Which foundation provided 1967 funding that helped Mister Rogers' Neighborhood go national?

The Sears Roebuck Foundation provided the 1967 funding that helped Mister Rogers' Neighborhood reach a national audience. Its support came after the Pittsburgh-produced series was canceled because of a lack of funding.

The grant enabled the program to be distributed nationally on National Educational Television, or NET, the public television network that preceded PBS. Taping for the first national season began on September 21, 1967, and the first national broadcast followed on February 19, 1968.

The foundation's role is easy to confuse with later funders. Corporation for Public Broadcasting supported the program during later years, while the Ford Foundation and Johnson & Johnson also helped fund subsequent episodes or repeats. The Sears-Roebuck support was the crucial 1967 intervention associated with the show's move from a struggling regional production to national public television.