Published: 5/8/2018 2:13:21 PM
SOUTH HADLEY — The Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad was called to Mount Holyoke College Monday over concerns about Civil War artifacts destined for two of the college’s museums.
First responders were called to the college around 1:45 p.m. to the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum as well as the Joseph Allen Skinner Museum, according to Jennifer Mieth, spokeswoman for the state fire marshal’s office.
Mieth said many of the objects the bomb squad investigated were inert but it did find two objects that needed to be rendered safe. A single rifle cartridge was found to have a live primer inside of it and a four-inch cannonball that was split in half had some lead shot and deteriorated powder, according to Mieth.
According to the Skinner Museum’s website, the collection contains nearly 7,000 objects collected by Joseph Allen Skinner throughout his life including minerals and fossils, rare books and documents, furniture, maritime objects, artifacts from Oceanic cultures, firearms, glass and ceramics, among many other items.