We were visited by a hawk during a recent cemetery stroll, which is supposed to indicate imminent enlightenment of some sort. And, in this case, it certainly held true. I was contacted by Joanne Riley, team member of a public history project at UMass researching the Boston Police strike of 1919.They had found some evidence that james Conway, one of the people on my Ancestry tree, had been one of the striking Boston police officers in September 1919. They were seeking additional information about him.
It got me thinking about how Gloucester might have been affected by this strike and I found that Gloucester and Rockport sent troops to Boston to help; Company K, L and M of the Rockport and Gloucester State Guardsmen as noted here from the Gloucester Daily Times Sept 11 1919:
I learned this strike helped get Calvin Coolidge elected President based partly on the manner in which he dealt with the strikers as Governor of Massachusetts. From Gloucester Daily Times Sept 25 1919:
And, more than anything, it made me look a little closer at James Conway who did indeed lose his job as a policeman but census records indicate he was able to find other employment fairly quickly. His police duty card sent along by the research team. It’s been an interesting exercise researching this historical event and its impact locally.
Good Morning Gloucester 