SOMMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.- The Somerville Museum presents “Lost Theatres of Sommerville.” Lost Theatres of Somerville is a visual and oral history of neighborhood picture palaces. It looks at the movie-going experience before the explosion of suburbia and television, when theatres were gathering places for not only the family but the entire neighborhood, communal living rooms where news, gossip, and the promotional give-away were all part of the entertainment. It tells the story of the rise and fall of public entertainment, from 1904 when movies first came to Somerville to the present world of multiplexes and malls.
Hosted by the Somerville Museum in Somerville, Massachusetts, "Lost Theatres of Somerville" is a year-long exhibit exploring the history of Somerville’s fourteen movie theatres and the role of these cultural institutions in defining a sense of place and "neighborhood." Oral histories, photographs, and memorabilia, as well as interactive media, bring to life the theatres-only one of which still survives-that created a sense of community in this and other working class American cities.
The exhibit is curated by David Guss. A Professor of Anthropology at Tufts University, Guss has gathered what is perhaps the largest collection of the neighborhood movie-going experience in the United States. Included in the exhibition are archival photographs from theatres and surrounding businesses, posters, ads, dish sets and other give-aways, seats, original stained glass and fixtures, and even a ten foot neon marquee from the Paramount.