Replacement officers being sworn in

Photographs

1919

Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum, Northampton, MA

A grainy black and white photograph of a row of police officers in dark uniforms with long overcoats and police caps. They are standing in a line and raising their arms, as if taking an oath. The men are all wearing white gloves. In front of them, facing the line of police officers, stands two men in dark coats. One is a police officer with an ornately decorated cap and uniform sleeves. The other man, wearing a long dark coat, is standing at an angle, facing the camera slightly, but looking at the men. Behind the men stands a row of brick buildings and an iron fence.

Unlike the striking Irish officers, their Yankee replacements received the benefits that Commissioner Curtis had found so contentious.

After the Boston Police Strike, the police Commissioner of Boston Edwin Upton Curtis, with the support of Governor Calvin Coolidge, fired all of the striking officers and replaced them. Here, these officers are being sworn in.

The 1919 Boston Police Strike

Demonstration

Words

Photographs