In 2005 the Harvard Film Archive acquired a collection of 16mm films from the Somerville Public School District’s Department of Library Media Services. Consisting of over 350 educational films produced for classroom use between the 1940s and 1980s, the titles here provide a representative sample of the subjects and genres of educational media used in classrooms during this period. The films are aimed at students from primary grades through high school and cover a variety of subjects including art, math, music, science, health and social studies. A highlight of the collection is the Screen News Digest film series produced by Hearst Metrotone News—highlighting the major events each year from 1958 to 1979 in the fields of science and social studies.

Materials in the Somerville High School collection will be of interest to researchers in the fields of education, American studies, history, gender studies, cultural studies and film studies.

A finding aid for the Somerville High School Collection can be found here.