32 Facts About Margaret McFarland

Margaret Beall McFarland was an American child psychologist and a consultant to the television show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

Margaret McFarland was the co-founder and director of the Arsenal Family and Children's Center in Pittsburgh, and much of her work focused on the meaning of the interactions between mothers and children.

Margaret McFarland met Fred Rogers in the 1950s when she agreed to supervise his work with a child for a seminary counseling course, and she became a child development consultant to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 1965.

Margaret McFarland met with Rogers on a nearly weekly basis and reviewed the content and wording of his scripts.

Margaret McFarland often influenced the presentation of material on the show, and McFarland and Rogers continued to meet until her death from myelofibrosis at the age of 83.

Margaret McFarland, the youngest of three daughters, was born to Robert and Gertrude Margaret McFarland on July 3,1905, in Oakdale, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh.

Margaret McFarland said she adored her father, but she knew that her sister, the middle child named Mary, was his favorite daughter.

Margaret McFarland's father died when she was five years old.

Margaret McFarland remained unmarried and childless throughout her life, and she attributed that to her father's death.

Margaret McFarland gave me the sense the baby or the young child has great worth.

Margaret McFarland attended Goucher College, completing an undergraduate degree in 1927.

When Margaret McFarland taught at Hubbard Woods, she worked with the children enrolled in a study by Rose Haas Alschuler and La Berta Weiss Hattwick that resulted in their publication known as Painting and personality: A study of young children.

Margaret McFarland then went to Melbourne, where she was principal at the Kindergarten Training College.

In 1951, Margaret McFarland returned to Pittsburgh and became an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

Margaret McFarland co-founded the Arsenal Family and Children's Center with Benjamin Spock and Erik Erikson two years later.

John Hitchcock, former director of the center, said that though Margaret McFarland was not a psychoanalyst, she was invited to teach there because she could impart a deep understanding of the nuances of parent-child interactions.

Margaret McFarland did not publish much academic literature; her primary impacts came from her direct work with families at the Arsenal Center and from her mentoring of students.

Margaret McFarland believed that a teacher did not so much teach a specific attitude to a student, but that the child "caught" a certain attitude toward a subject based on the teacher's enthusiasm and commitment to the material.

Douglas Robert Nowicki, a clinical child psychologist and a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, said that Margaret McFarland considered love to be the essential characteristic of a successful teacher.

Margaret McFarland was taking a seminary course in counseling, and McFarland supervised his counseling of a child as part of that class.

Margaret McFarland told him that he would be more effective on a show in which he appeared on camera himself.

In 1966, Rogers began working on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, and Margaret McFarland became the primary consultant to the show.

Margaret McFarland reviewed the show's scripts until her death, often suggesting improvements on what Rogers had created.

Margaret McFarland consulted on Rogers's First Experience book series and his video series on parenting.

Margaret McFarland used her background in child psychology to influence the presentation of the material on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

For example, Rogers made his entrance at the beginning of each episode from screen left to screen right because Margaret McFarland said that mirrored the way a child's eyes moved when reading.

Once, Rogers was preparing for an episode that would teach children about fire, and Margaret McFarland told him that children's fire-related dreams were closely related to their thoughts about controlling their body fluids.

Margaret McFarland was diagnosed with a bone marrow disorder called myelofibrosis in the 1970s, and by 1987 she was receiving blood transfusions.

Margaret McFarland believed that there was no comparable replacement for a mother in the child-rearing process, and she was curious to learn more about the negative and positive results of such an upbringing.

Margaret McFarland felt that women were more introspective than men, leading to opportunities for them to be more creative, and she said that groups like the National Organization for Women did not recognize the uniqueness of women in this regard.

On September 12,1988, Margaret McFarland died at County Meadows Nursing Home in South Fayette Township.

Margaret McFarland contributed to a Festschrift in recognition of McFarland's work.