February 19
One of the many cardigan sweaters Mister Rogers wore is on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
Photo by PBS Television/Courtesy of Getty Images.
1968:
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Mr. Rogers’s Neighborhood premieres on television
With his gentle demeanor and signature cardigan sweater, Fred Rogers has helped generations of children make better sense of the complicated world around them.
Better known to young fans as Mister Rogers, the host speaks directly to children about everything from coping with divorce to a fear of the dark—topics other children’s shows typically avoid. He also hangs out with various puppet and human friends, like Daniel Striped Tiger and Officer Clemmons. Rogers “travels” back and forth between the real world and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe to help children learn to make that important distinction.
Original episodes stopped airing in the summer of 2001, but you can still spend quality time with Mister Rogers in reruns.
