1942
In early January, 30,000 rare items sent secretly by train to underground storage at Amherst College to avoid wartime dangers.
1944
Items safely returned from Amherst to the Folger in November by special express train.
1946
Joseph Quincy Adams dies; James McManaway serves as acting director.
1947
Elizabeth Pope becomes the first woman fellow at the Folger, taking as her subject the religious background of Shakespeare's plays.
1948
Louis B. Wright, formerly of the Huntington Library, appointed director.
First conference of the Folger Research Group, a monthly event for scholars interested in Renaissance studies.
1949
In the first theatrical performance at the Elizabethan Theatre, the Amherst Masquers present Julius Caesar. Plays are not regularly staged at the theater until 1970.
1950
First publication of Shakespeare Quarterly by the Shakespeare Association of America. Long-standing ties between the Quarterly and the Folger staff culminate in the periodical's transfer to the Folger in 1972.
