On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 1, 1969
Fred Rogers, host of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” appeared before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications to oppose significant proposed cuts to funding for PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. [Youtube]
Sen. Pastore: All right, Rogers, you’ve got the floor.
Mr. Rogers: Sen. Pastore, this is a philosophical statement and would take about ten minutes to read, so I’ll not do that. One of the first things that a child learns in a healthy family is trust, and I trust what you have said that you will read this. It’s very important to me. I care deeply about children.
Sen. Pastore: Will it make you happy if you read it?
Mr. Rogers: I’d just like to talk about it, if it’s alright. My first children’s program was on WQED fifteen years ago, and its budget was $30. Now, with the help of the Sears-Roebuck Foundation and National Educational Television, as well as all of the affiliated stations — each station pays to show our program. It’s a unique kind of funding in educational television. With this help, now our program has a budget of $6000. It may sound like quite a difference, but $6000 pays for less than two minutes of cartoons. Two minutes of animated, what I sometimes say, bombardment. I’m very much concerned, as I know you are, about what’s being delivered to our children in this country. And I’ve worked in the field of child development for six years now, trying to understand the inner needs of children. We deal with such things as — as the inner drama of childhood. We don’t have to bop somebody over the head to…make drama on the screen. We deal with such things as getting a haircut, or the feelings about brothers and sisters, and the kind of anger that arises in simple family situations. And we speak to it constructively. (more)
Founded in Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1916 to provide Jewish education to immigrant children, the Hebrew Institute moved to Squirrel Hill in 1944. The Hebrew Institute and the Pittsburgh Zionist District jointly sponsored a weekly television program on WQED called “Hebrew At Home” during the 1958-1959 academic year. Dr. Solomon Abrams wrote the programs and served as a consultant. The second program of its kind in the United States, “Hebrew At Home” reached an audience of more than 8,000. (via)
On This Day in Pittsburgh History: April 1, 1954
WQED, PBS channel 13, begins broadcasting as the first community-sponsored television station in the nation, and the city’s fifth TV station. [Wikipedia; Penn State University]
![Fred Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003) and Josie Carey on The Children’s Corner, WQED, Pittsburgh, circa 1960. [Explore PA History]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0mqfgv9xO1qakblyo1_500.jpg)
Fred Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003) and Josie Carey on The Children’s Corner, WQED, Pittsburgh, circa 1960. [Explore PA History]
![Fred Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003) and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe Opera, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, 1968 [The Neighborhood Archive]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m15u11DjMz1qakblyo1_500.png)
Fred Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003) and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe Opera, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, 1968 [The Neighborhood Archive]
Fred Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003)
Mr. Rogers learns about break dancing.
![National Negro Opera Company, America’s first black opera company, founded by Mary Cardwell Dawson in 1941 [Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh via WQED]
Watch the WQED-TV feature here.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzuri2s9FG1qakblyo1_500.jpg)
National Negro Opera Company, America’s first black opera company, founded by Mary Cardwell Dawson in 1941 [Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh via WQED]
Watch the WQED-TV feature here.
On This Day in Pittsburgh History: February 19, 1968
“Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” the longest-running program on public television, premieres in America. [Family Communications, Inc.; The Neighborhood Archive]
On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 1, 1969
Fred Rogers, host of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” appeared before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications to oppose significant proposed cuts to funding for PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. [Youtube]
Sen. Pastore: All right, Rogers, you’ve got the floor.
Mr. Rogers: Sen. Pastore, this is a philosophical statement and would take about ten minutes to read, so I’ll not do that. One of the first things that a child learns in a healthy family is trust, and I trust what you have said that you will read this. It’s very important to me. I care deeply about children.
Sen. Pastore: Will it make you happy if you read it?
Mr. Rogers: I’d just like to talk about it, if it’s alright. My first children’s program was on WQED fifteen years ago, and its budget was $30. Now, with the help of the Sears-Roebuck Foundation and National Educational Television, as well as all of the affiliated stations — each station pays to show our program. It’s a unique kind of funding in educational television. With this help, now our program has a budget of $6000. It may sound like quite a difference, but $6000 pays for less than two minutes of cartoons. Two minutes of animated, what I sometimes say, bombardment. I’m very much concerned, as I know you are, about what’s being delivered to our children in this country. And I’ve worked in the field of child development for six years now, trying to understand the inner needs of children. We deal with such things as — as the inner drama of childhood. We don’t have to bop somebody over the head to…make drama on the screen. We deal with such things as getting a haircut, or the feelings about brothers and sisters, and the kind of anger that arises in simple family situations. And we speak to it constructively. (more)
Founded in Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1916 to provide Jewish education to immigrant children, the Hebrew Institute moved to Squirrel Hill in 1944. The Hebrew Institute and the Pittsburgh Zionist District jointly sponsored a weekly television program on WQED called “Hebrew At Home” during the 1958-1959 academic year. Dr. Solomon Abrams wrote the programs and served as a consultant. The second program of its kind in the United States, “Hebrew At Home” reached an audience of more than 8,000. (via)
On This Day in Pittsburgh History: April 1, 1954
WQED, PBS channel 13, begins broadcasting as the first community-sponsored television station in the nation, and the city’s fifth TV station. [Wikipedia; Penn State University]
Fred Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003) and Josie Carey on The Children’s Corner, WQED, Pittsburgh, circa 1960. [Explore PA History]
![Fred Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003) and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe Opera, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, 1968 [The Neighborhood Archive]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m15u11DjMz1qakblyo1_1280.png)
Fred Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003) and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe Opera, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, 1968 [The Neighborhood Archive]
Fred Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003)
Mr. Rogers learns about break dancing.
National Negro Opera Company, America’s first black opera company, founded by Mary Cardwell Dawson in 1941 [Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh via WQED]
Watch the WQED-TV feature here.
On This Day in Pittsburgh History: February 19, 1968
“Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” the longest-running program on public television, premieres in America. [Family Communications, Inc.; The Neighborhood Archive]
