Sacco and Vanzetti

Welcome to the Sacco and Vanzetti Commemoration Society Webpage!

The year 2007 marked the 80th anniversary of the execution of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. In 2006, a dedicated group of activists carried out a parade from the Stony Brook Park in Jamaica Plain to the Forest Hills Cemetery where the bodies of Sacco & Vanzetti were cremated after their execution. (To watch a 5-min clip prepared by RAI TV Italy click here.)

In 2007 we were able to formalize a Commemoration Society and carried out three days of events to remember Sacco & Vanzetti (August 23-25). We started with a march through the streets of Boston, a night of theater, music and poetry, and ended with an evening of films.

We will be out on the streets of Boston every year around August 23 and besides marching and demonstrating we hope to establish the foundation for a monument to Sacco and Vanzetti in the North End of Boston.

Sacco and Vanzetti Commemoration Society Mission

The Sacco and Vanzetti Commemoration Society exists to preserve the memory of Sacco and Vanzetti's struggle to radically change society. We want to educate our neighbors about Massachusetts' radical history, and draw connections between the struggles of Sacco and Vanzetti and similar struggles today. We stand against the death penalty and political persecution as well as the persecution and scapegoating of immigrants.

Socialist Perspective on Sacco and Vanzetti

08/21/2011 [DOCUMENTS] - Presentation by Kevin Dwire, Socialist Workers Party candidate for City Council At-Large, at the Sacco and Vanzetti Rally, August 21, 2011

We are here today not to mourn, but to honor Sacco and Vanzetti. The history of the struggles of working men and women here and around the world is one that the capitalist class hopes we will forget, and their hired hands work overtime to cover it up and "educate" us that their history is our history.

But it is not only the events of 1927 that brings us here today. It is the living class struggle of 2011 – the growing economic depression and the continuing war by the owners of capital to make working people pay for their crisis. It is a war being waged in factory and field, a campaign against working people wherever we toil, to drive down our wages and so called benefits, to take away those few extra crumbs we have been able to wrestle from them over the years. It is a war on our democratic rights as they field an army of cops and snoops against our class, our unions, and our political organizations.

2007: City of Boston passes 1st. resolution in commemoration of Sacco & Vanzetti

At the initiative of Boston City Councillor Felix Arroyo, and co-sponsored by Stephen Murphy and Chuck Turner, the Boston City Council passed a resolution declaring "that the Boston City Council does hereby extend its admiration and congratulations to the Sacco and Vanzetti Commemoration Society, and in honor of its many contributions, does hereby declare August 23, 2007, Sacco and Vanzetti Commemoration Day in the City of Boston". The original, sealed document was presented to the Society during the rally at the Langone Park in the North End of Boston by Councillor Arroyo.

Sacco and Vanzetti Commemoration 2011

On Sunday, August 21st, for the sixth consecutive year, the Sacco and Vanzetti Commemoration Society marched through the streets of Boston. For the first time, this year’s route was shortened, starting at the Boston Common Visitor Center and ending at the entrance to the North End at the Rose Kennedy Greenway at Hanover and Cross streets. The event was enlivened with the participation of both the Leftist Marching Band (www.leftistmarchingband.org) and the Vanzetti band (www.wearevanzetti.com). The Leftist Marching Band opened the event with a grand entrance and later accompanied the march through Downtown Crossing to the delight of the crowd. Classics like El Pueblo Unido (The People United), Bella Ciao, Solidarity Forever, and The Internationale resounded in the streets of Boston. At the Greenway the Vanzetti band performed a lively acoustic set to an appreciative audience.

David Kellermen from the IWW, Kevin Dwire from the Socialist Workers Party, a representative from the Tarek Mehanna Defense Committee, as well as Dave Whelpley delivered politically powerful talks, all under the skillful coordination of Rich Navin. Chuck Turner was present in spirit by way of a letter he sent to us from jail and read aloud to those gathered at the Greenway by Sergio Reyes. Once again, the Boston City Council passed a resolution declaring August 23, 2011, Sacco and Vanzetti Commemoration Day, presented this year by Boston City Councilor Charles Yancey. All in all, it was a memorable event.

To see photos from the event click here.

Message from Chuck Turner from behind bars for the Sacco and Vanzetti Commemoration Day 2011

08/21/2011 [DOCUMENTS] - "I regret not being able to be with you physically; however, I am certainly with you in spirit. Let me begin my reflections by commending the organizers for continuing to keep the focus on the horrible tragedy that occurred when Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed for a crime they did not commit. Fortunately, the work of activists over decades finally resulted in Governor Dukakis acknowledging the truth and clearing their names. However, this important work does not eliminate the fact that their lives were taken by a criminal justice system seeking revenge rather than justice.

As we gather together today to acknowledge the tragic error of the government of that era in their unwillingness to seek justice, the question we must answer is what are we doing to stop the reoccurrence of such governmental injustice today, whether lives are being physically ended or destroyed through incarceration. What good does it do to call attention to the tragedy that occurred to Sacco and Vanzetti, if we do not organize to stop the present day governmental victimization of our brothers and sisters."

Monument in the North End against intolerance, prejudice and hatred

The Metro Boston Edition of December 6, 2010 on its front page includes the headlines: "North End memorial to murder? - Group trying to erect a plaque to two men convicted in the '20s. - Sacco and Venzetti (sp) case is infamous". Then on the full page of a small article the reporter, Justin Rice, continues the stereotypes via a sub-heading: "- Group of anarchists trying to memorialize convicted killers in the North End".

The facts are that Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti indeed where convicted for the killing of Parmenter and Berardelli in a robbery in Braintree, but then and now virtually the entire world doubted that they were the real killers in the case. Historical consensus indicates that instead they were executed because they were anarchists and Italian immigrants. Prejudice and judicial manipulation were in the end their executioners.

Sacco and Vanzetti Buttons

The Sacco and Vanzetti Commemoration Society printed a limited amount of buttons with the images of Sacco and Vanzetti, with the text "August 23, 1927" on top and "www.saccoandvanzetti.org" at the bottom. They were first released during the march and rally of last August 23, 2009. The size is 2 inches. The solidarity contribution requested is $3 for both buttons. Please include $.88 for shipping for 2 buttons.

Send us a check or money order to "Sacco and Vanzetti Commemoration Society, PO Box 381323, Cambridge, MA 02238-1323" and we will mail them to you. Thank you!

Sacco and Vanzetti Bibliography

The primary sources for this bibliography have been the WorldCat database, Anne Folger Decker's extensive bibliography, and the Anarchist Archives Project collection. Other sources have included bibliographies from a number of books and searches on the internet. Source(s) for entries are available upon request.

As a general rule, I have included only the earliest edition of an item in the original language and country in which it was published, as well as the earliest translation in each country in which it was published. If an item was published in the same language in two different countries, e.g., the U.S. and England or Spain and Argentina, I have included both. Where it was not clear where an item first appeared, e.g., an article appearing in two monthly magazines in the same month, I have included both. Reprints have been included only if new material has been added.

To view the full document in pdf format click here.

2007: Historical Marker to Sacco and Vanzetti Rededicated in the North End of Boston

12/02/2007 [NEWS] - Nearly 40 people braved the Boston cold on Saturday, December 1st. 2007, to unveil and rededicate a historical marker for Sacco and Vanzetti in the North End. The plaque was reinstalled at 256 Hanover Street, the place where the Sacco and Vanzetti Defense Committee functioned from 1925 to 1927. An original plaque had been installed there in 1976, during the bicentennial of the U.S. independence, as part of the Freedom Trail. Early in the 80s, however, the plaque disappeared. The Sacco and Vanzetti Society formed this year to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti decided to correct this situation and now there is a new plaque in place with the original wording and marking as it was in 1976.

To view a Windows Media video (9mb) of the event click here.

Pictured is Jake Carman from the Boston Anti-Authoritarian Movement

The Monument to Sacco and Vanzetti that Never Saw the Streets of Boston

Boston, July 15, 2007. In 1997 (exactly August 23) a 10-years younger Thomas Menino received as Mayor of Boston a relief of Sacco and Vanzetti sculpted by the famous author of the Mt. Rushmore National Memorial depicting the first 150 years of independent history of the U.S. with the likeness of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. The artist's name was (John) Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum. The massive project in Mt. Rushmore sharply contrasts with the 7-foot size of the Sacco and Vanzetti relief that reads:

"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."

What happened to that monument?

SVCS, 33 Harrison Av.5th. Floor, Boston, MA 02111 | Postal address: P.O. Box 381323, Cambridge, MA 02238-1323
Email: info[@]saccoandvanzetti.org

Visits: 115254