Ninety-nine years and counting!

Tim Killelea, a Boston Police striker who became a police officer in Westwood, with his son Roger. (Contributed by Roger’s son, Pete Killelea).

Tim Killelea, a Boston Police Striker who became a police officer in Westwood, with his son Roger, circa 1935. (Contributed by Roger’s son, Pete Killelea.)

As the centennial year of the 1919 Boston Police Strike approaches, we offer our heartfelt thanks to the volunteers near and far who have fueled the project from its earliest days. More than 150 individuals have enrolled in the self-paced online training course, and 28 volunteer researchers (with new recruits weekly) have already contributed more than 4,500 hours of volunteer labor that have resulted in completed first research pass on more than 700 of the 1,142 officers. 

The project is surrounded by excitement and energy from volunteers, descendants of strikers, UMass Boston and Boston Police Department staff, retired police officers, students at UMass Boston and Stonehill College and members of the general public. Interest was stoked by two enthusiastic press pieces that ran in the Boston Globe (Chronicling ‘the most significant event’ in the history of Boston police) and on WGBH’s Curiosity Desk (How A Team Of Citizen Researchers Are Finding New Layers In The Story Of The 1919 Boston Police Strike).  

In the early months of 2019, team members will forge ahead with the biographical and genealogical research, with the goal of completing a biographical sketch of each striking police officer. Later in the spring we will focus on creating an interactive website, open to all, that includes the research data, photographs, maps and a timeline. And on September 7th, 2019 (you’re invited!), we will host a public commemoration of the strike for the centennial anniversary to honor the men and their families whose lives were permanently altered by the 1919 strike along with the project’s friends and volunteers who are working hard to keep the strikers’ stories alive.  

Sincere thanks to you all for the overwhelming support this project has received so far. We look forward to partnering with our many supporters in 2019 to realize our collective dream of commemorating the 1919 strikers and their families.

Warmest holiday wishes to all from
the BPStrike Project Team


Support the next stages of the Boston Police Strike Project!  Click the Give Now button to make a financial contribution to “Friends of Healey Library.” Type your contribution amount into the “Gift Amount” box at the top of the screen, then click the checkbox labeled “Additional Comments/Special Instructions” and type “Boston Police Strike Project.”  You may also designate your donation in memory of or in honor of someone you’d like remembered.  Contributions at any level are very welcome.  So far, all stages of the BPStrike Project have been accomplished through the time and energy of volunteers, with the management and administration of the project provided by the University of Massachusetts Boston and partners in the Boston Police Department Archives.  Now, we need funding to accomplish the next stages of the project involving website design and centennial event expenses.  All contributors – both financial donors and donors of volunteer time and effort – will be recognized at the commemorative event on September 7, 2019 and on the project website.  THANK YOU!

Margaret Sullivan to present about 1919 Boston Police Strike at James Green Memorial Lecture on Saturday, October 20

Abandoned His Duty Sept. 9, 1919Join the Labor Resource Center and History Department Master’s Program at UMass Boston and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO at Democracy Brewing on Saturday, October 20 for the second annual James Green Memorial Lecture and People’s History Walking Tour of Boston.

The event will begin at 9:30 a.m. with a talk by Boston Police Department Records Manager and Archivist Margaret R. Sullivan. She will present “The 1919 Boston Police Strike Project: Researching the Men Behind the Strike.” Attendees will then embark on a 3-mile guided tour through downtown Boston before returning for food and drinks at Democracy Brewing.

Seats fill up quickly, so register now to reserve your spot!


Visit the 1919 Boston Police Strike Project blog to listen to an audio interview with Dr. James Green, or read about last year’s event from the perspective of two public history graduate student tour leaders. Unable to make it? Check out Dr. Cristina V. Groeger’s People’s History Walking Tour of Boston website, hosted by the Labor Resource Center at UMass Boston.