In response to our previous post (see below) about the numerous local historical museums, a reader posted a comment about the Pioneer Valley History Network. He wrote:
The Pioneer Valley History Network is a new organization that helps link these historical museums and sites. They have a listserv … and soon will have a website. It can be a great source of information for anyone seeking to explore historical resources in the area.
They have a Yahoo Group, and we’ll post info about their new website when it launches.
We’ve also added a new list of links to our sidebar, “Local Historical Museums.” These little museums are fascinating places. Many are admission-free, but please consider a donation when visiting to help support them.
One of our favorites is the Skinner Museum in South Hadley, which was a pet hobby of its founder, Joseph Allen Skinner (who bequeathed it to Mount Holyoke College). Not only is it full chock-a-block with local artifacts and curiosities from all over the world, the building itself has an interesting history: it was moved from one of the towns that is now submerged beneath the Quabbin Reservoir.
Local trivia: Joseph Skinner was part of the Skinner family who made their enormous wealth via the Skinner Mills in Holyoke in the early part of the 20th-century. Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke was the family home of Belle Skinner, Joseph’s sister.
One Comment
The Skinner Museum is one of my favorite places to photograph. Here is a link to some of my new images from there.
http://frontporcheditions.com/catalog8.html
Thank you for this article.