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The Passing of a Quiet Abolitionist in Pennsylvania
Fred Rogers, known to millions of us around the world as our "television neighbor Mr. Rogers," died Thursday, February 27th, at the age of 74. He was a native of western Pennsylvania, where his long-running television program, "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood," was produced.
My childhood friend and classmate for 15 years, Dan Crozier, knew him by a different name: Uncle Fred. Dan's mother, Elaine, was the sister of Fred Rogers, so I was often regaled with stories from Dan about family gatherings with his Uncle Fred. When we were in nursery school, Dan was absent from school for a week due to a visit to western Pennsylvania to visit his uncle. This relatively minor detail is permanently imbedded in my memory because, when Dan returned, he brought with him a photograph of his uncle. On the photo, written in blue ball point pen were the words: "To Jeff, From your television neighbor, Mr. Rogers." That photo has been on my refrigerator for most of my adult life, to this very day in fact. Dan's visit to his Uncle Fred was also memorable as he appeared as a featured guest on "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" in an episode focused on "families." Dan, a musical prodigy at age four, played piano on the show. It was the first time I saw someone I knew on television.
When we graduated from high school, Dan's Uncle Fred was in attendance in the bleachers. Following the ceremony, I was introduced to Fred and Joanne Rogers as "Danny's friend since nursery school." I was struck by the fact that Fred Rogers had the same gentle, unassuming manner in person that he displayed on his program. "Mr. Rogers" was not a character created for television; he was just Fred Rogers talking to children through the medium of television.
More recently, I came to know Fred Rogers in another way - as a fellow Pennsylvanian who opposed capital punishment. In my work with Pennsylvania Abolitionists United Against the Death Penalty, I am constantly in brainstorming sessions where we discuss potential speakers for rallies or fund raisers. In one such discussion, we were trying to think of prominent Pennsylvanians who might be opponents of the death penalty and whose presence at a rally might attract greater media coverage. Additionally, we were trying to think of people who other Pennsylvanians would respect and who were not necessarily thought of as "death penalty opponents." After suggestions such as Will Smith, Joe Paterno, and "the guys in Live," I asked the planning committee, "How about Mr. Rogers?"
They laughed and said, "Mr. Rogers? How do you know he opposes the death penalty? How would we contact him?"
"Can you envision Fred Rogers supporting the death penalty?" I asked. "It would be so completely incompatible with everything else I know about him. He's a Presbyterian minister. And, I was close friends with his nephew throughout my childhood, so there's our contact."
The discussion continued with other suggestions, and we never really came back to it. The rally went forward, sans Rogers.
Several weeks later, however, when we were meeting with a legislator from western Pennsylvania who had recently co-sponsored a bill calling for a moratorium on executions, Fred Rogers' name came up again. We were discussing influential Pennsylvanians who supported a suspension of executions and abolition of the death penalty. One of my fellow activists said, "Well, Jeff here keeps talking about Mr. Rogers." A few members of our group chuckled.
The legislator said, "It's funny you mentioned his name. After the moratorium bill was introduced, I received quite a few letters from people in my region thanking me for co-sponsoring it. One of the most touching was one that I received from Fred Rogers. He told me that he has always opposed the death penalty, and he was pleased that I had introduced the bill."
I, of course, gave my colleagues the look that says, "I told you so!"
Over the months following this confirmation of Fred Rogers' status as a death penalty opponent, members of Pa. Abolitionists suggested another approach. We sent him some information about our organization and invited him to be the keynote speaker at our annual awards dinner in Philadelphia. Shortly thereafter I received a call from his public relations director, David Newell. Mr. Newell indicated that Fred Rogers was still very busy working on projects despite the fact that he had recently filmed the final installment of "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood." He was working on developing educational resources and that most of his limited time for public appearances was devoted to speaking on behalf of nonprofit public broadcasting and the need for quality programming for children. Mr. Newell also stated that Fred Rogers was very supportive of our efforts and was strongly opposed to the death penalty.
"It just sends a horribly wrong message to children," Mr. Newell stated. "For Fred a lot of it comes down to this: 'What are our children learning from us when we model that this is an appropriate way of responding to societal problems?'"
Our phone conversation continued for quite a while. Mr. Newell asked a lot about what was going on politically in Pennsylvania around this issue. We talked about my earlier introduction to Fred Rogers, and my connection with his nephew, Dan. Mr. Newell struck me as a very friendly, likable person. But, then again, can you imagine Mr. Rogers working with any other type of person?
Pennsylvania, indeed the world, lost a truly decent, thoughtful, caring human being with Fred Rogers' passing. In the mass-media era of crass commercialism and excess, someone like Mr. Rogers was unique. Death penalty abolitionists lost a fellow opponent of state-sponsored killing, although many people were probably unaware of his deeply held beliefs.
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell was likely one of those who was unaware of Mr. Rogers' opposition to the death penalty. Yesterday morning, Gov. Rendell released a statement regarding "the passing of Pennsylvania's own Fred Rogers." It said, in part:
"Today, our state has lost a great role model and our country has lost one of history's greatest teachers. We should be mindful, though, that during his seventy-four year life, Mr. Rogers helped instill values in America's children that will affect our nation for decades to come."
That same morning Gov. Rendell released another statement. It began, "Gov. Edward G. Rendell today signed a warrant for the execution by lethal injection of Jose DeJesus of Philadelphia County."
I have two questions in my mind. I wonder if Gov. Rendell used the same pen to sign Jose DeJesus' death warrant that he used to pay tribute to Mr. Rogers. I'll probably never know the answer to this. The second is, "What would Mr. Rogers say to the governor about the death warrant for Jose DeJesus?" To this question, I have at least a suspicion.
"What are our children learning from us when we model that this is an appropriate way of responding to societal problems?"
While I strongly disagree with Gov. Rendell's continued support for the death penalty, I join him in his hope that the values that Mr. Rogers helped instill in America's children truly will affect our nation for decades to come.
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Jeff Garis Executive Director Pa. Abolitionists United Against the Death Penalty
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