Event Summary
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were two Italian anarchists who were accused of killing the guard and the pay master on April 15th, 1920 in South Braintree, Massachusetts.
- They were most likely accused because of their political beliefs and their status as immigrants. Neither had any criminal record at all.
- They were found guilty, but Judge Webster Thayer did not hand down their sentence.
- There was an outcry called for a new trial, especially after a convicted bank robber, Celestino Madeiros, admitted to having participated in the April 15th events.
- Despite this new information, Judge Thayer handed down a death sentence in 1927. Sacco and Vanzetti were executed August 23rd, 1927.
This article by The Atlantic gives a detailed summery of both the trial and the events leading up to it
Click here for a timeline of the Sacco and Vanzetti trial and the events leading up to it
Click here to learn about some of the aftermath of the Sacco and Vanzetti trial
Primary Sources
Click here to see the New York Times article about Sacco and Vanzetti that was published after their execution.
Click here to see some cool primary sources involved with the Sacco and Vanzetti trial
Bartolomeo Vanzetti Speech to the Jury
This link leads to the above picture of protestors arguing for the innocence of Sacco and Vanzetti as
well as other images from the trial
Multimedia Resources
Click here to watch a YouTube video explaining the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti
Roger Ebert review of the 1971 film
Teaching and Learning Resources
Sacco & Vanzetti Learning Plan from Digital Inquiry Group
Were Two Innocent Men Executed?
August 23 is Sacco and Vanzetti Memorial Day in Massachusetts
Click here to learn a bit about Sacco and Vanzetti memorial day
Click here to read the Proclamation by Governor Michael S. Dukakis on Sacco and Vanzetti Memorial Day
On Sacco and Vanzetti Memorial Day in 2017 a memorial was put in front of the courthouse where the trial took place. A picture of the memorial can be seen above.
The Medeiros confession
During the Sacco and Vanzetti trial an inmate by the name of Celestino F. Medeiros confessed to the Braintree murder. Furthermore, he went as far to say neither Sacco or Vanzetti were involved with the crime. However, Medeiros refused to give the location of the money stolen during the Braintree murder nor the name of his associate whom he committed the crime with. The judge of the Sacco and Vanzetti trial, Webster Thayer, ignored new evidence.
Click here to read about Medeiros's who Celestino F. Medeiros was
Click here to read more about Medeiros's confession
Edna St. Vincent MIllay (1920)
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Millay was an American Poet who heavily criticized the American judicial system during the Sacco and Vanzetti trial. She was arrested for participating in a protest in support of Sacco and Vanzetti. She even wrote a letter to the governor of Massachusetts at the time, Alvan T. Fuller, asking him to intervene in the trial. He ignored her request.
Click here to read about Edna St. Vincent Millay and her involvement in Sacco and Vanzetti's trial
Click here to read Millay's full letter to the Massachusetts Governor
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