The Legacy of Sacco & Vanzetti

Francis Russell

2) Russell, Francis. 1962, reprinted 1971. Tragedy in Dedham: The Story of the Sacco-Vanzetti Case. McGraw-Hill.

3) Russell, Francis. 1986. Sacco & Vanzetti: The Case Resolved. Harper & Row.

Russell is the most eloquent of those authors who are convinced of the guilt of Sacco, and who are inclined to think that Vanzetti was either innocent or indirectly involved.

The first of Russell's books is a reasonably thorough presentation of the case. However, despite his declarations of objectivity, he minimizes the importance of evidence that point to the innocence of Sacco and Vanzetti. Indeed, he makes much of Vanzetti's refusal to testify at the Bridgewater trial, as well as the pair's false statements to police when arrested. He finds the argument that the two anarchists carried weapons and lied because they had been shaken by Salsedo's death unconvincing. There is a whiff of insincerity about Russell's claim that he finds them guilty with reluctance.

The second book is clearly mis-titled. In prose that has now grown quite romantic and over-written, Russell gives much more importance to the controversial ballistics evidence than it deserves, and it, by itself, would not "resolve the case." Nor does Russell's receiving a letter from the son of an anarchist colleague of Sacco's, claiming that Sacco was guilty, amount to much more than hearsay, although Russell seems to view it as the ultimate "smoking gun" of the case.

The Case Resolved is, in effect, Russell's defense of his first book, which inflamed Sacco and Vanzetti supporters when it first appeared in 1962, and again in 1971. He attacks all books published after 1962 that support Sacco and Vanzetti's innocence, and he is particularly incensed over Governor Dukakis's 1977 proclamation. His strongest attack is on Frankfurter's "tendentious essay" (as he calls it) that, according to Russell, made the case "chic."

Most shamefully, Russell ends his book with an attempt to discredit Sacco and Vanzetti as men. He compares them with other famous killers. He makes much of their brief mental breakdowns during their seven years of imprisonment. Finally, unable to withstand the admiration for Vanzetti's writings, he suggests that Vanzetti's eloquence was created by journalists and editors.

Credibility Score: Tragedy at Dedham, 7; The Case Resolved, 0.

4) Ehrman, Herbert B. 1969. The Case That Will Not Die. Little, Brown.

Ehrman, the last surviving lawyer in this case, wrote this book almost forty-five years after he entered into the appeals of Sacco and Vanzetti as the junior associate of William G. Thompson. It is not only a review of the history of the crime, trial, and appeals, but a legal dissection of the case. The Madeiros and Morelli evidence is particularly well presented, and Ehrman's analysis of why it had no impact is, in the last analysis, the final damnation of Judge Thayer.

Since Ehrman was a principal defense attorney, his book is filled with trial transcripts and legal briefs, making his long one-volume book an easier source book to consult than the six-volume trial record.

It is clear that Thompson and Ehrman considered their clients innocent.

Credibility Score: 9