Fred Rogers

Fred Rogers discussed his childhood and career in children’s television in an interview with Karen Herman for the Archive of American Television on July 22, 1999. The Web site includes a clip of the first airing of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

Rogers spoke of the first time he watched a television: “I saw people throwing pies in each other’s faces. And I thought, ‘This could be a wonderful tool for education. Why is it being used this way?’”

He went on to say, “The best teacher in the world is somebody who loves what he or she does and just loves it in front of you. And that’s what I like to do with the ‘Neighborhood.’ I love to have guests and present a whole smorgasbord of ways for the children to choose. Some child might choose painting, some child might choose playing the cello, but there are so many ways of saying who we are and how we feel. … Television can do that all that time—can present enthusiastic teachers.”

To learn more about Fred Rogers, read his profile on findingDulcinea.