A photograph of the late Charles Schulz, creator of the "Peanuts" gang, will be on display at the Smithsonian Museum for several months, a loan from the Schultz Museum in Santa Rosa. The image shows him drawing a Sunday comic page.
Jeannie Schultz, his wife, is in Washington D.C. for the celebration, and ABC7 talked to her by satellite.
"Who would have ever thought it was a possibility. I just thought it was old presidents," she said.
Jeannie says it's a huge honor and believes the tribute is because her late husband's beloved characters are timeless.
"They came from the heart, they speak to the ordinary in us, our hopes, our fears, our dreams," she said.
ABC7 first met Jeannie when she was supervising the construction of the Schultz Museum in 2001.
Charles had passed away from complications from colon cancer the year before at the age of 77. Jeannie said her husband, whom she affectionately referred to as "Sparky," was a genius, but also modest.
"Sparky wasn't that interested in having a museum because I don't think he could see how his life and work could be any more than the comic strip and the newspaper," she said.
Imagine what Sparky would say today about being immortalized in the Smithsonian.
On Saturday, the Schulz Museum in will celebrate the 60th anniversary of Peanuts with free admission to the museum all day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Snoopy and Charlie Brown will make guest appearances between 11a.m. and 1 p.m.
