Treasures III: Social Issues in American Film 1900-1934 is a highly researched and annotated collection of rarities from film archives. As explained by curator Scott Simmon, movies arrived at the same time as many social reform movements, and one of film's first jobs was to be a message carrier. The collection is a catalog of the issues that most concerned America in the first three decades of the twentieth century.

The films were gathered from a number of American archives and organized in the same way as the previous release of the National Film Preservation Foundation, Treasures from American Film Archives of seven years ago. Four discs carry over twelve hours of films, each accompanied by a new music score and a commentary by an expert sociologist or film historian. In addition to many short subjects, instructional and propaganda films, the collection includes several full-length features (one in 2-color Technicolor). Directors include Cecil B. De Mille, William Desmond Taylor, King Vidor, Lois Weber; stars include Richard Dix and Mary Pickford.

Disc 1: The City Reformed

The Black Hand 1906, 6 min.

How They Rob Men in Chicago 1900, 25 seconds

The Voice of the Violin 1909, 16 min.
D.W. Griffith

The Usurer's Grip 1912, 15 min.

From the Submerged 1912, 11 min.
Theodore Wharton

Hope - A Red Cross Seal Story 1912, 14 min.

The Cost of Carelessness 1913, 13 min.

Lights and Shadows in a City of a Million 1920, 7 min.
Ford Motor Company

6 Million American Children Are Not in School 1922, 2 min.
Lewis Selznick

The Soul of Youth 1920, 80 min.
William Desmond Taylor

A Call for Help from Sing Sing! 1934, 3 min.