Having everyone’s job around one improve but not his or her own would make one furious, but when this has been going on for ten years and more restrictions are being added on one may be tempted to fight back. The Boston Police Strike of 1919 is all because of these very two things. To start with, the police force were frustrated with the fact that their pay had not changed in close to ten years, and it still did not begin changing when the economy was booming due to the end of World War I. Their working conditions did not seem to improve either. As it is described on page 10 of Francis Russell’s A City in Terror, “Boston Police still wore dome-shaped helmets...They also wore high-necked frock coats above which protruded the ends of a winged …show more content…
To start with, Commissioner Curtis had to make the first move. Many people had left the force thinking it would only be until they got what they wanted fromt the strike; however, this was not the case. Due to the soldiers coming back from overseas, the labor force was increasing at a fast rate. With this being said, Curtis could (and did) fire everyone who went on strike. At that point in time, Governor Coolidge made a statement, “Coolidge replied with a statement of support for Commissioner Curtis’ hard line” (TheNewAmerican.com). All though this may not seem to have been a big deal at the time it made a name for Coolidge (who would later become president). It made him known for being “extraordinary in his simplicity and notable in his complexity” (Sobel 28), and it seemed to draw the strike a lot closer to its end. From this point on Coolidge backed Curtis up. Curtis now started hiring many new police officers. This even seemed to help the police force, because many of the applicants had just been in the military and did not nee the extensive training. In the end, this is what brought an official closing to the Boston Police Strike of 1919. The strike officially ended and it may have caused many crimes, but the force was back in full action and stronger than ever. By the end of this both Governor Coolidge and Curtis were deemed