A Rainy Day in Mister Rogers’ First Neighborhood
We began the second day of our all-things-Mister Rogers sightseeing tour with a 40-mile drive from Pittsburgh to Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Fred McFeely Rogers was born on March 20, 1928, in his grandparents’ home in Latrobe. Our first stop was the Latrobe Area Historical Society Museum, located in a former Jewish synagogue.
According to our guide at the museum, the largest population Latrobe ever had was around 12,000. Today it is home to about 8,000 people. The town is proud of two famous people who were born there–Fred Rogers and golf champion Arnold Palmer. It is also proud of its many firsts. We saw this sign in the museum.
And we saw this banner.
Fred Rogers was an only child until his parents adopted a baby girl when Fred was 11 years old. Her name is Elaine. The Rogers were wealthy. A chauffeur drove young Fred to elementary school. Fred’s father and his maternal grandfather were successful businessmen in Latrobe. His maternal grandfather founded the McFeely Brick Company. His father owned the Latrobe Die Casting Company.
Fred Rogers’ mother spent her life serving others. At age 14, she obtained a special drivers’ license and delivered medical supplies to a Latrobe hospital during an influenza epidemic. Known for knitting sweaters that her famous son wore on television, she also knitted for American soldiers during World War I. She served on the boards of a children’s aid society and an orphanage and volunteered in the Latrobe Hospital nursery for many years. Fred Rogers’ father served as a director for the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and also on the board of the Latrobe hospital.
The Rogers also used their wealth to bless other people. In 1953 Fred Rogers, his parents James H. and Nancy McFeely Rogers, and his maternal grandmother Nancy Kennedy McFeely founded the McFeely-Rogers Foundation in Latrobe. The foundation continues to support local educational and charitable institutions, including hospitals, recreation programs, and cultural programs for the Latrobe area. In downtown Latrobe is James H. Rogers Memorial Park, named for Fred Rogers’ father. In the Latrobe Area Historical Society Museum, I saw this patch which bathers once sewed to their swimsuits to gain entry into the local swimming pool. The pool was a gift to the community from the McFeely-Rogers Foundation.
The small section of the Latrobe Area Historical Society Museum that is devoted to Mister Rogers has objects related to his growing up years and memorabilia from his television career.
Fred enjoyed puppets all his life. That love began during his childhood. This museum is home to these puppets which belonged to him as a child.
Two of his childhood puppets, a king and a queen, are displayed in a special case because they were perhaps the inspiration for King Friday XIII and Queen Sara Saturday.
I enjoyed holding the 1946 Latrobe High School yearbook in my hands and turning to the bookmarked pages that included Rogers’ name and/or photograph.
Fred served as president of the Student Council, was in the French Club, and was a member of the National Honor Society. He served as the editor of the school yearbook during 1946 which was his senior year.
The museum also displays the robe that Fred Rogers wore when he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister.
A sign above the robe includes this Rogers quote:
I was studying at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. I came home for Easter in 1951 and was planning to go to the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in the fall. I looked at this thing called “television” and thought it so awful that maybe I’d like to try to improve it.
Rogers did eventually attend Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, but he did it while working in television.
One of my favorite items at this museum was a cue card for the song, “It’s Such a Good Feeling,” from a 1970 episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. It was during that show that Mister Rogers sang that song on television for the first time.
While we were in Latrobe, we drove by his grandparents’ home and the home where he grew up with his parents and sister. We also walked to the church where he and his family were members.
A few blocks away in downtown Latrobe are flags honoring Arnold Palmer . . .
. . . and Fred Rogers.
There is even a tribute to the first banana split.
Near those tributes is James H. Rogers Memorial Park, the park named for Rogers’ dad. A statue of Mister Rogers sits on a park bench in the park.
At the feet of the statue is a reminder of the trolley from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
The parents, grandparents, church, and schools of Mister Rogers’ first neighborhood helped to shape Mister Rogers the man. Today is your time to choose what influences will shape the men and women your children become. Thank you for all of your good choices.
Near the end of his life, Joshua talked to the Israelites about the choice before them. Joshua told them the choice he had made for himself and his own family.
Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him
in sincerity and truth;
and do away with the gods which your fathers served
beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt,
and serve the Lord.Â
But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord,
choose for yourselves today whom you will serve:
whether the gods which your fathers served,
which were beyond the Euphrates River,
or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living;
but as for me and my house,
we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:14-15
