UPDATE: THE TOUR HAS BEEN EXTENDED THROUGH SUNDAY, MARCH 25.
In honor of their most famous alum, Rollins College has launched a self-guided campus walking tour of Mister Rogers memorabilia.
Fred Rogers majored in music composition and graduated magna cum laude from Rollins College in 1951, which is where he met his wife and fellow music student, Sara Joanne Byrd.
The McFeely-Rogers Foundation actually established a music scholarship at Rollins College for aspiring musicians.
The new walking tour was launched in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the PBS series, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. The tour begins at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, where Mister Rogers’ sweater and sneakers, which he gave to the college in 1991, will be on display.
Other stops on the tour include Tiedtke Concert Hall where a large portrait of Fred Rogers, painted by local artist Don Sondag, hangs; the stone from his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, which was placed on the Rollins Walk of Fame in front of his old dormitory Lyman Hall; a marble plaque by Strong Hall engraved with the words that inspired him (“Life is for Service”); and Olin Library, where a collection of books, his yearbook, personal letters, and photos from the Rollins College Archives are on view.
The free self-guided tour will be available from February 20 through March 20 during Cornell Fine Arts Museum hours: Tuesday 10 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Wednesday-Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday Noon to 5 p.m.
