FBI Files on Sacco and Vanzetti on Microfilm, 0000-2999
Collection Number: 6082 mf
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
FBI Files on Sacco and Vanzetti on Microfilm, 0000-2999
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
6082 mf
Creator:
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Quanitities:
0.22 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
Nicola Sacco (April 22, 1891 August 23, 1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (June 11, 1888
August 23, 1927) were Italian-born anarchists who were convicted of murdering two
men during the armed robbery of a shoe factory in Braintree, Massachusetts, United
States in 1920.
A controversial trial in 1921 resulted in the men's conviction, despite equivocal
ballistics evidence and numerous witnesses who claimed Sacco had been in Boston's
North End and Vanzetti in Plymouth, Massachusetts on the day of the robbery. Both
defendants had to recount their anarchist beliefs in court to explain why they had
been found armed when arrested, leading to suspicions that this may have prejudiced
the jury.
After a few hours' deliberation, the jury found Sacco and Vanzetti guilty of first-degree
murder on July 14, 1921. A series of appeals followed, funded largely by a private
Sacco and Vanzetti Defense Committee. The appeals were based on recanted testimony,
conflicting ballistics evidence, a prejudicial pre-trial statement by the jury foreman,
and a confession by an alleged participant in the robbery. All appeals were denied
by the original trial judge and eventually by the Massachusetts State Supreme Court.
By 1925, the case had drawn worldwide attention. As details of the trial and the men's
suspected innocence became known, Sacco and Vanzetti became the center of one of the
largest causes clbres in modern history. In 1927, protests on their behalf were held
in every major city in North America and Europe, as well as Tokyo, Sydney, So Paulo,
Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, and Johannesburg.
Celebrated writers, artists, and academics pleaded for their pardon or for a new
trial. Harvard law professor and future Supreme Court justice Felix Frankfurter argued
for their innocence in a widely read Atlantic Monthly article that was later published
in book form. Sacco and Vanzetti were sentenced to death in April 1927, accelerating
the outcry. Responding to a massive influx of telegrams urging their pardon, Massachusetts
governor Alvan Fuller appointed a three-man commission to investigate the case. After
weeks of secret deliberation, which included interviews with the judge, lawyers, and
several witnesses, the commission upheld the verdict. Sacco and Vanzetti were executed
via electric chair on August 23, 1927. Subsequent riots destroyed property in Paris,
London, and other cities.
Since their deaths, some critics have concluded that the two men were convicted largely
because of anti-Italian prejudice and their anarchist political beliefs and were therefore
unjustly executed. Investigations of the case continued throughout the 1930s and 1940s.
The publication of the men's letters, containing eloquent professions of innocence,
intensified belief in their wrongful execution. Additional ballistics tests and incriminating
statements by the men's acquaintances have clouded the case. In 1977, Massachusetts
Governor Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation that Sacco and Vanzetti had been unfairly
tried and convicted and that "any disgrace should be forever removed from their names",
but did not proclaim them innocent.
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archivist for access to these materials.
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and
Procedures for Document Use.
INFORMATION FOR USERS
FBI Files on Sacco and Vanzetti on Microfilm #6082 mf. Kheel Center for Labor-Management
Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Names:
Palmer, A. Mitchell (Alexander Mitchell), 1872-1936.
Sacco, Nicola, 1891-1927
Vanzetti, Bartolomeo, 1888-1927
United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation --Archives
CONTAINER LIST
Container
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Date
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Reel 1 |
Sections: 1-5
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Reel 2 |
Sections: 6-Sub-A
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