By Mark Baratelli
Rollins College has a self-guided 4-stop campus tour highlighting memorabilia from Fred Rogers, the person who entered and exited a faux home and talked to trolleys. If you don't want to feel like a creeper traipsing all over a college campus, take their Virtual Tour which we stole from their website. See below.
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View a rare collection of Fred Rogers memorabilia, including books, photographs, handwritten letters, his yearbook from 1951, one of the sweaters he wore on his show (knitted by his mother, Nancy), and a pair of his famous sneakers at the Olin Library Archives. These items can be seen on request by contacting the Rollins College Archives at archives@rollins.edu. To minimize damage from light and ensure their long-term preservation, the sweater and sneakers are not on permanent display. However, the Archives staff is always happy to bring them out for visitors. During regular library business hours please go to the front desk and request directions to the archives located in the basement.
View a large portrait painted by local artist Don Sondag hangs proudly in the Fred Rogers Lobby inside the Tiedtke Concert Hall. Here he is wearing his red sweater and putting on his sneakers. The portrait can be viewed during regular operating hours. Enter through center doors.
A stone from Rogers’ hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania can be found in front of Lyman Hall, his old dormitory. The stone was placed in March 1991 among other internationally known honorees. The stone can be viewed during regular operating hours. This is part of the college's Walk of Fame. To find the stone, from Holt Avenue count over 15 stones on the top row.
Fred Rogers was so inspired by this plaque hung at Rollins that he carried a photo of it in his wallet for the rest of his life. The marble plaque can be viewed near Strong Hall during regular operating hours.
Fred Rogers was so inspired by this plaque hung at Rollins that he carried a photo of it in his wallet for the rest of his life. The marble plaque can be viewed near Strong Hall during regular operating hours.