The Verdict of History, Sacco and Vanzetti

"The past is never dead.  It is not even passed."  Almost 75 years have gone by since the act of crime for which Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were indicted, tried, convicted and executed on August 23, 1927.

There have been excellent legal treatises and interesting, informative novels written on this subject.  Perhaps, it is time for a non-legal and plain talk evaluation of the facts.

There are events whose importance seems to transcend time and affects present and future generations.  The effect of Sacco and Vanzetti is still with us and is one of those events that will remain.  The ultimate judgment is the verdict of the people and rests with history.

The Case of Sacco and Vanzetti extended publicly from May 5, 1920 to August 23, 1927, and be- yond.  The questions that history is still seeking to answer are:

–Were these men properly indicted for the crime of murder and robbery?

–Would a review of the available facts, by reasonable persons, bring a different verdict with certainty?

–Was there evidence of a mistrial?

–Does a review of the facts, uncovered since the Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, from May 31st through July 14, 1921, bring a different verdict?  Were these men treated fairly by the system and by society?  Are their families and all Americans owed some sort of debt from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and from the American System of Justice?  Was there a silent and unspoken conspiracy?  Has the time come for a re-evaluation of this matter; and adjudication, based on all the evidence now available.  Will this be meaningful?

No one can alter what has been.

Frank M. D’Allessandro, M.D, in addition to his medical practice, is an author of novels and short stories.  He earned his medical degree at the University of Bologna in Italy in 1960, and studied at the Lahey Clinic and Carney Hospitals of Boston, Mass. and at Rhode Island Hospitals.  He served in the Vietnam War as an officer in the medical corps.

He is a former member of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra Board of Directors and served as chairman of the Christopher Columbus 500 Commission of Rhode Island.  Dr. D’Allessandro is listed in N.I.A.F.; Who’s Who Among Italian Americans and is a council member.  He is also a member of the The Commission for Social Justice of O.S.I.A. in Washington, D.C.

The author has devoted more than five years researching historical facts, revisiting the locations and interviewing many of the remaining witnesses of the Sacco-Vanzetti era, to produce this extraordinary manuscript.