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| What? You don't have a rhinoceros skull? |
The other day I was casting about for a venue for a day out
with a friend.
We began at Mt. Holyoke College’s art museum, but while charming, it was small and had several rooms closed while they were finishing an installation.
We began at Mt. Holyoke College’s art museum, but while charming, it was small and had several rooms closed while they were finishing an installation.
Next on our
list was the Joseph Skinner
Museum, also owned by the college.
Joseph was the son of William Skinner, a silk manufacturer instrumental in the industrialization
of Holyoke, Massachusetts.
Every time you turn around in the area there’s something named after a Skinner;
not many families can boast an entire mountain named after them.
When he
wasn’t being treasurer of the family business and sitting on local boards,
Joseph indulged his love of history and natural history by traveling and
bringing home what he’d found.
In the 1930s Boston
needed water and the Massachusetts General Court decided that the best solution
was to dam the Swift river and flood a number of small towns in the center of
the state to create the Quabbin reservoir. Graveyards were moved, towns were
disincorporated, and nothing remains except a few foundations on higher ground.
I can’t even imagine a project like this being approved today.
When the town
of Prescott was due to be flooded,
William moved a church and a schoolhouse piece by piece to Hadley and rebuilt
them to house his treasures.
He continued collecting and depositing his acquisitions there until his death in 1946.
As the college’s website states, “He left
little record of his intentions,” and a stroll through the museum makes that
abundantly clear.
Buttons from the Civil War sit next to sand from the Sahara, and down the next aisle you'll find a whale sperm oil lamp.
How wonderful to have a curious mind and the ability to haul back whatever cool thing you see, and then pop it into your own personal museum.
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| Yikes!! |
How wonderful to have a curious mind and the ability to haul back whatever cool thing you see, and then pop it into your own personal museum.
Oh my, look at all that stuff, every piece of it precious to Joseph Skinner.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's a basement full of it,too!
ReplyDeleteIt must have been wonderful being able to indulge his curiosity like that.
ReplyDeletePhew, sure glad I wasn't born in the 18th century when the Scarificator was in vogue. What an interesting (another word for weird) collection.
ReplyDeleteI was OK with the individual pictures, but stunned by your photo from the balcony! Well, he took care of it, and seems to have left it a trust fund.
ReplyDeleteYes, he donated it and two buildings to Mt. Holyoke College.
DeleteI hope some money went with it.
Very precious pieces ♥ Hugs ♥
ReplyDeletesummerdaisycottage.blogspot.com
Wow, that last picture really shows the scale of Skinner's collecting! Someone once told me that the distinction between hoarding and collecting was organization -- and it DOES seem like these items are pretty well organized. But, yeah, he certainly had an appetite for acquisition, didn't he?!
ReplyDeleteone giant cabinet of curiosities.
ReplyDeleteAnd what a cool place to spend an afternoon perusing with a friend. I don't think Mr Skinner was a hoarder or even a scientist -- more of a curious guy who,was interested in a lot of different things. Eclectic Eccentric comes to mind! Lucky for his family he had the money to store it all other than in the family basement or attic.
ReplyDeleteMakes you wonder how much attention he actually paid to the family business.
DeleteVery cool. I will have to visit this museum one day.
ReplyDelete