Educational TV

Retro educational shows from the Golden Age of TV


The Glory Trail
National Educational Television (NET) produced this series and was part of the United States educational broadcast television network that operated from May 16, 1954 to October 4, 1970. It was owned by the Ford Foundation and later co-owned by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It was succeeded by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which has memberships with many television stations that were formerly part of NET.

Photography: The Incisive Art with Ansel Adams
Photographer Ansel Adams features his expertise in this National Educational Television (NET) produced series which was owned by the Ford Foundation and later co-owned by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

How to Look at a City (1964)
Architect, lyricist, playwright, musician Eugene Raskin hosts this episode of National Educational Television's made for TV documentary "How to Look at a City."

Electronic Music (1966)
Milton Babbitt, Modernist Composer and Stephen Sondheim Mentor, dicusses his involvement with electronic music in the WNET documentary "Electronic Music" with host Robert Potts.

USA Dance: New York City Ballet (1965)
New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. In this episode, George Balanchine discusses the New York City Ballet and many ballet excerpts are shown.

College Bound - Study Hints (1967)
This episode illustrates the purpose of good study habits and explains why they are essential to academic success in college.

Mexican-Americans: The Invisible Minority (1969)
Describes the struggle of Mexican-Americans for an identity within the protest movement, discussing their economic poverty, their employment as unskilled laborers, and their education in a system designed for white English-speaking students.

'Survival Under Atomic Attack' by U.S. Office of Civil Defense (1951)
Explains the dangers of the atomic bomb, the effects of radiation and what the individual should do to protect himself if caught in the open or in his home. Audio track: “Let us face without panic the reality of our times. The fact that atom bombs may someday be dropped on our cities. And let us prepare for survival by understanding the weapon that threatens us.”