Dates

• 1992

Extent

Virtual Collection Megabytes (A native of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003) was an American television personality, musician, puppeteer, writer, producer of children’s programming, and he was an ordained Presbyterian minister. He was known as the creator, composer, producer, head writer, showrunner, and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968–2001) which aired for 912 episodes. The show featured Fred Rogers's kind, neighborly persona, which nurtured his connection to the audience. He would end each program by telling his viewers, "You've made this day a special day, by just your being you. There's no person in the whole world like you; and I like you just the way you are.” Trained and ordained as a minister, Fred Rogers was displeased with the way television addressed children. He began to write and perform local Pittsburgh-area shows for youth. In 1968, Eastern Educational Television Network began nationwide distribution of Rogers's new show on WQED. Over the course of three decades, Fred Rogers became a television icon of children's entertainment and education. Rogers advocated various public causes. He testified before a U.S. Senate committee to advocate for government funding of children's television. Fred Rogers received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 40 honorary degrees, including one from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) in 1992, and a Peabody Award. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Several buildings and artworks in Pennsylvania are dedicated to his memory, and the Smithsonian Institution displays one of his trademark sweaters as a "Treasure of American History". On June 25, 2016, the Fred Rogers Historical Marker was placed near Latrobe, Pennsylvania in his memory. For more information about Fred Rogers, visit the Fred Rogers Center for early learning and children’s media at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, which also contains the Fred Rogers Archive, http://www.fredrogerscenter.org/)

Language of Materials

English