F R I A Neighbor Just Like You

“We are at a beautiful moment in the lifespan of this work that Fred Rogers chose to launch in his hometown of Latrobe and in partnership with his friends at Saint Vincent College. The 20 years since our founding, and since Fred’s death, have certainly proven that this legacy is not only enduring, it is absolutely essential,” said Dr. Winters. “The next 20 years will be about deepening our work in service of children’s helpers and continuing to learn old and new lessons from Fred’s life and work.”

In June 2022, the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media announced it would move forward under a new name: the Fred Rogers Institute. The name change gives deeper clarity to what the organization has always been and intends to be—an organization rooted in the work of Fred Rogers, seeking to help the helpers.

Think of the children first.

- FRED ROGERS

“When we entered into our strategic planning process, it became evident that the way we described our organization from an internal perspective was sometimes different from who the world thought we were,” said Dr. Winters. “In a sense, we haven’t really changed as an organization, but instead we have better aligned our name and mission to who we are and who we hope to continue to be.”

When Fred chose Saint Vincent College as the home of his Archive, it was, like everything Fred did, a very intentional choice. Even while larger institutions, like Yale University, threw their hats into the ring to host Fred Rogers in his final years of work, Fred chose to go back to the town and place that raised him. His intention for his Archive and the accompanying organization was not for it to be a museum to his legacy, but rather a place of learning and growing for new generations of children’s helpers.

A CHILD’S PERSPECTIVE

On a Saturday in late January 2021, nearly 100 social workers, teachers, administrators, librarians, and others who serve children and families, gathered on Zoom for a full day of learning as part of Educators’ Neighborhood. Educators’ Neighborhood is a year-long program created by the Fred Rogers Institute that brings together a cohort of individuals from across the world who learn together, primarily through virtual meetings, and consider how to deepen their application of Fred Rogers’ work and theory to their work with children. Julie Oudin and Jennifer Baumgartner participated in the 2021-22 cohort of Educators’ Neighborhood and have been active as continuing participants in this year’s cohort. They both shared that the community-building of the program has been vital to them, personally and professionally. In Julie’s words, “Over and over again I find myself feeling enormously grateful to be a part of this community, especially at this time. The two programs I was working with both ended as a result of the Pandemic, and I found myself feeling more isolated, professionally, than ever. The connection we maintain helped me immensely.”

Jennifer expressed that “The supportive nature of this community of perfect strangers, (at the beginning), but who really took time to listen, and practice that listening that we see so beautifully done by Fred Rogers and the neighborhood—I think that those are the two major things [I’ve gained from Educators’ Neighborhood]. A sense that I’m not alone in this work that I’m trying to do. And also this idea of how important it is to stop and listen. Those are probably the two big lessons for me.”

One key approach to building this kind of community across children’s helpers in Educators’ Neighborhood is to bring participants together in small and large groups to reflect on clips from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, consider selections from Fred’s writing, and discuss how the lessons in these pieces can influence the work educators do with children. Emily Uhrin, the Archivist for the Fred Rogers Archive housed at the Institute, regularly selects episodes, speeches, scripts, and more to act as the basis for learning and discussion in Educators’ Neighborhood. She also supports participants with their personal inquiries into Fred’s theories and approaches, frequently pulling pieces of Fred’s work that speak to an issue or question shared by an educator. As Archivist, Emily also hosts the 100+ researchers per year who visit Latrobe to study, learn, and ultimately create, from the original materials housed in the Archive.

“Helping researchers is one of the most rewarding parts of my work,” said Uhrin. “Each person who has studied in the Archive has helped me develop a greater understanding of Fred because they are interpreting the materials through different perspectives.”

One of Fred’s clearest visions for his work at Saint Vincent was for students studying to enter careers that would touch the lives of children— whether they be aspiring teachers, medical professionals, media creators, or marketers—to have a grounding in their studies that would help them to think of the children first. Students at Saint Vincent today have a breadth of opportunities to learn about Fred’s legacy and how it applies in their lives and to create and develop new projects that serve children and their helpers.

Erin Brody, a sophomore English and Theology major, walks down the hill from her dorm two or three times a week to work in the Incubator 143 Lab, the student research and development lab, at the Fred Rogers Institute. Erin works primarily in the Fred Rogers Archive, helping Emily Uhrin to catalog new additions to the 22,000 items currently housed in the Archive.

“One of my favorite things about my different activities and classes here at Saint Vincent is getting to learn more about a person I’m studying. I didn’t watch Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood much as a child, but working in the Archive is the best way I can imagine learning about Fred’s philosophies and how to apply them to life. I’m enthralled by getting to see the original pieces Fred used and the words he wrote. Having those materials right in front of me lets me really ponder what he was about and take it in.”

In addition to Erin’s work in the Archive, she is part of the Fred Rogers Scholars program. The Scholars is a merit-based scholarship that gives students an opportunity to connect their particular area of interest with the work of Fred Rogers to develop specialized knowledge in how Fred’s legacy integrates with their areas of study and extend Fred’s practice and principles in a variety of professions.

For the past two years, students in the Fred Rogers Scholars program have partnered with the

Latrobe Arts Center to create engaging exhibits about Fred’s life and work. This work is supported by the Council of Independent Colleges’ Humanities Research for the Public Good and has allowed students to explore deep questions about Fred and share their learnings with the community. Last year’s exhibit considered the ways Fred Rogers himself and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was influenced by his hometown.

“A lot of the time people assume he was from Pittsburgh,” Erin shared, “but so much of what he was about was actually formed when he grew up in Latrobe. It all started with his family and this community, and we wanted to show how much Latrobe impacted Fred Rogers while he was living and still now impacts his legacy.”

Courtney Rodick is a current graduate assistant with the Fred Rogers Institute while she completes her Master of Science in Criminology, with the ultimate goal of working in human trafficking prevention. Last year, Courtney co-lead one of the teams that created the exhibit. “My team focused our part of the exhibit on how the Neighborhood of Make-Believe was informed by Latrobe. It was really fascinating to discover all the connections and similarities.”

This year’s exhibit, which ran February 25-March 25 at the Latrobe Art Center, considers music and writing in Fred Rogers’ work.

“Music was such an important part of Fred’s life,” Erin shared. “Even the smallest bit of research on Fred and his relationship to music will show so much about how music helped him emotionally as a child. He was often sick as a child, but he had a piano, and he would often play how he was feeling. He’d bang on the piano when he was upset or play had talent shows in the Neighborhood of MakeBelieve, and Fred would show how each puppet or actor had a different thing they excelled at, but ultimately King Friday would say it was wonderful to see all the people coming together to share. Fred made it clear that he thought people should use their talents and share them. Music you make might give people that same freedom that it helps you feel.”

Fred Rogers Scholars connected with guests at this year’s exhibit about their work and research and also hosted a children’s activity for younger guests. Students and Fred Rogers Institute staff alike were thrilled to be able to share this unique offering with the community.

“Last year we had photos of Fred as a child, this year we [had] more of the lyrics and original scripts,” Erin said. “Fred had an unusual way of composing music; he’d often write down the lyrics first and then the music would follow. For many melancholy music when he was sad. Music was a form of therapy for him, and he wanted to show that to children through his program.”

Courtney and Erin are just two of the 29 of students in the last few semesters who have been part of developing a question, conducting research in the Archive, and designing an exhibit to engage others with their findings. As Erin explained, “In this exhibit we’re showing that music, reading, and writing allow people to express themselves, and it doesn’t matter how skilled you may be in any of those things, as long as you enjoy it and find peace through it. There were episodes of the show that people who create music, it’s the opposite. I found the original handwritten lyrics to ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’ and other iconic Fred songs. It’s so neat to see the edits he made; it gives you a sense of his vulnerability in creating and in his thought process.” ♦

Anniversary Events

When Fred Rogers’ mother told him to “look for the helpers” when he saw scary things in the news, she likely couldn’t have imagined that those words for her son would go on to be a comfort and inspiration to generations. As the Fred Rogers Institute has grown over the past decades, it has continued to focus on this important idea of “the helpers”—those caring adults who offer children secure relationships and care, encourage curiosity and wonder.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Fred Rogers Institute and in honor of the 20th anniversary year of Fred’s death, this year the Institute announced the inaugural 2023 Fred Rogers Institute Helper Awards. Informed and inspired by the legacy of Fred Rogers, the Helper Awards are an opportunity to honor and recognize the individuals who care for children in ordinary and extraordinary ways in their daily and professional lives. Nominations for Helper Awards were accepted from the general public across 10 categories, including first responders, community leaders, educators, and more. Awardees will be honored on September 23, 2023 at The Neighborhood Gala: A Celebration of Children’s Helpers and the 20th Anniversary of the Fred Rogers Institute. Save the date for this special celebration of Fred Rogers, his lasting legacy, and the helpers who uphold his example of deep care and respect for children.

Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else. I’ve felt that many times. My hope for all of us is that “the miles we go before we sleep” will be filled with all the feelings that come from deep caring—delight, sadness, joy, wisdom—and that in all the endings of our life, we will be able to see the new beginnings.

- FRED ROGERS

Laptop Bag

My laptop bag goes everywhere I go and carries more than just my laptop. Anything that I need for that day is most likely going to be transported in my laptop bag. My day starts and ends with my laptop bag in one way or another.

SVC Plaque

The plaque is important to me because I actually made it with my own hands during my first visit to Stanley Black and Decker (SB&D) in Towson, MD, with the McKenna School and SB&D scholarship winners in 2018.

SVC Flag

The flag represents SVC, which has been a big part of my life since I first arrived on campus as a student in the fall of 1997. I grew to love SVC very quickly and have had a relationship with the College that’s lasted 26 years.

MSMOE Thermos

Not only does this item represent SVC and the Master of Science in Management: Operational Excellence program, but it’s also used for my favorite beverage, which is coffee. Whether it’s grading exams, developing lesson plans, or advising students, my coffee keeps me going.