlie Brown meeting a new character, named Franklin. Other than his color, Franklin was just an ordinary kid who befriends and helps Charlie Brown.
In a speech at American University of Health Sciences in Signal Hill, California in 2018, talking to a group of children and adults, Glickman said, the 1960s in the United States was “a time long before any of you were born, a time when not everyone was understanding of other people, when young African Americans couldn’t go to the same beach as white children and when schools were separate.”
~~~
Glickman was born in Sioux City, Iowa, and lived in Chicago before moving to Southern California and a job in the Burbank School District and eventually UCLA before retiring.
Glickman explained in previous interviews that her parents were "concerned about others, and the values that they instilled in us about caring for and appreciating everyone of all colors and backgrounds — this is what we knew when we were growing up, that you cared about other people . . . And so, during the years, we were very aware of the issues of racism and civil rights in this country [when] black people had to sit at the back of the bus, black people couldn’t sit in the same seats in the restaurants that you could sit . . . Every day I would see, or read, about black children trying to get into school and seeing crowds of white people standing around spitting at them or yelling at them . . . and the beatings and the dogs and the hosings and the courage of so many people in that time."
Glickman, according to The LAist, said someone once commented to her that "‘It took courage [to do what she did, to make a stand].’ I said, ’No it didn’t, it didn’t take courage for me to sit in Sherman Oaks in my comfortable home with my three children and type a letter.'"
"Courage," she said, "was little Ruby Bridges, the little girl who integrated a school in the south who had to come with the National Guard with people spitting at her and yelling at her and throwing things at her and the parents who drew their children out. That was courage."
Because of Glickman, because of Schulz, people around the world were introduced to a little boy named Franklin, and even today, when Franklin is mentioned, fond memories are evoked, such as those like the young, Black man, who with tears in his eyes, started running and screaming throughout the house because he was introduced to Franklin for the first time.
Barbara Brandon-Croft, the first African American woman to have a nationally syndicated comic strip in the mainstream press, was 10 years old in 1968, said, “I remember feeling affirmed by seeing Franklin in ‘Peanuts.’ ‘There’s a little black kid! Thank goodness! We do matter.’"
When the Peace Page first shared its story about Franklin's birth, one Peace Page reader commented, "I normally don't comment on Facebook but I feel compelled to now. As a black child growing up in the 70's and 80's U grew up in mostly white neighborhoods. One of the most difficult things at that time is my sense of where I belonged in the world. I didn't have anybody in my position i could relate to on TV or in the movies. Then I started reading Peanut cartoons and I met Franklin and I saw myself for once. As a character, Franklin was so important to me I named my third son after him. thank you . . . for helping me find my place."
That Peace Page story has now reached 22,498,877 people, receiving 2,091,450 reactions. It has inspired an Upworthy article and has been shared all over the world, including by media companies in Australia and Italy.
When the Peace Page contacted the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California, one of the representatives said that Glickman regularly visited the museum and she was fondly called "Franklin's Mom."
In the speech in 2018 at American University of Health Sciences, she told the audience that it still “feels like yesterday [when Franklin was introduced].” She said some things have changed, but others have not. “We still have so many problems on how we see each other,” she said in an article by the Press Telegram.
She told the children: “You can make a difference in making the world a better place. When you see something that makes you feel angry or upset, don’t just complain, do something about it. And remember that we all care for each other; we’re all the same loving, caring people.”
~~~
Before she passed away, Mrs. Glickman's son showed her the original Peace Page story of Franklin. She actually visited the Peace Page and liked the post. She also commented, "It's always a joy for me to share the Franklin story. I consider him my fourth child and he is very much loved."
Thank you, Mrs. Glickman.
May your story give others the courage to do what's right, no matter how small, whether it's speaking out for those whose voices are not heard or, even writing a simple letter.
One tiny act can make a big difference in the lives of many.
~ jsr
Image from American University of Health Sciences
