#sacco and vanzetti

[thepopculturearchivist]

LIFE, May 5, 1927

[geekysteven]

[ryanhamiltonwalsh]

Walking by the court house in Dedham, MA the other night, I started thinking about Sacco & Vanzetti again, and their infamous, shameful trial in the same building where—despite a mountain of evidence and worldwide protests in their favor—they were found guilty and subsequently executed in 1927.

Woody Guthrie wrote an entire album about it, and if you've never heard the folk legend sing the town name Dedham ("we're stuck here in this dark Dedham jail"), you can remedy that here.

At the time, a Supreme Court justice owned a second home in Dedham, just a few yards away from the jail in question. Louis Brandeis, appointed by Woodrow Wilson, was a Supreme Court Justice of the United States from 1916 to 1939. A good summary of Brandeis, and why he was controversial, came from a fellow justice and went like this: "Brandeis was a militant crusader for social justice whoever his opponent might be. He was dangerous not only because of his brilliance, his arithmetic, his courage. He was dangerous because he was incorruptible … [and] the fears of the Establishment were greater because Brandeis was the first Jew to be named to the Court."

Brandeis adored Dedham, telling his brother, "Dedham is a spring of eternal youth for me. I feel newly made and ready to deny the existence of these gray hairs." I didn't know it until recently, but I walk by this house once a week on my hometown walk-route with my friend Julia. 195 Village Ave.

Louis Brandeis's wife, Alice Goldmark Brandeis, was perhaps even more progressive than her husband, well known as a vocal proponent of women's rights and labor causes. During the trial of Sacco & Vanzetti, she permitted Sacco's family to stay in their Dedham home to make visits to the jail easier. And get a kleenex ready, because one detail related to that you simply must know is: "Sacco's seven-year-old son, Dante, would sometimes stand on the sidewalk outside the jail and play catch with his father by throwing a ball over the wall." Additionally, Alice made a significant donation to their defense fund.

The entire case is fascinating, multi-faceted, full of twists and turns and potential evidence tampering by law enforcement, and in that way (and only that way), it is similar to what's being tried there right now. Officer Albert Hamilton tried to walk out of the court room with Sacco's gun, only to be stopped at the last moment by the judge. Post-trial, police Captain Van Amburgh took Sacco and Vanzetti's guns and bullets home, where they stayed until 1960 (!) until the Boston Globe uncovered the scandal. If you're curious, I recommend reading Tragedy in Dedham by Francis Russell.

They were found guilty. Worldwide protests erupted. Bombs were mailed. 20,000 gathered at Boston Common. Pleas for clemency abounded.

"Sacco and Vanzetti’s lawyers, rebuffed by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, aimed at convincing a justice to issue a temporary stay of execution until the U.S. Supreme Court could fully review whether the two men had received a fair trial. ...Louis Brandeis, another progressive justice, recused himself from the case, because his wife, Alice, had made a significant donation to Sacco and Vanzetti’s defense fund." — SCOUTSblog

This is all to say, hey, how about that? Recusing yourself from an issue because of your wife's strong, public opinions on the matter? Justice Alito and Thomas wouldn't be worthy of cleaning Brandeis's toilet.

[barbiebabalon]

The Artist's PMS Taking Its Usual Form Of Getting Overly Emotional About Sacco and Vanzetti.

[victusinveritas]

Kurt Vonnegut, "Jailbird"

[falsenote]

[rebel-girl-queen-of-my-world]

Was just minding my business listening to assorted Wes Anderson soundtracks, now I’m crying bc of Joan Baez’s beautiful song for Sacco and Vanzetti:

Here’s to you, Nicola and Bart

Rest forever here in our hearts

The last and final moment is yours

That agony is your triumph.

For more on the tragedy of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti:

[papierscolles]

What I wish more than all in this last hour of agony is that our case and our fate may be understood in their real being and serve as a tremendous lesson to the forces of freedom, that our suffering and death will not have been in vain.

Sacco et Vanzetti. 

Ce que je souhaite plus que tout en cette dernière heure d'agonie, c'est que notre cas et notre destin soient compris dans leur être réel et servent de formidable leçon aux forces de la liberté, que nos souffrances et notre mort n'aient pas été vaines.

http://saccoandvanzetti.org/index.php

[pilgrim1975]

Peter 'Bootah' Heslin, but it could have been James Cagney.

A while ago I covered the notorious Francis ‘Two-Gun’ Crowley who walked his last mile at Sing Sing on January 21, 1932. Mentioned in Dale Carnegie’s ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People,’ Crowley didn’t win any friends but cetrainly influenced people, providing inspiration for James Cagney’s character ‘Rocky Sullivan’ in classic crime movie ‘Angels With Dirty Faces.’ Whether ‘Sullivan’ was…

[drsonnet]

لولا هذه الأشياء ، لربما عشت حياتي وأنا أتحدث في زوايا الشوارع إلى الرجال المحتقرين. ربما كنت قد مت ، بدون علامات ، غير معروف ، فاشل. الآن نحن لسنا فاشلين. هذه هي مسيرتنا وانتصارنا. لم يكن بإمكاننا أبدا أن نأمل في حياتنا الكاملة في القيام بمثل هذا العمل من أجل التسامح والعدالة وفهم الإنسان للإنسان كما نفعل الآن عن طريق الصدفة. كلماتنا - حياتنا - آلامنا - لا شيء! أخذ حياتنا - حياة صانع أحذية جيد وبائع أسماك فقير - كل شيء! تلك اللحظة الأخيرة ملك لنا - هذا العذاب هو انتصارنا.  ساكو ، نيكولا. فانزيتي ، بارتولوميو (2007). رسائل ساكو وفانزيتي. لندن: البطريق. ب. ل. ردمك 978-0-14-310507-7.

[maximumtalewonderland]

Sacco and Vanzetti executed

Despite worldwide demonstrations in support of their innocence, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are executed for murder on August 23, 1927. 

On April 15, 1920, a paymaster for a shoe company in South Braintree, Massachusetts, was shot and killed along with his guard. The murderers, who were described as two Italian men, escaped with more than $15,000. After going to a garage to claim a car that police said was connected with the crime, Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested and charged with the crime. Although both men carried guns and made false statements upon their arrest, neither had a previous criminal record. On July 14, 1921, they were convicted and sentenced to die.

Anti-radical sentiment was running high in America at the time, and the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti was regarded by many as unlawfully sensational. Authorities had failed to come up with any evidence of the stolen money, and much of the other evidence against them was later discredited. During the next few years, sporadic protests were held in Massachusetts and around the world calling for their release, especially after Celestino Madeiros, then under a sentence for murder, confessed in 1925 that he had participated in the crime with the Joe Morelli gang. The state Supreme Court refused to upset the verdict, and Massachusetts Governor Alvan T. Fuller denied the men clemency. In the days leading up to the execution, protests were held in cities around the world, and bombs were set off in New York City and Philadelphia. On August 23, Sacco and Vanzetti were electrocuted.

In 1961, a test of Sacco’s gun using modern forensic techniques apparently proved it was his gun that killed the guard, though little evidence has been found to substantiate Vanzetti’s guilt. In 1977, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation vindicating Sacco and Vanzetti, stating that they had been treated unjustly and that no stigma should be associated with their names.

[dontcallittimetravel]

On This Day: The titanic is bombed by the infamous anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti, a crime for which they are later executed

[certainlynotather10]

I cant draw but I kinda want to draw some fannart purely so I can title it something super vague like “here’s to you” or ”that agony is your triumph” or some shit

[mad-rieux]

Old book I found for my research paper

[murderousink23]

The earworm of the day:

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti died in the electric chair on August 23, 1927. They were accused of killing two men during an armed robbery.

The trial and subsequent appeals attracted enormous interest internationally, and generated vehement protests. Sacco and Vanzetti were considered to be victims of prejudice against immigrants, Italians, Catholics, and anarchists. John Dos Passos, Dorothy Parker, Edna St. Vincent Millay, George Bernard Shaw, and Albert Einstein were among those who wrote about the case or signed petitions.

The photo above shows a demonstration in Union Square on the day of the men's execution.

Photo: Everett via Fine Art America