The Fred Rogers Archive preserves over 22,000 items from Fred Rogers' personal and professional life. The Archive is essential to the work of the Fred Rogers Institute, and is a source for research into children’s television, early childhood development, and Fred Rogers’ unique role in bridging both fields. Undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers may request access provisions to study Fred’s life and legacy. Please complete the form below to reach out to our Archivist. Below, you can explore a sampling of the Archive - you're sure to find a treasure!
The series of "Thoughts for the Week" offers us insight into Fred Rogers' goals with each week of programs he produced. During this week, Mister Rogers talks about moving quickly versus moving slowly. He points out that people with the same name are still different people.
Alexander Rogers was one of Fred Rogers' favorite people. Fred was elated to become a grandfather and found that role to be one of life's greatest gifts. This photo shows Fred and Alexander interacting while reading a book. Fred often spoke about his pleasant memories of his parents reading to him when he was a child.
In this speech Fred Rogers mentions Helen Ross, one of his mentors. She consulted with Fred on his projects beyond the production of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Helen was an educator who had studied psychoanalysis with Anna Freud.
Fred Rogers helped children to learn that they are lovable and capable of loving. He believed that love is the basis of learning, and this article focuses on the connection between love and learning how to write. He comments on the power of the written word—even if children cannot yet read what you've written to them.
The episode that Fred intended this song for is about building things by hand. Mister Rogers puts together a go-cart and Bob Trow shows a pulley system. Mister Rogers talks about wanting something that his parents couldn't buy him, so he made it instead.
The first time Mister Rogers sang this song, he was remembering a time when he was angry with a friend. His negative emotion scared him and he needed to talk about it with a caring adult. This song acknowledges that fear is closely entwined with anger.
Itzhak Perlman lets Mister Rogers look carefully at his violin. Mister Rogers asks him to play "Yankee Doodle." Perlman tells how difficult it is to even produce a sound on the violin when you first start playing.
Mister Rogers visited the cast of STOMP during "Mad Feelings" week. During the week of programs, Mister Rogers explored the question, "What do you do with the mad that you feel?" Fred was known to go to the piano when he was dealing with angry feelings.
Mister Rogers talks to his viewers about divorce. He says that even though it is an adult issue, it is an important matter that everyone can talk about. Mister Rogers pretends that the king, queen, and prince are having a picnic. In the park, the king and queen have a number of disagreements.
If you have an item you believe belongs in the Fred Rogers Archive, please let us know! The items in the Archive must be directly related to Fred Rogers and his production company. We do not accept self-created items such as creative, journalistic, or research writings, or artwork. We do not purchase items to include in the Archive or sell memorabilia from the Archive.