Fred Rogers – A Legacy Bar None – Part 1

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It’s a beautiful day. A clean cut, professionally dressed man hurries home from work, looking forward to the time he can spend with the local children. He gently opens the door and sheepishly ducks to fit under its frame. His eyes seem to enter the room first, sparkling with joy and anticipation. He is genuinely happy to see everybody.

Hurriedly but methodically, he removes his work-a-day suit coat and puts on an old fashioned, comfy sweater. He exchanges his stiff, shiny work shoes for sneakers, which he ties carefully in a perfect bow. His pet fish scramble to the top of the tank, anticipating and knowing that they will indeed be fed. The children too, watch his every move, anticipating and knowing that he will indeed feed them with all good things. Food for their weary souls. Words to lift their spirits high and help them feel special. Quality time to play and pretend and dream and forget about the adult world for a while. As he goes through his routine, he sings a song about how happy he is to see each and every child. How he always wants to spend time with them. How very special they are.

“When we love a person, we accept him or her exactly as is: the lovely with the unlovely, the strong with the fearful, the true mixed in with the façade, and of course, the only way we can do it is by accepting ourselves that way.” ~ Fred Rogers

You want to talk about positive, encouraging, engaging broadcasting? This is your go-to guy.

LET’S ZOOM OUT AND SET THE SCENE
The year is 1968, onset of the “Me Generation”. Yet, this neighborly guy seemed to put the needs of childrenfirst. Notably, that he cheerfully sacrificed his “after work downtime” for playtime. This friendly guy, surrounded by a captive audience of little children, was humbly educating them about unselfish love. While there is no such thing as the perfect human father, Fred Rogers was attempting, through his own human imperfection, to show the love of a perfect Heavenly Father to his beloved young audience.

His legacy, as it turns out, was extremely significant because he was essentially a television role model in many of America’s households. He demonstrated to his young “neighbors” how to be good fathers, trusted friends, respectable, unafraid, non-judgmental, all-inclusive, compassionate, understanding and above all, honest.

“One of the greatest gifts you can give anybody is the gift of your honest self. I also believe that kids can spot a phony a mile away.” ~ Fred Rogers

Fred Rogers didn’t want to be a “father figure.” He frequently explained to his viewers that his TV show was notreality, that make-believe was notreality, that TV house was nothis real house at all. He had a real family, and therefore didn’t refer to his viewers as his own children.  He emphasized that each viewer should be grateful for his/her own reality, because each life story was equally valuable. But for those whose realities were dysfunctional, filled with unrest and confusion, they found solace and stability in Mister Rogers’ TV house. They couldn’t wait to get on “Trolley” and go to the Land of Make Believe. For half an hour, they pretended that Mister Rogers was their father and that his beautiful neighborhood was theirs.

Most of us never imagined that Fred Rogers was actually portraying a Heavenly Father who always wanted to spend time with us, had a mansion prepared just for us, and would be thrilled to welcome me to His neighborhood with open arms anytime.

“Anything that we can do to help foster the intellect and spirit and emotional growth of our fellow human beings … that is our job. Those of us who have this particular vision must continue against all odds. Life is for service.” ~ Fred Rogers

THE REAL MISTER ROGERS? SAME AS THE TV GUY.
Fred McFeely Rogers is somewhat of a legend. He was born on March 20, 1928, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania to James and Nancy Rogers. While his parents enjoyed a small amount of success due his father’s good business sense (he was president of the McFeely Brick Company, one of Latrobe’s largest businesses), Fred himself had humble beginnings. He was well-acquainted with shyness. His awkward and introverted personality may have been why he was bullied as a child. In the 2018 documentary, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” Rogers is depicted as a lonely kid.  His childhood friends, through his own imagination, consisted of a ventriloquist dummy and other various toys. Out of these he would create skits and worlds right there in his bedroom.

He discovered what he needed to fill his own void – a void that so many children typically have in their hearts.  So naturally, he was able to share what he learned with thousands of children later on.  His mom Nancy knitted sweaters for American soldiers and was also a regular volunteer at the Latrobe Hospital. Fred also had an adopted sister, Elaine. Still he spent most of his childhood alone, playing with puppets, spending time with his grandfather, and playing the piano.

OUT OF THE SHELL, INTO THE VISION
Fred’s awkward season diminished significantly after he entered high school. “It was tough for me at the beginning,” Rogers told NPR in 1984. “And then I made a couple friends who found out that the core of me was ok. One of them was the head of the football team.” He was elected president of the student council, became a member of the National Honor Society and was editor-in-chief of the school yearbook. He graduated college with a degree in music composition, and from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary as an ordained a minister. He was devoted to God and willing to preach His word, but he had an even stronger burden. He was disappointed with the way television shows talked to children.  He believed that with such a strong emphasis on commercial marketing, education had taken a back seat. He told CNN, “I went into television because I hated it so, and I thought there is some way of using this fabulous instrument to nurture those who would watch and listen”. Fired up with a righteous anger, his goal was not only to improve children’s television, but to demonstrate the unconditional love of an all-inclusive, yet totally righteous Father.

True to his vision, Fred Rogers never stopped educating himself. He continued to pursue his theological and child development studies. While studying at Rollins College, Rogers fell in love with Sara Joanne Byrd. Fred and Joanne (as she is now known) married in 1952.

ON WITH THE SHOW
In 1953, Fred became a puppeteer / program developer at public broadcasting station WQED. Developer and host Josie Carey hired him to help create “The Children’s Corner”.  Many of the puppets, characters and scenes from Mister Roger’s Neighborhood were developed at WQED. Daniel the Striped Tiger, King Friday XIII, Queen Sara Saturday, Henrietta the Owl and Lady Elaine Fairchild all made their TV debut during this highly creative time. The Children’s Hour won the Sylvania Award for best locally produced children’s show in 1955.

Fred Rogers made his own TV debut around 1963 in a black and white children’s program called Mister Rogers. It enjoyed a healthy 4-year run on Toronto’s CBC. After acquiring the rights to the show, along with its sets and characters, he returned to Pittsburg with his wife and two young sons, James and John. He continued to seek the advice of many experts, including child psychologist Margaret McFarland, who became his “key advisor, collaborator and child-education guru”. The two of them created scripts and songs for Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. This invaluable collaboration lasted for nearly 30 years.

THE RADICAL MISTER ROGERS
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood ran for 895 episodes. It aired on National Educational Television, which later morphed into The Public Broadcasting Service.  At the height of its popularity in 1985, eighty-five percent of all US households watched the show. His songs, his speech and his stories were carefully seasoned with Biblical truth, God’s love and God’s promises. Jesus’ message was radical, and so was Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.  If you listen to the overarching message in his songs and show themes, the seeds of God’s word are carefully and obviously sown.

Next time, we’ll dig further into the uniqueness of the ultimate “Family Man”.

REFERENCES:

THE FRED ROGERS CENTER

FRED ROGERS PRODUCTIONS

LITTLETHINGS.COM

BIOGRAPHY.COM

PBS.ORG

URBAN MILWAUKEE

FOCUS FILMS

KNOXVILLE NEWS SENTINEL

PITTSBURG CITY PAPER

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