Mr. Rogers

Fred Rogers was born into a rich family on March 20, 1928 (94 years ago) in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, not far from Pittsburgh.  He was an only child until he was eleven years-old when his parents adopted his sister. 

Rogers spent much of his childhood alone, playing with puppets. He began to play the piano when he was five years old.

Rogers was shy, introverted, overweight and frequently homebound after suffering bouts of asthma.  He was bullied and taunted as a child for his weight, and called "Fat Freddy".

According to Morgan Neville, director of the 2018 documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Rogers had a "lonely childhood ... I think he made friends with himself as much as he could. He had a ventriloquist dummy, he had [stuffed] animals, and he would create his own worlds in his childhood bedroom".

Rogers attended Latrobe High School, where he overcame his shyness.  He made a couple of friends who found out that (his) core  was okay.  Rogers served as president of the student council, was a member of the National Honor Society and was editor-in-chief of the school yearbook.  

Rogers attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire for one year before transferring to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.  He graduated magna cum laude in 1951 with a Bachelor of Music.

After graduating from Rollins, he worked at NBC in New York City as floor director of Your Hit Parade, The Kate Smith Hour, and Gabby Hayes's Children's Show, plus as an assistant producer of The Voice of Firestone.

In 1953, Rogers returned to Pittsburgh to work as a program developer at public television station WQED.  He developed puppets, characters, and music for children's programs.

Rogers graduated magna cum laude from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1962 with a Bachelor of Divinity.  He was ordained a minister by the Pittsburgh Presbytery of the United Presbyterian Church in 1963.

His mission as an ordained minister was to minister to children and their families through television.  In a CNN interview, Rogers said, "I went into (children's) television because I hated it so, and I thought there's some way of using this fabulous instrument to nurture those who would watch and listen".

I agree with his assessment of children's television at the time.  I spent my youth in front of a TV watching such violent cartoons as Popeye and Mighty Mouse plus inane shows like Howdy Doody.  

Later, Rogers attended the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development, where he began working with child psychologist Margaret McFarland, who became his "key advisor and collaborator" and "child-education guru".  Much of Rogers's "thinking about and appreciation for children was shaped and informed" by McFarland. She was his consultant for most of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood's scripts and songs for 30 years.