Editing Fred Rogers (section)

==Early life==
Rogers was born in 1928, at 705 Main Street in [[Latrobe, Pennsylvania]].<ref name="Burlington Free Press 2018">{{cite web |last=Harpaz |first=Beth J. |title=Mister Rogers: 'Won't you be my neighbor?' fans can check out Fred Rogers Trail |website=Burlington Free Press |date=July 18, 2018 |url=https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/entertainment/2018/07/18/mister-rogers-fans-documentary-show-can-visit-fred-rogers-trail/795861002/ |agency=Associated Press| access-date=November 1, 2018}}</ref> His father, James Hillis Rogers, was "a very successful businessman"<ref name="EarlyLife">{{cite web |title=Early Life |website=Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning & Children's Media |url=http://www.fredrogerscenter.org/about-us/about-fred/early-life/ |access-date=October 30, 2018 |archive-date=October 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015125316/https://www.fredrogerscenter.org/about-us/about-fred/early-life/ |url-status=live }}</ref> who was president of the McFeely Brick Company, one of Latrobe's most prominent businesses. His mother, Nancy (née McFeely), knitted sweaters for American soldiers from western Pennsylvania who were fighting in Europe and regularly volunteered at the Latrobe Hospital. Initially dreaming of becoming a doctor, she settled for a life of hospital volunteer work. Her father, Fred Brooks McFeely, after whom Rogers was named, was an entrepreneur.<ref name="latimes 20032">{{cite news |last=Woo |first=Elaine |date=February 28, 2003 |title=It's a Sad Day in This Neighborhood |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-feb-28-me-rogers28-story.html |access-date=October 30, 2018 |archive-date=September 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915102400/http://articles.latimes.com/2003/feb/28/local/me-rogers28 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Rogers grew up in a large three-story brick house at 737 Weldon Street in Latrobe.<ref name="Burlington Free Press 2018"/><ref name="king-19">King (2018), p. 19.</ref> He had a sister, Elaine, whom the Rogerses adopted when he was eleven years old.<ref name="king-19"/> Rogers spent much of his childhood alone, playing with puppets, and also spent time with his grandfather. He began playing the piano when he was five.<ref name="DeFranceso">{{cite news |url=http://www.wqed.org/mag/0403_remember3.shtml |title=Remembering Fred Rogers: A Life Well-Lived: A look back at Fred Rogers' life |last=DeFranceso |first=Joyce |date=April 2003 |work=[[Pittsburgh Magazine]] |access-date=January 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050103143529/http://www.wqed.org/mag/0403_remember3.shtml |archive-date=January 3, 2005}}</ref> Through an ancestor who emigrated from Germany to the U.S., Johannes Meffert (born 1732), Rogers is the sixth cousin of actor [[Tom Hanks]], who portrays him in the film ''[[A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood]]'' (2019).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/19/entertainment/tom-hanks-fred-rogers-related-trnd/index.html |title=Tom Hanks just found out he's related to Mister Rogers |last1=Capron |first1=Maddie |last2=Zdanowicz |first2=Christina |website=CNN |date=November 19, 2019 |access-date=November 20, 2019 |archive-date=October 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003201824/https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/19/entertainment/tom-hanks-fred-rogers-related-trnd/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Rogers had a difficult childhood. Shy, introverted, and overweight, he was frequently homebound after suffering bouts of [[asthma]].<ref name="EarlyLife"/> He was bullied as a child for his weight and called "Fat Freddy".<ref name="EW.com 2018">{{cite web |url=https://ew.com/movies/2018/06/09/mister-rogers-relics-wont-you-be-my-neighbor/ |title=The relics of Mister Rogers: 7 emotional items from the new film Won't You Be My Neighbor? |last=Breznican |first=Anthony |date=June 9, 2018 |website=EW.com |access-date=October 20, 2018 |archive-date=August 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802212419/https://ew.com/movies/2018/06/09/mister-rogers-relics-wont-you-be-my-neighbor/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to [[Morgan Neville]], director of the 2018 documentary ''[[Won't You Be My Neighbor? (film)|Won't You Be My Neighbor?]]'', Rogers had a "lonely childhood{{nbsp}}... I think he made friends with himself as much as he could. He had a [[ventriloquist dummy]], he had [stuffed] animals, and he would create his own worlds in his childhood bedroom".<ref name="EW.com 2018"/>

[[File:Mr-rogers-hs-yearbook.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Rogers in Latrobe High School's 1946 yearbook.]]
Rogers attended [[Greater Latrobe School District|Latrobe High School]], where he overcame his shyness.<ref name="legendary locals">{{cite book |last=Comm |first=Joseph A. |title=Legendary Locals of Latrobe |location=Charleston, South Carolina |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-4671-0184-4 |page=52}}</ref> "It was tough for me at the beginning," Rogers told NPR's [[Terry Gross]] in 1984, "and then I made a couple friends who found out that the core of me was okay. And one of them was{{nbsp}}... the head of the football team".<ref>Gross (1984), event occurs at 4.27.</ref> Rogers became president of the student council, a member of the [[National Honor Society]], and editor-in-chief of the school [[yearbook]].<ref name="legendary locals"/> He registered for the draft in [[Greensburg, Pennsylvania]], in 1948 at age 20, where he was classified 1-A (available for military service);<ref name="archives.gov">[https://www.archives.gov/news/articles/celebrating-mr-rogers-at-the-national-archives Celebrating Mr. Rogers at the National Archives] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220105163629/https://www.archives.gov/news/articles/celebrating-mr-rogers-at-the-national-archives |date=January 5, 2022 }} [[National Archives and Records Administration|U.S. National Archives]]. Retrieved September 14, 2021.</ref> however, his status was changed to unqualified for military service following an Armed Forces physical on October 12, 1950.<ref name="archives.gov"/> He attended [[Dartmouth College]] for one year before transferring to [[Rollins College]],<ref name="DeFranceso"/> where he graduated ''[[magna cum laude]]''<ref name="latimes 20032"/> in 1951 with a [[Bachelor of Music]].<ref name="bachelor">{{cite news |title=Fred M. Rogers Receives Degree From Seminary |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52624931/fred-rogers-graduates-from-pittsburgh/ |access-date=June 2, 2020 |work=The Latrobe Bulletin |issue=121 |date=May 10, 1962 |volume=60 |archive-date=October 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013213402/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52624931/fred-rogers-graduates-from-pittsburgh/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

He then attended [[Pittsburgh Theological Seminary]], from which he graduated ''magna cum laude'' in 1962 with a [[Bachelor of Divinity]], and was ordained a Presbyterian minister by the Pittsburgh Presbytery of the [[United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America|United Presbyterian Church]] in 1963.<ref name="bachelor"/><ref>{{cite web |date=1965 |title=Vol 1960–1965: Annual Catalogue of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary |url=https://archive.org/details/annualcatalogue196065pitt/page/n393/mode/2up |access-date=April 27, 2020 |website=Internet Archive |publisher=Pittsburgh Theological Seminary |page=394}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=On Sunday: Fred M. Rogers To Be Ordained |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56740444/fred-rogers-ordained-a-minister/ |access-date=August 5, 2020 |work=The Latrobe Bulletin |volume=LXI |issue=145 |date=June 8, 1963 |archive-date=October 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013213503/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56740444/fred-rogers-ordained-a-minister/ |url-status=live }}</ref> His work as an ordained minister, rather than to pastor a church, was to minister to children and their families through television. He regularly appeared before church officials to maintain his ordination.<ref name="danielburke">{{cite web |last=Burke |first=Daniel |title=Mr. Rogers was a televangelist to toddlers |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/23/entertainment/mister-rogers-faith-religion/index.html |date=November 23, 2019 |work=CNN.com |access-date=November 23, 2019 |archive-date=October 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003172935/https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/23/entertainment/mister-rogers-faith-religion/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>