North Adams Holocaust Museum Talking With Worcester University
 Darrell K. English speaks to a group in August at the New England Holocaust Institute. English has been seeking a larger, permanent location for his collection. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The tiny Holocaust museum on Eagle Street has been struggling for more than a year to make itself a presence in the city.
But it may find its niche farther from home.
Museum founder Darrell K. English is hoping to make a connection with Worcester State University.
Several faculty visited the New England Holocaust Institute and Museum last week and English learned Tuesday that the university is interested in hosting some of his artifacts for a kind of trial run.
"They're trying to work out a location," he said. "They want to put together something of an exhibit to get the feel and flavor of it."
He hadn't expected to hear back from the professors until closer to Thanksgiving and was heartened by the feedback.
He thought last week that they were impressed: "The right people were here to see this and they will go back with the right information."
Last week, Frank S. Minasian, chairman of the department of history and political science at the university, toured the one-room museum with professors Michael Gesin and Michael Baker, and Library Director Sai Chinnaswamy.
"It's an exciting collection of World War II German/Nazi materials," Minasian said at the time. "That's the very reason that it needs to be displayed. ... Worcester would be a great place."
He cited the city's size and location in a hub of higher education institutions, a larger Jewish population and historical interest.
"It would be an attraction to the city of Worcester but the decision would be down to the [university's] board [of trustees]," he said. "I think it would be a really fortunate addition."
English has been collecting World War II and Nazi/Holocaust artifacts since he was a teen. The museum on Eagle Street holds only a tiny portion of the thousands of pieces in his collection.
Trying to raise awareness of the museum in hopes to turn it into a permanent and sustainable location has been an uphill battle. The subject may be important — in both historical and contemporary terms — but it's been tough to carve out a niche in a city focused on arts and creative economy tourism.
English has hosted educators and students, tourists and traveling groups, explaining the significance of what he has and the history behind it. He thinks the university's interest has provided legitimacy to the collection's educational component.
The small donation jar at the door can't keep the storefront open. He and his wife, Mary, joke that she's his biggest investor. The doors nearly shut earlier this summer until a large contribution by Jerry Klinger of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation staved off the closure for now.
The reprieve was to give English time to find other sources of funding. He has reached out to colleges and foundations, friends and friends of friends.
 English with Sai Chinnaswamy and Frank S. Minasian last week. |
"We would have to have an angel," said Mary English. "But we'd like to have a larger angel."
Promotion hasn't been his thing, Darrell English says.
"I've never been able to figure out a proper price tag," he said. "My whole thing is the acquisition of artifacts.
"I've done all that I can do ... I've been talking to people for so long and nothing seems to be happening."
But after more recent articles, and a Channel 10 report about last week's visit by the Worcester professors, there's been more interest in the museum, including an offer to buy the whole collection and ship it to Florida.
But English said he still wants to develop the museum, which has become as much a passion as his collecting.
A relationship with Worcester State University — in the second-largest city in New England and with some 35,000 students — could be the "larger angel" the museum needs.
Nothing is written in stone and English is still pursuing other avenues, including the possibility of a mobile museum, which he's discussed with Baker, one of the Worcester instructors and a friend. There's also the possibility in the future of moving to the train and local history museum being proposed by the Partnership for North Adams at the former Sons of Italy.
"We're still out there promoting the ideas to staying here," English said. "I would like to keep it here in the region but I can't seem to push the button."
Tags: historical, Holocaust, museum,
