By Carla Charter

The Harvard Forest in Petersham provides a place for environmental research, while its Fisher Museum tells the history of our woodlands past.

During World War II, Shaler Hall, the Harvard Forest administration building, provided a sanctuary for paintings and other artifacts from the Harvard and Worcester art museums, when there were concerns about violence, according to Harvard Forest Library Archivist Julie Hall.

Beginning in April 1942, artwork – including paintings, drawings, prints, vases and ceramic pieces – were moved from the museums to the Harvard Forest headquarters in Petersham. In total, 219 paintings and 32 objects from the Harvard Art Museum collections and 18 paintings, one object and two barrels of ceramics from the Worcester Art Museum were moved to Petersham, according to Hall.

“The important and valuable art pieces moved to Petersham were chosen for the trip because they would not be able to be moved quickly within the museum,” said Hall.

The art stored at the Petersham headquarters included works such as “The Breakfast Table” and “The Honorable Laura Lister” by John Singer Sargent, “Madam Pierre Henri Renoir (Blanche-Marie Blanc)” by Renoir, “Harmony in Grey and Peach Colour” by James Abbott McNeill Whistler and “Dorothy Murray” by John Singleton Copley.

Other artists whose works were moved to Petersham included Spinello, Hopkinson, Feke, Raeburn, Gainsborough, Bellini, David, Ingres, Rossetti, Millet, Hunt, Longhi, J. Van Cleve, LaTour, G. da Paolo, P. da Champagne and Prud'hon, Hall stated.

The artworks were moved to the Harvard Forest building by commercial truck and escorted by officials from Fogg Museum, which is part of the Harvard Art Museum. Richard D. Buck, a conservator at the Fogg Museum, lived in Petersham from spring 1943 until October 1944 as art curator.

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Modifications to Shaler Hall were made to ensure the safety of the art. The artwork was stored in a specially-built room created in the waterproofed basement. This room had a fireproof door and burglar alarm. Overhead sprinklers in the area were temporarily disconnected.

“At the time, the hiding location of the art treasures was a carefully guarded secret,” Hall said.

The Fogg Museum arranged for a night watchman who was boarded at the Harvard Forest headquarters so that there would always be someone in the building in order to deter would-be burglars.

“A forestry student substituted for the regular watchman once a week,” Hall said.

The art was moved back to the two museums at the beginning of December 1943 and completed by May 1945. According to a May 1947 Athol Daily News article, “When the war came, the Whistlers, Gainesboroughs and Copleys left Harvard and took to the woods but they're all back now.”

Carla Charter is a freelance writer from Phillipston. Her writing focuses on the history of the North Quabbin area. Contact her at cjfreelancewriter@earthlink.net.