Boston to honor Sacco and Vanzetti

BOSTON, Aug. 20 (UPI) The city of Boston is planning to commission a bronze sculpture to commemorate Italian anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, executed 70 years ago for a double murder many believe they didn't commit.

Both men were convicted of murder and executed for the 1920 murders of a paymaster and his guard, but many say they were really convicted for their anarchist views and because of prejudice against Italian immigrants.

Three previous mayors refused to authorize a monument on city property to Sacco and Vanzetti.

However, current Mayor Thomas Menino -- who is of Italian descent says ``our acceptance of this work of art is a statement by the city that these men did not receive a fair trial.''

This Saturday at the Boston Public Library, Menino will officially accept a bas-relief by Gutzon Borglum, who created the Mount Rushmore memorial to four presidents in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

The sculptor reportedly was inspired by Vanzetti's writings that expressed hope his execution would serve as a ``tremendous lesson to the forces of freedom so that our suffering and death were not in vain.''

It is not known how many sculptures were cast from the original mold Borglum made in 1927. A bronze original is in Keystone, S.D., an aluminum copy is in Boston's Community Church, and a plaster model is in the Boston Public Library. The sculpture is 3.5 feet by 7 feet and details the profiles of the men holding the scales of justice.

Plans call for a new bronze casting to be made and installed at an undetermined Boston site in 2000.

Boston cultural affairs Commissioner Bruce Rossley said, ``It's wonderful that we are finally rectifying a wrong.''

In 1977, then-Gov. Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation declaring that Sacco and Vanzetti did not get a fair trial and ``any stigma and disgrace should be forever removed'' from their names.

last updated: December 25, 2004