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All the United States Massachusetts Petersham Fisher Museum Forestry Dioramas

Fisher Museum Forestry Dioramas

This series of landscape dioramas tell the story of New England forestry in exacting miniature detail.

Petersham, Massachusetts

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John Chayrigues
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Fisher Museum Forestry Dioramas   Wikipedia
Fisher Museum Forestry Dioramas   Wikipedia
Fisher Museum Forestry Dioramas   Wikipedia
Fisher Museum Forestry Dioramas   Wikipedia
Fisher Museum Forestry Dioramas   Wikipedia
Fisher Museum   Wikipedia
The Precolonial Forest (1700) diorama at the Fisher Museum.   Daderot/Public Domain
Hemlock-White Pine Forest and Harvard Pond dioramas at the Fisher Museum.   Daderot/Public Domain
Farm abandonment diorama (1850) at the Fisher Museum.   Daderot/Public Domain
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Since 1907, Harvard University has managed 3,000 acres of woodlands in western Massachusetts that serve as the field lab and research center for the University's graduate forestry program and in the midst of this forest is the Fisher Museum, home to a series of dioramas that tell the history of the forestry itself.

Named for Professor K.T Fisher, the first director of the Harvard Forest, the museum features 23 exquisitely detailed miniature dioramas portraying a variety of scenes of New England forest land. Seven of the dioramas chronicle one area of the forest over a period of 300 years, from pre-colonial tree growth, to clearing for farm land, to abandonment by humans, and finally to the return of the wild forest. Other dioramas depict conservation and forest management scenes.

The dioramas were built in the 1930's by Theodore Pitman and Samuel Guernsey who operated a studio in Cambridge, Massachusetts and produced numerous notable dioramas for a variety of clients, including the Boston Museum of Science and the American Museum of Natural History. Each of the trees is made up of multiple copper wire that were coiled together and literally allowed to branch off near the top of the tree. 

The museum also features rotating exhibits documenting the history of the forest and current University research projects.  Nature trails in the forest allow visitors to experience the living forest as depicted in the dioramas.

   

Related Tags

Miniatures Dioramas Museums And Collections Museums Trees Nature Plants

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Added By

johnrchay

Edited By

EricGrundhauser, Meg

  • EricGrundhauser
  • Meg

Published

June 27, 2014

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Fisher Museum Forestry Dioramas
324 North Main Street
Petersham, Massachusetts, 01366
United States
42.528281, -72.187561
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Nearby Places

Massachusetts Peace Statue

Orange, Massachusetts

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miles away

Town of Dana

Petersham, Massachusetts

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Petersham

Petersham

Massachusetts

Places 2
Stories 1

Nearby Places

Massachusetts Peace Statue

Orange, Massachusetts

miles away

Woman's Christian Temperance Union Fountain

Orange, Massachusetts

miles away

Town of Dana

Petersham, Massachusetts

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Petersham

Petersham

Massachusetts

Places 2
Stories 1

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