20th Century Boston

The Boston Police Strike in 1919 was one of many of the labor strikes happening all across the United States at the time. The unions were attempting to get higher wages to change for inflation from wartime. Because of their impact in the community, the mostly Irish American police force organized a strike for shorter hours, better working conditions and higher pay. On September 9, 1919, 1,100 police officers went on strike after they couldn’t reach an agreement. To restore the peace, Governor Calvin Coolidge sent the Massachusetts National Guard. This was one of the actions that Coolidge took that helped him land the vice presidency in 1920.

By the time the middle of the 1900’s came around, Boston was experiencing a mass exodus of industrial factories because they were looking to relocate to a place with a cheaper workforce. In response to this, the city followed up with urban renewal projects that would end up being the reason Government Center was erected in place of the West End neighborhood. They did this so they could encourage diversification in the 1970’s into investment and banking fields to become a leader in the industry of mutual funds.

In 1974, racial tensions exploded after the forced busing of students transpired. This was done with improving the balance of the student body in mind, but it only led to more racial tension that would end up leading to unrest and violence.

After that, some of those same ethnic neighborhoods had been knocked down and turned into housing for the richest people in the area. Because of this, Boston faces a great deal of gentrification problems and many working class and modest neighborhoods have been destroyed. This is not uncommon for many of the older cities that reside on the East Coast.

Current Boston

Today, outside of the problems that most cities have, Boston is a place to get your fix for history and the current. They are a big sports loving town with their teams performing very well over the last decade. Teams like the New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins have all had their time in the sun and continue to put tough teams out onto the field. If you are not a sports fan, visit one of the many historical museums to catch up on the history of Boston.