Inspirational Biography of Mr. Rogers - A Legacy of Kindness and Compassion

Portfolio Project Final Submission By Melissa Davidson Date: 12/15/20 Instructor: Ms. Howard Class: SOSC301

The subject I chose for this project is Mr. Rogers. His name given at birth was Fred McFeely Rogers. Born on March 20, 1928 and died on February 27, 2003. He was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh. He earned a bachelor s degree in music from Rollins College in 1951. He married his college sweetheart Sarah Joanne Byrd (called Joanne) and had two sons James and John. He was the creator showrunner as well as the host of the preschool television series Mr. Rogers Neighborhood which ran from 1968-2001. I remember watching this series when I was a small child. He was always so soft spoken and seemed so kind with any special guest who was on the show. He taught everyone to be kind and nice to one another and treat everyone as you would want to be treated. I chose Fred Rogers because with the world as it is now which is chaos, hate, uncertainty of what is going to happen or what is to come of our futures, I wanted to do this project on someone who had a message of positivity, love for one another and I think we need more people like him in this world to share and spread that message. Biography for Fred Rogers aka Mr. Rogers

Fred Rogers, better known as Mr. Roger s, was a puppeteer and ordained minister. He was born on March 20, 1928 from Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Fred Rogers graduated from Latrobe High School then enrolled at Dartmouth College where he studied for a year and then transferred to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida where he obtained a degree in music composition. He earned his divinity degree in 1962, and at his ordination, the Presbyterian Church asked him to serve children and families through television. On his television show Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, he approached the younger audience with respect and directness about issues children faced that were rarely touched by other programs. Fred Rogers earned himself several awards for the program s excellence. The honors included four daytime Emmy s, a 1997 Lifetime Achievement award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and in 2002, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1999, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. In 1968, he served as chairman of the White House forum on child development and the mass media was often considered an expert on those issues. Mr. Rogers broke the barrier when he took a stand against racial inequality when he invited a black character to join him in a pool and shared a towel with him. Mr. Rogers wanted to show that no matter what color you are everyone should be treated with love, kindness and acceptance. It did not stop racism completely, but it was a start in the right direction. One of the sources I used is from author Sara Kettler, from historical figures to present day celebrities, Sara Kettler loves to write about people who ve led fascinating lives. The other source was from the Biography.com editors on Fred Rogers. The editors share information from where he was born, degrees in which he obtained, the purpose and meaning of his television show Mr. Rogers Neighborhood all the way until his death. Findings and Literature Review

How my findings will influence my future career/life choices in relationship to the subject I chose to study. The research I learned from this project on Mr. Rogers was inciteful and intriguing. I learned that to be successful in everything I do I need to have patience, compassion, show kindness in the workplace whether I am working with one person or a group. Everyone is unique and should be treated with respect no matter your sex, gender, race, ethnicity, generation. I learned from my research on my primary source along with my two other sources on how I can learn from other people no matter where they came from. I learned to be successful you need to be open to learning from others, listening to others, sharing ideas and information with others no matter their culture and I will be successful in my future career and the life choices I make. Moving forward in my career I plan to work on my patience and understanding of others, to help others understand the information I am giving so we are on the same page, to not judge someone immediately based on how they look before I get to know them. I will work on my body language and to think before I speak, to be aware of my tone of voice when speaking to someone either in person or over the phone.

References Biography.com editors access date (November 28, 2020), (updated September 17, 2010), original (April 2, 2014) Fred Rogers Biography https://www.biography.com/performer/fred-rogers Kettler, Sara (updated June 24, 202), original (May 24, 2019) Fred Rogers took a stand against racial inequality when he invited a black character to join him in a pool. https://www.biography.com/news/mister-rogers-officer-clemmons-pool