u President George W. Bush presents Fred Rogers with the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony at the White House in 2002.
u Fred Rogers kneels above the Mister Rogers star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame following a dedication ceremony in 1998.
ful healing impact upon viewers. On one occasion, a young adult viewer met Rogers and told him about the abuse he had suffered as a child. Rogers said: “He told me those visits to the Neighborhood were what enabled him to get through all that pain. An impact like that gives hope to what television can accomplish.”
Rogers taped the last episode of his show in Pittsburgh in December 2000. As the final scenes of the show were being shot, Rogers told a reporter: “There were people crying. Not I. My overriding sense was a sense of gratitude, just enor-
mous gratitude for having been able to do this work.” Rogers said the decision to end the show was intuitive. He explained his decision this way to reporters: “Have you ever been in a situation where you know it was just the right time to make a change? I admire opera singers who know when it’s time not to do opera anymore. I feel sorry for people who feel that they have to continue in one certain field because they’re expected to.” Fred Rogers died on February 27, 2003. Before his death, when asked what he hoped his legacy would be, Rogers simply said: “That I invited children to be my neighbor. I’d like to think they felt comfortable thinking about and poten- tially talking about the most important things in life, so that when they’re parents—and some are already parents— they’re able to know it’s OK to talk about feelings.” Rogers was convinced that television shows like his have a power-
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A National Treasure During its run on PBS, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood won every major television award, including four Emmys and two George Foster Peabody awards. In 1984, the Smith- sonian Institution in Washington, DC, acquired one of the sweaters Rogers wore on the show and put it on display as a “treasure of American history.” In 2002, Fred Rogers was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The citation that President George W. Bush read before he
fastened the medal around Rogers’ neck included the follow- ing words: “It is impossible to count the number of lives you have touched, but you’ve made a huge impact on thousands and thousands of children. And there are thousands and thousands of parents and Americans who are grateful for your service to the country.” ■
For More Information
Watch episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood on the PBS KIDS site.
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