All Pawtucket All The Time

By Ken McGill, Registrar of Voters

City of Pawtucket 

The City of Pawtucket has seen thirty mayors – from Mayor Fredrick Clark Sayles in 1886 to our current Mayor James Doyle our city has had an abundance of men who have served our city. In the group of thirty, there have been four unaffiliated, seven Republicans and nineteen Democrats. Pawtucket has not seen a Republican mayor since Mayor Lawrence A. McCarthy in 1951 who is technically listed as a Republican/Independent. Two of these men, Mayor’s Davis and Higgins, went on to serve as Governor of Rhode Island. I have had the honor of serving two of our mayors since coming to work for the city in 1996. Mayor Robert Metivier and Mayor James Doyle – two men who I respect and who I thank for the opportunity to serve the people of Pawtucket.

One mayor in particular caught my eye when we were looking for our historical nominee for the Pawtucket Hall of Fame. Mayor John J. Fitzgerald served the city as its chief executive from 1900 – 1902. He caught my eye because of his activism in what some call the “Trolley Wars”. Mayor Fitzgerald was just twenty-eight years old when he took the oath of office. A man of great convictions, Fitzgerald once said, “I believe in justice to classes, special favors to none”. The mayor was a friend to the working person here in Pawtucket, “I believe … that the man who handles the pick and shovel, or toils in the factory, is entitled to as much consideration as the man who sits in an easy chair in his office and clips coupons from his bonds or draws interest from his investment” said Fitzgerald. 

In June of 1902 Pawtucket was thrust into a labor dispute that gained national attention regarding the trolley car workers. The workers were fighting for better wages, working conditions and shorter hours. When the workers demands were not met they went out on strike and the transit company replaced the workers with scabs. Pawtucket and the whole Blackstone Valley was in an uproar and so was Mayor Fitzgerald. Damage was done to trolley tracks, boulders were put on tracks, there were demonstrations in the street that turned violent and across Main Street hung a banner that said “Electric Strike is On – Friends of the men will not ride in the cars.” Fitzgerald refused to use city police to protect the scab workers and the company’s property. The mayor said, ” Our police force is not at the beck and call of any corporation who feel they are entitled to special escort service…”.

As the crowds on June 11^th grew more violent and Fitzgerald continued to refuse to send in the local police Governor Charles Kimball mobilized the Rhode Island militia to quell the violence in Pawtucket. On June the 12^th five hundred soldiers came in to Pawtucket to keep the peace. Mayor Fitzgerald was livid and urged residents and strikers to continue their civil disobedience. Fights and demonstrations went on for weeks but most of the soldiers left Pawtucket on June 26^th in an act of solidarity with the striking workers and Mayor Fitzgerald was proclaimed a hero for not backing down to a thug governor and the state. Shortly after the militia left Pawtucket the trolley company and the striking workers settled.

Pawtucket has had some colorful mayors in our time but none was more of a friend to the worker the John J. Fitzgerald. His willingness to stand up for the worker and against the trolley company and the state has earned a special place in Pawtucket history and that is why Mayor John J. Fitzgerald will always be part of – Pawtucket – Your Hometown.

-           Until next week.