Syracuse University Library Associates will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the execution of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti at an event on Monday, Dec. 3, at 7:30 p.m. on the sixth floor of E.S. Bird Library.
In 1927, the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti touched off riots and international protests. The two anarchists had been arrested for a robbery and murder that occurred in Braintree, Mass., and convicted in a highly publicized and legally tainted trial. Scholars have continued to examine this landmark event to understand how the climate of fear challenged the ability of the legal system to provide a fair trial.
SU drama students from the College of Visual and Performing Arts, under the direction of Stephen Cross, assistant professor of drama, will present a brief dramatization of the events surrounding their trial and execution. Afterward, David Bennett, professor of history in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, will conduct an informal discussion in which he will invite guests to share their reflections on the events of the 1920s and compare them with today.
The monumental mural by the artist Ben Shahn, "The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti," on the exterior wall of H.B. Crouse Hall (on the north side of the Quad) commemorates this tragic event in American history. A current exhibition by the Special Collections Research Center on the sixth floor of Bird Library features books, pamphlets and other memorabilia related to the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti.
Admission to the event is free, and refreshments will be served. Discounted parking is available at Booth Garage, at the corner of Comstock and Waverly avenues.
