Page 14 - F&E Blue Spring 2018
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Back, and Better Than Before
MSP Museum and Learning Center Reopens to Celebrate Our History
by Matthew Guarino museum was heavily damaged by fire. That fire,
in late February 2017, dealt a blow to the efforts
The vintage cruisers, all backed in a line, underway to preserve and share the Departent’s
shone with freshly polished wax that glinted rich history. But it also provided an opportunity
brightly in the morning sun. The crowd trickled in, for the Museum to grow and evolve at its new
a look of excitement on every face that crossed home.
The ceremony was held in front of the
new Museum and Learning Center building at
308 Providence Road in South Grafton. Although
brief, it included words from several people,
including Museum Executive Director, Charlie
Alejandro, Museum Vice President Stephen
Byron, and Massachusetts State Police Deputy
Superintendent Lieutenant Colonel Barry O’Brien,
the threshold. For those who had retired from
the job, this was a step back in time, a reminder
of their years spent serving. For others, it was a
deeper look into loved one’s chosen vocation.
One thing brought everyone together: an interest
in the oldest continuous State Police organization
in the country, the Massachusetts State Police.
On Sunday, May 20, 2018, the
Massachusetts State Police Museum and Learning
Center opened its doors in a Grand Re-Opening
Ceremony, more than a year after the former who cut the blue ribbon, officially opening
the new Museum and Learning Center.
The Museum opens into the gift shop
and the Norman Rockwell “Runaway” set. So
many visitors, old and young, visit that display
for their own photos in the iconic scene. A short
hallway, flanked by a mannequin donning the
MSP summer uniform, leads into the displays of
the first years of the MSP. Blown up on the wall
are the original Rules and Regulations dating back
to 1867. The uniforms on display begin with those
of the first constables, followed by the original
F r en c h·a n d·E le c t r ic·B l ue·S p r in g 2018·p a g e·14
