March 20: Birthday of Fred Rogers (1928)
Prayer Idea
Pray for those who create educational content for children.
History Note
Fred McFeely Rogers was born in 1928, 40 miles from Pittsburgh in the town of Latrobe, Pennsylvania. His parents were James Hillis Rogers and Nancy McFeely Rogers. After graduating from high school in Latrobe, Fred went to Dartmouth College. He later transferred to Rollins College in Florida, where he studied music. He planned to attend a Presbyterian seminary after college and become a minister.
A trip home to Latrobe in 1951 changed the course of Fred Rogers’ future. While there he saw television shows geared toward children. He was appalled at the poor quality of these shows. He later said, “I got into 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.’”
That same year Rogers graduated from Rollins and went to work at the NBC television network in New York City. In 1952 he married Sara Joanne Byrd, his college sweetheart. In 1953 the Rogers moved to Pittsburgh for Fred to work at WQED, America’s first public television station.
For several years, he composed music, played the organ, and worked as a puppeteer on a children’s show. He also attended Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Child Development. When he was ordained by the United Presbyterian Church in 1963, the church charged him to work with children and families through mass media.
The Rogers family soon moved to Canada for Fred to create a children’s program for Canada’s public broadcasting service. In Canada he worked in front of the camera for the first time. After three years, the Rogers moved home so they could live and rear their sons in Pittsburgh.
In 1968 at age 40, Fred Rogers began the television show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood at WQED in Pittsburgh. The show quickly became very popular. Over the next 33 years, Mister Rogers made 895 episodes.
Fred Rogers went to bed each night at 9:30 p.m. He awoke every morning at 5:00 a.m. He read the Bible. He thanked God for people he had known who had since passed away. He prayed for his family and his friends by name. He also prayed for the many, many people who had asked him to pray for them. At 7:30 a.m., he took a swim in a local swimming pool. Before diving in, he quietly sang in Latin a song that a friend had taught him. In English, the words are: “Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. Alleluia.” When he arrived at the television studio to begin his workday, he prayed, “Dear God, let some word that is heard be Yours.”
Fred Rogers died in 2003. His wife, Joanne, died in 2021.
Robert Berks created this sculpture of Mister Rogers in 2009. Called "Tribute to Children," it is located at the North Shore Riverfront Park in Pittsburgh. Photo from Carol M. Highsmith's America Project, Library of Congress.
Learn More
Watch this video with Joanne Rogers talking about her husband’s work.
Find out more about Mister Rogers at Homeschool History.
