Sacco & Vanzetti 1927-2027 International Conference, July 2027
From Recherches sur les Suds et les Orients
Unlike millions of Italian migrants who reached American shores in the 1920s and lived anonymous lives, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti became household names. Their arrest, trial, and execution captured the attention of the world. Left and right, people demanded that Nick and Bart be granted a reprieve. This was not only true across the political spectrum (even Benito Mussolini made such a request), but also among a variety of unions and intellectual circles (Simone de Beauvoir remembers signing a petition for their pardon as one of the earliest steps that would lead to her subsequent political engagement).