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The Legacy of Fred Rogers, America's Favorite Neighbor

It has been decades since Mister Rogers first looked into the camera and asked us to be his neighbor, but time has not diminished the impact of his legacy. Fred knew something very important about chi...

Although respiratory ailments were not uncommon among children in the heavy-industry environment of Western Pennsylvania, he was sometimes homebound because of his hay fever, even kept inside in air-conditioning during the worst air congestion of the summer months. Rogers made the unexpected decision — to the surprise of his New York friends who foresaw an important big-city career for him — to go back home and join this fledgling public television effort. The program was originally intended as a simple introduction of a daily film for children, but it soon became much more, with “Daniel” and “King Friday,” and “X the Owl” and “Henrietta” and “Lady Elaine” — all those figures made familiar and famous later on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

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