Which African American Muppet attended Roosevelt Franklin Elementary School?

Roosevelt Franklin was the African American Muppet who attended Roosevelt Franklin Elementary School on Sesame Street.

Created and performed by Matt Robinson, Roosevelt first appeared in the early 1970s. He was a reddish-magenta boy with shaggy black hair who often spoke in rhyme or scat. His name reverses the order of the name of U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The elementary school was part of Roosevelt’s recurring classroom material. In those sketches, he sometimes filled in for an absent teacher and presented lessons about opposites, rhyming, Africa, safety, and everyday behavior. He also appeared with his mother, whose voice was provided by Loretta Long.

Roosevelt became less prominent after the mid-1970s and was eventually phased out. Critics, including some African American educators and Sesame Street staffers, felt that his rowdy behavior could reinforce negative stereotypes. He later returned for a cameo in the show’s 50th-anniversary celebration. Sherlock Hemlock, Murray Monster, and Herry Monster are separate Sesame Street characters, not students at Roosevelt’s fictional school.