Joseph
Allen Skinner Museum
On Woodbridge Street, just north of the campus, is the Joseph
Allen Skinner Museum, owned and operated by the college. The main
building, open to the public, was originally the Congregational
church in Prescott, Massachusetts. When that town was flooded
due to the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir, Skinner bought the
1846 building and moved it to South Hadley. It became his personal
museum, housing his wide-ranging collection of American and European
furniture, decorative arts, crafts, tools, and geological specimens.
At Skinner's death in 1946, the museum became the property of
the College. The other three buildings, including a charming schoolhouse
from the Quabbin, are closed to the public but their exteriors
are architecturally interesting.
The museum is open on Wednesdays and Sundays, May through October,
from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Admission is free; donations are welcome.
Questions about the museum are addressed by the Mount
Holyoke College Art Museum, (413) 538-2245.
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