By Carla Charter

A plan to create a memorial for the Academy of the Sisters of Maria Assumpta in Petersham has begun.

In 1950, the sisters of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin purchased the former Nichewaug Inn, converting the building into the Academy of the Sisters of Maria Assumpta, a boarding and day parochial high school for girls run by the sisters. The school closed in 1973.

The idea for the memorial came from Pastor Geoffrey Smith, of the Congregational Church in Petersham.

“In my profession, I deal with memorials of various kinds, which mark a time of transition,” Smith said. “I also have a love of history, and the academy has been a fixture in town, so I thought that something should be done in that area memorializing that. With the strong interfaith cooperation in town, I figured that this is something that should be meaningful to anyone of any faith.

“Mother Estelle, on behalf of the sisters, has asked that we place a plaque that notes their presence and activity on that site,” Smith added.

The memorial will possibly be placed in the copse, a group of trees behind the memorial library. He said the cost of the memorial is still unknown, as the project has just begun.

“We would like to go with a local artist, if possible, so we are starting the search there,” said Smith.

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The Selectboard endorsed a committee to move forward on the project. Its members include Smith and Barbara Hanno, who is a member of the Congregational Church as well as a member of the Petersham Historical Society, which Smith volunteers for.

“We are looking for a third person, hopefully one with different views and perspectives that they can bring to the discussions,” Smith said.

Among those who have fond memories of the school include Sister Estelle Dube, of the Sisters of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin.

“I was a student and a teacher there,” she said. “I started as a student in 1951 and enjoyed being together with my classmates. We have kept in touch throughout the years. I taught religion and piano there in the 1960s. I loved my time in Petersham. The academy was a place that was very dear to us.”

As for the building, she said, “It was very beautifully built inside, very pleasing and very unique. At that time it was very homey, warm and friendly. We loved the town. I like to think back on that time, it was only 20 years, but it was an important time of our past.”

Jayne Thompson was an alum of the academy, attending while in 10th grade from 1972-1973, which was the last year the school was open. Thompson said she originally took weekly piano lessons from one of the nuns.

Among Thompson’s favorite memories included playing the piano for the musical “Wizard of Oz” and “Waltz of the Flowers,” while Mariko Inoue, a student from Japan, performed ballet to it at the Petersham Town Hall Christmas Concert.

Living in a dormitory with many other girls was fun as well, she added.

“Once we wanted to scare a friend who was talking with us in the cubicle late at night. One of the girls pretended she was going to bed, but the plan was she would get a raccoon coat and put it over her head and come back into the cubicle to scare our friend. While she was gone, Sr. Margherita woke up and caught us awake in my cubicle talking. While she was in there scolding us, the girl with the coat over her head walked in and scared Sr. Marguerita so bad that she ran back to her room,” Thompson remembered.

“We got to go off-campus once afternoon a week,” Thompson added. “Usually we went to the general store across the street, which was owned by one of the day student’s family.”

Another memory Thompson recalled was when “We went to Montreal on a trip with other students and several of the nuns.

“After the school closed I went back to Naragansett Regional High School in my town,” Thompson said, adding that she made lifelong friends at the academy that she stays in touch with.

Dr. Katherine M. (Anderson) Benson, who is the administrator of the academy’s Facebook page and honorary alum, said the school closed in February 1973 due to financial constraints.

“The girls were at a Valentine’s dance when the sisters announced that the school was closing,” said Benson. “Girls would have to be packed up the next day. Most had to find another high school to finish the year out at.”

Benson started researching the academy after exploring the abandoned building on her own, then touring it with a realtor.

“I explored every inch of the place and there were so many signs of the girls left that I decided I wanted to know more,” she said.

Benson connected online with several school alums, who all graduated in 1969.

“Once they got to know me, they started sending more alums my way and then some of the sisters,” Bnson said. “I got pulled in as an honorary class member and invited to their reunion.”

The last official class reunion for the Academy of the Sisters of Maria Assumpta was in 2009, said Benson.

“They invited me and I created a video of the history of the school and they made me an honorary alum,” Benson said.

Benson is writing a series of adult cozy mysteries. The second book in the series will be based at the academy.

“The first book is set at Elms College in Chicopee and the main character is Nora Phillips, a bestselling mystery writer,” she said. “In the new book she invests in her friend Sylvia’s plan to turn the abandoned academy into a writers retreat and they uncover a decades-old mystery – not sure what the mystery is just yet. Writing a history of the academy is definitely on her list as well.”

Those interested in being on the committee or helping with the project can contact Smith at pastorgwsmith@gmail.com.

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.