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Joseph Allen Skinner Museum, South Hadley, MA

Photo: Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Museums

Joseph Allen Skinner Museum

A cabinet of curiosities of roughly 7,000 objects gathered by collector Joseph Allen Skinner, now kept by Mount Holyoke College.

South Hadley, MA

About Joseph Allen Skinner Museum

The museum holds a large personal collection assembled over a lifetime by Joseph Allen Skinner, spanning minerals, fossils, early lighting, rare books, furniture, maritime items, firearms, ceramics, farm tools, and Indigenous cultural objects. Notable pieces include a mid-19th-century ship's figurehead, a large meteorite from Arizona, and a door from the childhood home of Mary Lyon, founder of Mount Holyoke College. The building was originally a church in Prescott, Massachusetts, later moved to South Hadley. The museum is currently closed for the foreseeable future, so visitors should check the college's updates before planning a trip.

  • #cabinet of curiosities
  • #collector's museum
  • #Mount Holyoke College
  • #Mary Lyon
  • #South Hadley

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