Sacco and Vanzetti!!

     Last week, we were told about a post WWI research project we were going to do. My assignment was to research and learn about Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. My first source I used was a book handed to me by Mrs. Lawson called The Lives of Sacco and Vanzetti written by Rick Geary. This book showed me a chronology of the events that took place in the lives of Sacco and Vanzetti starting on April 15, 1920 right up until their unjustly execution on August 23, 1927.

Sacco (left) and Vanzetti (right)

     Sacco and Vanzetti were two Italian immigrants who were radicals with no criminal history. They were arrested for appearing as “suspicious characters” and immediately connected to a murder in Braintree, Massachusetts having no evidence held against them but some shotgun shells of the same type found in Vanzetti’s coat pocket. This, along with the fact they were armed and involved with anarchists, caused them to be immediately assumed guilty throughout the trial. They were picked up off a streetcar after supposedly being out to warn their friends to get rid of all their paperwork proving their involvement in anarchist activity. 

     As I continued to read the book, I became very surprised with the unfairness of the trial. Vanzetti had a solid alibi proven by twenty other immigrants saying he sold them eels on the night of the murder. However, the judge being racial against immigrants, he automatically classified them as unworthy sources because they could not speak English perfectly without an accent. The judge in charge of their case was a racist known for his hatred towards immigrants, was Webster Thayer.                    

Judge Webster Thayer

     The crime occurred in Braintree, MA and consisted of two men robbing workers for a shoe factory carrying a total payroll of $15,776.51 in cash. The two men then shot the two other workers and fled off in a car carrying two other men. Sacco and Vanzetti's trial continued for seven years in which during that time many eyewitnesses were brought forward along with other evidence. Most of the eyewitnesses put on the stand were still unable to fully say for sure what they had seen and many were guessing as to what had happened. 

The "cage" Sacco and Vanzetti were required to sit in while in trial

     After my reading came to a conclusion, I knew everything there was to know involving the case. What I did not know was how this case was affected by the Red Scare occurring during this time period. On this website, I found that the Red Scare took place between the years of 1918-1921 and was during the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. This cause many Americans to become afraid of immigrants, anarchists, communists, and any other groups that appeared anti-government or anti-american. Many raids and strikes took place and many people were arrested. These people were arrested just for voicing an opinion that didn't necessarily agree with the government whether it was anti-american or not. One of my primary sources was the movie called Sacco and Vanzetti made in 2007. This was a documentary explaining the racism during this time period and how immigrants were looked down upon just because of where they originated from.

     After researching about the red scare, I decided to see if i could find any more information about the case that i didn't already know. I looked up their case on AVL and came across this article titled Sacco's Struggle for Sanity... This article told about Sacco's experience in prison and the impact it had on his physical and mental state. Sacco was held in Dedham Jail where he was confined for two years consistently and not allowed out of his cell. Previously, he had worked in a job that required intensive labor, completely different from what he was allowed in jail. He soon complained of attempts made on his life including poisoned food, toxic gasses put in his cell, and and electrical current circulated under his bunk. Sacco then went on a hunger strike hoping to speed up the inevitable execution ahead in his future! Judge Thayer sent him to a psychiatric hospital to try and get him to eat again lasting only a week due to his "good behavior". He was then diagnosed with "Sensory Deprivation" caused by his forced isolation from his everyday life he's used to living in leading to major shock.
     My last and final source used was an article titled World Opinion of Sacco and Vanzetti. This article explained how the rest of the world viewed this case and what their opinion was. It showed that despite the fact Sacco and Vanzetti were immigrants and could possibly be guilty, the amount of suffering they endured in the seven years of the case caused sympathy and that the American judicial system was unjust and prejudice towards certain people.

People protesting the arrest of Sacco and Vanzetti

     To this day, we are still not able to prove whether or not these two men are guilty. The only concrete evidence used in the trial were bullets found in their possession that were the same type as the ones used at the crime scene. Also, many eyewitness accounts conflicted with the facts of the trial: one person said the two murderers spoke with no accent and were fluent in English, both Sacco and Vanzetti spoke with heavy Italian accents. The $15,776.51 was also never recovered and therefore was never proven to have ever been in either suspect's possession. Even though Sacco appeared guilty, neither men could technically be proven guilty. The justice system was unfair towards them and the verdict was defined all by the opinion of the court! A memorial has been put up to commemorate the two and is now located at the Boston Public Library.

Memorial sculpted by Gutzon Borglum