Title: Tribute to Police Commissioner Curtis
Date: March 29, 1922
Location: Washington, DC
Context: Coolidge pays tribute upon the death of former Boston police commissioner Edwin U. Curtis, with whom he confronted the 1919 police strike.
It is with greatest regret that I learn of the death of Edwin U. Curtis, police commissioner of the city of Boston. He performed a service that not only saved his own city, but one which was world-wide in its influence and effect. When it would have been very easy for him to permit the development of a dangerous situation within his force he was courageous enough to take a stand against it, and maintain that stand in spite of every pressure that was brought against him. He had nothing to gain and everything to lose. The people of Boston, even, never understood the great sacrifice that he made in their behalf in the loyal devotion he displayed to the maintenance of government in accordance with law.
He was a man of rare ability, of sincere loyalty to his friends, and of great loyalty to the men in the police service. He was not only the head of the department, he was the best friend of the men in the department. It is not too much to say that he has sacrificed his life in the public service. It is from the courage and devotion of such men as Edwin U. Curtis that orderly government maintains its supremacy and civilization derives its security.
Citation: The Buffalo Times, March 29, 1922.