Page 11 - FE Blue Summer 2019 Final

Preserving Our Story

Give of Themselves to Grow Museum

history has been documented.
Thanks to your museum, that
is changing. We now have
the names, and in many
cases, photographs of our first
troopers, called constables in
the beginning. We are slowly
uncovering artifacts from 1865
and placing them on display
at the museum for both our
members and the general public
to enjoy.”

It was that history that led
Bernstein, the commander of
State Police-Andover, to his role
with the Museum. Visiting the
old location one day to look at
photographs to help him with
his hobby of designing specialty
patches and challenge coins,
he was struck by a feeling of
deep pride in the long and proud
lineage of his agency.
“Looking though these
photographs spanning the
timeline of the State Police
since 1865 made me realize
that I was part of a very special
organization, with unique history
and traditions,” Bernstein said.
“The State Police had a long
(Continued from facing page) tradition of commitment to
The oldest artifact in the collection, according to Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) (Continued next page)
Ronald Guilmette, a member of the Board of Directors, is a State Police
sign that hung in the Massachusetts State House around 1865, the year
that the Department was established, just a few months after the end of the
Civil War.

“I believe that there is a tremendous need to preserve the heritage of the
Massachusetts State Police,” Guilmette said. “It is a record of who and
what we are. In 2015, we celebrated our 150th Anniversary. I found that,
thanks to Commissioner William F. Powers, we knew a lot about the past
90 years, but very little about our first 55 years, 1865 to 1919.

“We are quick to claim that we are the oldest state police force in the
nation, and make no doubt about it, we are. But not very much of that

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