Olin Library Research Guides: Enduring Legacy of Fred Rogers at Rollins College: Multimedia

PBS Kids: Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Playlist

Watch the show's iconic opening below, featuring the theme song, "Won't You Be My Neighbor?"

PBS Kids: Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Playlist
A YouTube playlist by PBS Kids of short videos from the show.

While the show's original episodes were housed at the University of Pittsburgh for many years, they were recently given to The Fred Rogers Company, which has made them available for purchase on Amazon.

1997 Lifetime Achievement Award Speech

In 1997, Fred Rogers was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys. Watch his emotional speech below.

Online Resources

In 1969, Fred Rogers famously appeared before Congress to argue against proposed public broadcasting cuts. His testimony gave the Communication Subcommittee Chairman goose bumps and earned public broadcasting back its funds.
Fred Rogers has five videos in the C-SPAN Video Library: the first appearance was a 1990 National Press Club Speech; the year with the highest average number of views per program was 2002 with an average of 21,861 views per program.
Archive of American Television Interview: in his four-and-a-half-hour interview conducted by Karen Herman on July 22, 1999, Fred Rogers described his work as the creator and host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which began its run in 1968.
The Music of Mister Rogers—Pittsburgh Music History: "My first love is music. It is a unique way for me to express who I am and what I am feeling. Music was always my way of saying who I was and how I felt. I was always able to cry or laugh or say I was angry through the tips of my fingers on the piano."
Fred Rogers - All Music Guide
Internet Movie Database -Fred Rogers
Fifty Years of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood
Daniel Tiger related games and videos by Fred Rogers Productions

Films, Videos, and Online Recordings

WDBO Interview with President Grant Cornwell about Mister Rogers. On November 27, 2019, President Grant Cornwell discussed the legacy of Fred Rogers with 96.5 WDBO’s Beth Perrell (25 minutes).
Florida Frontiers Weekly Radio Program on Fred Rogers, Florida Historical Society, February 2020 (14 minutes). Brief reflections from Fred Rogers, Prof. John Sinclair, and Prof. Maurice O’Sullivan.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a 2019 American drama film directed by Marielle Heller and written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, with plot inspired by Tom Junod’s 1998 Esquire essay “Can You Say … Hero?” (109 minutes).
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? A 2018 American documentary film about the life and guiding philosophy of Fred Rogers, directed by Morgan Neville, featuring archival recordings and interviews with Joanne Rogers, John Rogers, James Rogers, Elaine Rogers, Yo-Yo Ma, Tom Junod, John Sinclair and others (94 minutes).
Mister Rogers in Our Neighborhood, WUCF, March 6, 2018. A local PBS documentary that explores the roots and legacy of Fred Rogers in Central Florida, with interviews from his close friends and family members (22 minutes).
Neighbors in the Wings: A sermon delivered by Fred Rogers on Sunday, March 25, 2001, in the Knowles Memorial Chapel, Rollins College (50 minutes).
Terry Gross and Fred Rogers, Fresh Air, 1984. NPR (13 minutes).

Essays about Fred Rogers and the Movie

Rollins President: We Need Return to Civility, by Grant Cornwell, Orlando Sentinel, February 17, 2020. President Cornwell on kindness, as championed and personally practiced by Fred Rogers.
The Radical Mister Rogers, by Chantel Tattoli ’09, The Paris Review, December 3, 2019. Tattoli explores the role Rollins College and Central Florida played in Rogers’ life and legacy, with a special focus on his political activism.
My Friend Mister Rogers, by Tom Junod, The Atlantic Monthly, December 2019. The award-winning journalist reflects on his friendship with Fred Rogers.
The Writers Saw Fred Rogers as an ‘Emotional Archaeologist,’ They Unearthed ‘A Beautiful Day,’ by Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Los Angeles Times, December 16, 2019.
The Wondrous Heroism of Mr. Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, by Richard Brody, The New Yorker, November 21, 2019. A review of the Hollywood movie starring Tom Hanks.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: 5 of the Film’s Stars and Their Real-Life Inspirations, by Umber Bhatti, Hollywood Reporter, November 27, 2019.
The Mister Rogers No One Saw, By Jeanne Marie Laskas, The New York Times, November 11, 2019. Fred Rogers wasn’t just a brilliant educator and a profoundly moral person. He was an uncompromising artist.
Can You Say… “Hero”? by Tom Junod, Esquire, November 1, 1998. The original essay that inspired the feature movie A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

News Stories about Joanne Rogers

She’s Mrs. Rogers. But Joanne Rogers Has ‘Always Been Her Own Person.’ By Julia Jacobs, The New York Times, November 27, 2019. Fred Rogers’s widow, at 91, still acts as a spokeswoman for her husband’s legacy. But she had a long career as a concert pianist, performing duets around the country and recording two albums.
How Befriending Mister Rogers’ Widow Allowed Me to Learn the True Meaning of His Legacy, by Amy Kaufman, Los Angeles Times, November 26, 2019.
Mister Rogers Proposed to His Wife by Letter. Inside Their 50-Year Love Story, by Sara Kettler, Biography, November 19, 2019. Fred and Joanne Rogers shared a long and loving relationship, which she continues to honor by carrying on his legacy after his 2003 death.
Mrs. Rogers’ Neighborhood Once Was Florida State and Its Music Halls, by Byron Dobson, Tallahassee Democrat, November 29, 2019.
Fred Rogers’ Widow Reveals the Way He Proposed Marriage — and It’s so Sweet, by Randee Dawn, Today, June 12, 2018. Today’s interview with Joanne Rogers.

Enduring Legacy of Fred Rogers at Rollins College: Multimedia