Teacher Harriett Glickman & the Integration of the Peanuts Cartoon

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LA Schoolteacher Harriet Glickman corresponded with Charles Schulz after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Soon, Franklin joined Peanuts. Teachers are leaders. Here's yet another example.

How Harriet Glickman Helped Charles Schulz Integrate Peanuts

Mashable has a touching story of the correspondence between Charles Schulz, author of the Peanuts comic strip, and LA Schoolteacher Harriet Glickman. Glickman was upset that Peanuts, Schulz's comic strip wasn't integrated. The letters they wrote and the dialog show the signs of the times. In her first letter, Glickman poured out her heart.

“I believe it will be another generation before the kind of open friendship, trust and mobility will be an accepted part of our lives.”

At first Schulz responded

“… it would look like we were patronizing our Negro friends. I don't know what the solution is.”

But by the summer and after more correspondence, Glickman got just the response she wanted

“I have drawn an episode which I think will please you.”

and asked Glickman to check the July 29 paper.

On July 31 Franklin joined Charlie Brown's crowd of friends. It was just one but it was a start. Just four months after her first letter, a new Peanuts character was born.

Harriet Glickman is another teacher who made history not because of her works, but who she influenced. Teaches do it every day. Our world needs teachers to keep impacting it in positive ways.

Teacher Influence Isn't Just Peanuts

I hope you'll take time today to contemplate this story and read the full article on Mashable which includes videos, letters, full comic strips, and more. It would make a great study.

As for where we are today, I have only one thing to say…

When we are divided, look at how far we've come. When we see how far we have to go, take one step in the right direction.

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Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis is a full-time classroom teacher and IT Director in Georgia, USA. She is Mom of three, wife of one, and loves talking about the wise, transformational use of technology for teaching and doing good in the world. She hosts the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast which interviews teachers around the world about remarkable classroom practices to inspire and help teachers. Vicki focuses on what unites us -- a quest for truly remarkable life-changing teaching and learning. The goal of her work is to provide actionable, encouraging, relevant ideas for teachers that are grounded in the truth and shared with love. Vicki has been teaching since 2002 and blogging since 2005. Vicki has spoken around the world to inspire and help teachers reach their students. She is passionate about helping every child find purpose, passion, and meaning in life with a lifelong commitment to the joy and responsibility of learning. If you talk to Vicki for very long, she will encourage you to "Relate to Educate" or "innovate like a turtle" or to be "a remarkable teacher." She loves to talk to teachers who love their students and are trying to do their best. Twitter is her favorite place to share and she loves to make homemade sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls and enjoys running half marathons with her sisters. You can usually find her laughing with her students or digging into a book.

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1 comment

Dr. Frank Buck November 27, 2014 - 7:59 pm

Vicki, thank you for bringing this Mashable post to my attention and for your own commentary at a time when it is so importance for reason and compassion to prevail. As I read the Mashable post, my take-away is that once again, it is a teacher who looks at the most difficult of situations and moves the dial through gentle nudges.