SAINT PAUL— The History Forum at the Minnesota History Center has explored the richness, expansiveness, and complexity of American history with some of the nation’s best scholars for the past 20 years. This Saturday, historian Blake Scott Bell will teach attendees about the political history of some of Minnesota’s favorite comic strip characters.
For nearly fifty years, Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts” was a mainstay of American popular culture, with many arguing that it was beloved precisely because it was apolitical in a postwar period of social and political turmoil. Ball challenges that common perception, showing us how “Peanuts” has always been political.
Through fan letters, interviews, and behind-the-scenes documents, Ball reveals how Schulz’s beloved comic strip was a daily, decades-long conversation about the rapidly changing politics of his time, including the battles over the Vietnam War, racial integration, feminism, and the future of a nuclear world.
This History Forum lecture will be offered in person at 10 AM and 2 PM at the Minnesota History Center with a virtual option at 10 am. Live captioning will be available at the 2 PM lecture. MNHS members save 20% on event tickets and free student rush tickets will be available day-of with student ID (as space allows). For additional series information and to purchase tickets, visit their website.
