It is difficult to imagine—although some remember it well—the excitement that the race for the moon invoked forty years ago.  As the decade of the 1960s was coming to a close, America and the rest of the world waited with great anticipation to see if NASA could achieve President John F. Kennedy’s challenge, put forth in May 1961, of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade.  Consequently, it was a very great honor, indeed, when the crew of Apollo 10 chose to nickname their command and lunar modules “Charlie Brown” and “Snoopy,” respectively.  The May 1969 flight of Apollo 10 was the “dress rehearsal” for the lunar landing that was scheduled for July 1969.  Astronauts Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan piloted “Snoopy” within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface as they scouted the landing area for Apollo 11 while John Young orbited the moon in the command module “Charlie Brown.”

>> Press release about To the Moon (August 29, 2008)

>> Press release about To the Moon (December 12, 2008)

>> NASA press release about To the Moon (January 5, 2009)

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Laughter is the best medicine…and Charles Schulz made sure his readers had plenty of it! Schulz elicited chuckles, guffaws, and chortles as he explored many of the maladies known to afflict mankind (as well as birds and a dog!), including lazy eyes, broken limbs, tennis elbows, and nervous stomachs. The Gang also plumbed the depths of dieting, tackled physical fitness with a vengeance, cultivated good mental hygiene, practiced preventive medicine, and got entrapped in the medical delivery system. Laugh your troubles away in this exhibition that features 70 original Peanuts strips and some unique memorabilia, including “Snoopy’s Daily Dozen” exercise regimen.

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Charles Schulz commemorated D-Day, June 6, 1944, in a remarkable series of strips beginning in 1993 and running through 1998 (except 1995). These strips featured Snoopy as an intrepid G.I. storming the beaches of Normandy on the day that Schulz described in an interview as “the most important day or our [20th] century.” Schulz was dedicated to ensuring that future generations remembered D-Day: “I think,” he said, “there are certain things that must never be forgotten….  [I]t’s one of those days we must not forget.”

Consequently, in addition to creating the yearly Peanuts strips, Schulz also served as the national fundraising chair of National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia. The Memorial, dedicated in 2001, pays tribute to the heroism and sacrifice of all Allied Armed Forces during the D-Day invasion. To Remember will include original Peanuts D-Day–themed strips, information about Schulz’s war time service, animated shorts about the war in Europe, and details about Schulz’s role in founding the National D-Day Memorial.

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