In the spring of 1969 Fred Rogers quietly offered testimony to US Senator John Pastore about the special kind of content he and other public broadcasters produce. In the decades since, his comments have become a popular viral video used as a tool in the fight for public broadcasting in the United States. But the video’s narrative of Rogers emotionally moving the “crusty” Pastore to fund public broadcasting is not the whole picture. This study explores the collective memory around Rogers and Pastore interactions and examines US Senate transcripts, contemporary news coverage, and an appraisal of the testimony’s legacy to provide greater nuance to this viral video.
