Page 14 - January 2017

pride of the state, and Alejandro is preparing a display does not keep the pride out of her voice, though, when
of five of that team’s weapons and a “shooting box” in she reports having won accreditation from the National
which officers carried their guns to meets versus other Museum Association.
state’s departments.
There are fully-trained historians in the cadre of cronies
“They’d pack up, go to a meet, and like I say, they were that work on the museum as volunteers, chronicling
working six days out of seven, so they’d come back their service and its context in the state’s histories.
here and get right back to work,” the director says. They do everything from mow the lawn to build the
display cases to digitize the holdings - thousands and
Alejandro is not a historian and doesn’t plan to become thousands of documents and photos donated by the
one. Her emphasis in this new phase of her professional many men and women who’ve served the State Police
life is not so much on collections and interpretation as over the years, scanned on a cutting-edge device the
on bringing the museum up to speed as a well-known, FBI would envy.
credentialed institution of history: ADA compliant, with
“living archives” of investigations and those who served Just as generations of past troopers worked together in
in readily-accessible databases, and exhibit rooms and the upstairs sleeping quarters, so now the grey-haired
fundraising practices that rival those at the best state- volunteers labor side-by-side, striving to preserve that
police museums. past for the appreciation of future scholars and citizens.

Her five-year plan includes building a garage in back “Most of the cops are service-oriented,” says Bob Cerra,
for the museum’s historic cruisers, which range from a retired trooper with a history degree who’s driving the
1931 to 1978 and always draw a crowd when they’re enormous, technologically advanced effort to build the
displayed. And beyond attracting people to Grafton, archives. “They’re retired and they pick something to
Alejandro wants “to bring the museum to them,” with a do - they want to do something positive. The museum
mobile unit that can set up at schools and community is a way they can build something that helps people.”
centers.
The Massachusetts State Police Museum and
“Ed (Montague and his fellow founders) did the really Learning Center is open Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11
hard work, had the really hard job,” Alejandro says, but am - 2 pm, and by appointment. Call 978-606-7933.
leaves unspoken the hours she’s put in learning on the 44 Worcester St., Grafton.
job the best practices of running small non-profits. She

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