2-378-261 - Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images

The Boston Police Strike, Massachusetts, USA, September 1919. A 'loyal' policeman instructing a mounted State Guardsman. The majority of Boston's police force went out on strike on on 9 September 1919. Widespread civil disorder broke out in the city and the Massachusetts Militia was deployed to restore order. US President Woodrow Wilson desribed the strike as a crime against civilization. State Governor Calvin Coolidge intervened to end the strike, sacking 1100 of the striking officers and hiring 1574 replacements from the ranks of unemployed World War I veterans. The new officers received higher salaries, more holiday entitlement and uniforms provided by the city, some of the demands their predecessors had struck for. Cooloidge's actions gave a substantial boost to his political career and he was nominated as Warren Harding's Vice-Presidential candidate for the 1920 election.