Between 1914 and 1945, Clara Endicott Sears (1863-1960) opened four museums, known today as Fruitlands. Our 210-acre landscape includes the site of the 1843 Fruitlands experiment led by Bronson Alcott, the first Shaker Museum in the world, a Native American museum, a fine art gallery of Hudson River landscapes, 19th century portraits, changing exhibits, and trails through woodlands and meadows. Our collections include more than 6,000 objects and six historic structures. The collections, landscape and experiences interpret the history and culture of Native people, colonial farmers, 19th century utopians, Shakers, artists and others whose identity, values and sense of place are rooted in New England. Fruitlands Museum is a National Register Historic District.
Sculptures
Don’t miss Joe Wheelwright’s Tree Figures, on our grounds through November 2009.
These eight larger than life sculptures are crafted from real trees, turned upside down and transformed into works of art that come to life across the Fruitlands landscape.
Picture Gallery:
Forests Interrupted uses landscapes to explore changing ideas about wilderness and forest management, with accounts of trees’ contributions to New England’s heritage, past and future.
Face to Face displays portrait pairs from Fruitlands’ extensive collection, so that you may compare, contrast and imagine what conversations they may have today.
Wood Matters is an exhibit created by Merry Post as an internship project for Harvard University Extension Schools Graduate Museum Studies Program. It uses the museum collections to highlight different wood uses. The Shakers, native people, and 19th-century New England farmers were skilled materials scientists in their use of wood. They selected wood from different types of trees based on the characteristics they needed, such as density, strength, hardness, or flexibility.
Indian Gallery: This gallery began with the discovery of arrowheads by Miss Sears and shares artifacts from the Northeast, Southeast, Plains, Northwest Coast, Southwest, California and Arctic culture areas. Opened in 1929, this building is made from a recycled one-room schoolhouse and an old New England barn.
Experience the lifeways of native New England peoples from over 10,000 years ago
to the present in the exhibit One Thousand Generations. Learn about North American Indians in the exhibit Objects and Meaning.
Enter a wigwam, grind corn, and discover how dugout canoes were made. View the outdoor sculptures Wo-peen the Dreamer and Pumunangwet [He who shoots the stars]
Shaker Gallery: Moved to Fruitlands grounds in 1920, the 1796 office building for the Harvard Shaker community became the first Shaker Museum in the world. Step inside a simple building that served as the community's gateway for the world. Listen to the spiritual songs composed by our local Shakers as you explore rooms filled with Shaker artifacts and passages that invite you to understand what it meant to be a Shaker.
Fruitlands Farmhouse and Gallery: In 1843, Bronsan Alcott moved his family and a small group of believers and began a utopian community called Fruitlands. Hear about their difficult and humorous efforts to live a perfect life living off "the fruits of the land".
Inspired by the side shows that toured New England when Louisa May Alcott was a child, A Circus Comes to Fruitlands features circus performers made from old farm implements.
In the Farmhouse Ell, don't miss the extensive retrospective Branching Out, covering 30 years of Joe Wheelwright's sculptural works using trees as his canvas.
Woodland Trails: Enjoy relaxing rambles on well-marked trails through 3.2 miles of varied woodland landscapes.
Pick up a Trailpack at the Wayside that offers activities and resources for your hike.
Pergolas Site: Experience meadow habitats on your way to the most stunning view of the Nashua river valley on the property. Enjoy bluebirds and butterflies up close with Mt. Monadnoc and Mt. Wachusett rising in the distance.
Willard Farm Site: Explore the historic landscape of Harvard's 18th and 19th century families. Visit the first place the Alcott family lived after leaving the Fruitlands Farmhouse. Visit and learn more about how archaeology and history can reconstruct historic landscapes.
Hunting / Gathering Site: Learn about Indian land management and technology in this recreated landscape of the Native American seasonal camp.
