Vol. XXXI, No. 2
SALVE REGINA COLLEGE / NEWPORT, R. I.
November-December 1977
''The Mystery of Sacco and Vanzetti''
Salve Choral Director Defends Innocence of Ancestor Then by SUE HOFFMAN Just over 50 years ago occurred the Dedham trial in which Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were convicted of murdering a pay master and his guard in South Braintree, Massachusetts seven years earlier. On August 23, 1927 the sentences passed on the two men were carried out. Sacco and Vanzetti suffered "the punishment of death by the passage of a current of electricity" through their bodies. This may well be one of the most controversial court cases 1n American history. Today, 50 years after their trial and conviction, that the guilt of Sacco and Vanzetti was actually proven at the time of their execution is questioned.
Many people believe the court's findings on the guilt of Sacco and Vanzetti rested heavily on their political beliefs. They were radicals, Italian anarchists, who were arrested in the middle of the period of anti-Red hysteria. Trial Questioned Several notable historians have even insinuated that the courts and criminal authorities intentionally chose to ignore any material which may have indicated that Sacco and Vanzetti were not guilty. Joseph Morelli, a member of the Morelli gang of Providence, looked enough like Sacco to be his brother. Could the witnesses have mistaken Morelli for Sacco? Similar questions linger, raising the possibility that the executed pair may have been innocent.
As¡ always, there are several complex issues to consider. Although few people believe that Sacco and Vanzetti received a fair trial, many hold that they were rightfully executed. It seems these people have some grounds for their beliefs. The day the crime was committed, Nicola Sacco was absent from work. At the time they were arrested, Sacco and Vanzetti were armed. Besides, ballistics tests have proven that the fatal bullets were fired from Sacco's Colt. There are far too many points on either side, proving guilt or innocence, to include here. But these are a few main points of the case. Sacco's Name Survives Vanzetti's famous speech before the sentencing is interesting
sul General of the United States. Stranger on Train While in Boston, Sacco met four of his friends. On the train, during his return trip, he spoke to a man who later appeared at the trial quite by accident. This stranger was on the jury for another case being held in the same building as the Sacco and Vanzetti case. He had entered the room to listen to Sacco's testimony during a break in his case and Sacco (who was on the stand) stopped the trial. Both this man and Sacco were questioned extensively about the train ride from Boston. Their testimony was enough to prove that Sacco was indeed on a train from Boston! But the judge said that maybe Sacco did go to Boston and see those four men and the man on the train, but it didn't have to be the day in question, April 15th. "All the judge had to do," commented Mr. Sacco, "was to look at my grandfather's time card. It showed April 15th was the only day he ( Nicola Sacco) had missed work." Mr. Sacco then explained why Sacco and Vanzetti were armed
when arrested. It was quite common at that time, he said, for citizens to carry weapons for protection. Besides this, the two men were in fear of their Jives. A friend of theirs had recently died after supposedly jumping from the 15th floor of the New York City Police Department. Mr. Sacco said that the two men were out collecting adverse literature at the time of their arrest, and were anticipating a police raid. The Fatal Bullets In reference to the bullets that killed the men, Mr. Sacco agreed that they did come from the gun which his grandfather possessed at the time of his arrest. But the q u e s t i o n remains, "Did Sacco himself fire the fatal shots?" In fact, there are conflicting reports about the number of bullets :it the actual murder scene, the different markings on one of the bullets, and who had possession of the gun and bullets before, during, and after the trial. Francis Russel, author of Tragedy In Dedham, has stated that "the Sacco family" has been silent since the execution. Upon hearing this, Mr. Sacco remarked:
to note. At one point he restated his innocence: "I am so convinced to be right that if you could execute me two times, and if I could be reborn two other times, I would Jive again to do what I have already done." And in reference to Sacco, Vanzetti wrote: "Sacco's name will Jive in the hearts of the people, and so will their gratitude when Katzmann's and your bones will be dispersed by time, when your name, his name, your Jaws, institutions, and your false god are but a deep remen,oring of a cursed past in which man was wolf to man." Katzmann was the prosecuting attorney. Most likely there will be perpetual doubts and arguments concerning the guilt or innocence, as well as the fairness of their trial,
of Sacco and Vanzetti. There are some who believe Vanzetti was possibly guilty and Sacco was probably guilty. Still, during the seven year lapse between the time of their arrest and the time of their execution there were protests, on a world-wide level, by believers in the innocence of Sacco and Vanzetti. But these appeals were never heeded by any sources responsible for judgment. Among the principal persons alive today who could probably tell the real story are the survivors of Nicola Sacco : his wife, his son, Dante, and his daughter, Ines. They have generally remained silent about the case since shortly after Sacco's execution. Such is not the case of the slain man's grandson, Spencer Sacco.
Now by SUE COSTA Normally, all of this would seem very distant and unrelated to us here at Salve. But did you know that among the faculty here is Spencer Sacco, grandson of Nicola Sacco? Mr. Sacco is the director of the Newport College Singers and presently resides in Newport. He grew up in Norwood, Mass., just miles from the site in Dedham where his grandfather was declared guilty of murder and sentenced to death. Mr. Sacco is a graduate of Boston University and, having been very successful in business, he has gone into an early retirement. When I met with him in the old family library of Ochre Court, I was quite anxious that the interview on such a controversial topic should go well. I need not have worried. Once seated, Mr. Sacco needed no encouragement when I asked his opinion about his grandfather's trial. Judge Requests Case Mr. Sacco explained to me :ill of the negative elements which Nicola Sacco had going against him. First of all, he was an immigrant, who belonged to the Italian "anarchista." Also, the judge who presided over the trial had requested that particular case. Mr. Sacco noted that it is extremely rare that a judge be allowed to do this. Moreover, this judge left his own district and went to Dedham for the Sacco and Vanzetti case. Another interesting fact is that this same judge had also been involved in an earlier case involving Vanzetti. At one point the judge in question was quoted outside the courtroom as saying, "They ought to die anyway," meaning Sacco and Vanzetti. When asked about his grandfather's absence from work on April 15th, the day of the murders, Mr. Sacco explained that his grandfather had gone by train to Boston on that specific day to deliver a picture to the Italian Con-
"Francis Russel distorts history. I have confronted him on two occasions, once in 1972, in front of 400 historians in Boston, when I corrected an article he had written. Five months later, he published the same article without the corrections in National Review. I also confronted him in Paris on television in front of 12 million people."
Spencer Sacco
August 23rd has been proclaimed Sacco and Vanzetti Day in the state of Massachusetts. This removes the stigma and disgrace from the family name and in Spencer Sacco's view, casts doubts on the jurors' verdict. Mr. Sacco stated that this is about the best that the Sacco family can hope for at the present. "My grandfather can not be brought back to life," he concluded.
"The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti" The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York