History Daily – "The Boston Police Strike"

Host: Lindsay Graham
Date: September 9, 2025

Brief Overview

In this episode of History Daily, host Lindsay Graham transports listeners to the tumultuous night of September 9, 1919, when Boston’s police force walked off the job to demand fair pay and better working conditions. The episode explores the chaos that engulfed the city, the improvisational efforts to restore order, the political fallout, and how the Boston Police Strike became a landmark moment for US labor history and the rise of Calvin Coolidge.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Catalyst: Working Conditions in 1919 Boston

[03:24 – 05:00]

• Boston’s police force suffered from poor pay despite rapidly rising costs of living.
  • Cost of living had risen 75% since 1913; police wages only 18%.
  • Grueling schedules: “They work 13 out of every 14 days, and even their rare days off often get canceled by last minute calls…”
• Officers paid for their own uniforms and worked in squalid station conditions (“…patrol stations are often infested with rats.”).
• John McInnis, patrolman and chair of the Police Relief Association, leads the push for unionization.
• Police Commissioner Edwin Upton Curtis repeatedly rebuffs demands, viewing unionization as insubordination.

A National Atmosphere of Labor Unrest

[05:00 – 06:06]

• The end of WWI brought surpluses of labor and a downturn in wages across industries (“…a glut of returning servicemen. As a result, wages fell and working conditions worsened. That sparked a series of strikes across America.”).
• Widespread strikes, including in New York, Seattle, and Boston, stoked public fears of socialism and revolution (“Sensationalist media reports have warned of a socialist revolution. And fears of a Bolshevik takeover like the one in Russia have taken hold among many Americans.”).
• Police union efforts are met with harsh reprisals from Curtis, who suspends ringleaders and bans police from joining unions.

The Strike Begins: September 9, 1919

[06:06 – 08:23]

• After Curtis suspends 19 more officers, union momentum crescendos—only two vote against striking.
• John McInnis announces the strike for the 6pm shift change, leaving all of Boston without its police force.

Restoring Order: The Harvard Regiment and Volunteers

[10:04 – 13:50]

• Harvard President Abbott Lawrence Lowell urgently assembles faculty and students to volunteer as peacekeepers (“…delivers a rallying cry. He calls on faculty and students alike to volunteer as a peacekeeping force.” [10:18])
• Over 400 Harvard staff and students join, later dubbed the “Harvard Regiment.”
• Volunteers are mostly symbolic but maintain order near Harvard; elsewhere, “panic takes hold” and violence spreads (“Elsewhere, panic takes hold as the city slides into chaos. Property is destroyed. In Roxbury. Armed rioters fill Scolly Square.”).
• The patchwork of special police, including business owners and veterans, proves inadequate. Some volunteers are beaten; violence escalates citywide.

Escalation and Arrival of State Guard

[13:50 – 17:28]

• Boston Mayor Andrew Peters overrules Commissioner Curtis, requests the Massachusetts State Guard.
• “Within hours, state troops flood the city, and Boston becomes a hive of military activity. State guardsmen set up a command post…and surround their position with machine guns.”
• State Guard imposes curfew, makes mass arrests, and ultimately disperses rioters with gunfire and swords.
• Governor Calvin Coolidge, previously uninvolved, seizes the moment—issuing a sharp declaration:
  • Quote [17:58]: “There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, anytime.” — Calvin Coolidge

Shifting Public Opinion and Aftermath

[17:58 – 19:00]

• Coolidge’s statement is widely publicized, shifting public sentiment against the strikers.
  • “Editorials praise the Governor’s resolve. Political allies rally behind him, and most importantly of all, public opinion turns in favor of the authorities.”
• Striking officers, isolated, finally offer to return. Curtis refuses, “builds a new police force from scratch”—ironically granting new hires many of the benefits strikers demanded, except for unionization.

Legacy and Political Impact

[19:00 – End]

• Coolidge is hailed a national hero (“Governor Coolidge is hailed as a hero. The following year, Coolidge is the Republican nominee for vice president. His name on the ticket helps win the general election. And then three years later…Coolidge becomes the 30th president of the United States.”).
• The strike sets off nationwide suspicion about unions and labor activism, helping to usher in stricter limits on organizing for public employees.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [00:00] — Opening vignette:
  “A 20 year old Harvard student discreetly sidesteps into a dimly lit alley, melting into the shadows as a group of raucous men heads his way…he also knows that he’s outnumbered…a fire bell rings somewhere in the distance. Then a crack of gunfire echoes off the brick buildings. The student glances at the fleeing vandals, then the baton in his hand, beginning to wonder, is he going to survive the night?”
  — Lindsay Graham, illustrating the immediate chaos gripping Boston

• [10:18] — Abbey Lawrence Lowell’s rally:
  “He calls on faculty and students alike to volunteer as a peacekeeping force. Otherwise, Boston may descend into lawlessness and lose. Even the university’s many historic buildings may be at risk.”

• [17:58] — Calvin Coolidge’s defining statement:
  “There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, anytime.”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:00] — Dramatic scene-setting: Harvard volunteer’s plunge into chaos
• [03:24] — Working conditions and the push to unionize
• [05:00] — Context of post-war labor unrest
• [06:06] — The police strike begins
• [10:04] — Harvard organizes volunteer force
• [13:50] — State Guard called in, military response
• [17:58] — Coolidge’s statement, public opinion shifts
• [19:00] — Strike collapses, Coolidge’s rise, and legacy

Conclusion

This episode of History Daily vividly reconstructs the Boston Police Strike as both a gripping city crisis and a formative episode in American politics and labor relations. Through compelling vignettes and a brisk narrative, it reveals how a dispute over fair pay led to widespread disorder, forged new heroes and villains, and had reverberations that would shape labor law and presidential politics for decades. Lindsay Graham brings listeners to the heart of 1919 Boston, where “history is made every day.”

For reference:

• Skip to [10:04] for the story of the volunteer Harvard Regiment
• Don’t miss Coolidge’s famous quote at [17:58]
• The fallout and long-term consequences are covered from [19:00] onward