Nicola Sacco

Bartolomeo Vanzetti's name is forever linked with Nicola Sacco's. But the two men didn't even know each other until they were adults, living in the United States. And though they shared a common commitment to anarchism, they were otherwise very different people.

Sacco's real name was Fernando, not Nicola. He grew up in a large, not particularly well-to-do family in southern Italy, the country's poorest region. Like many working-class kids, he wasn't fond of school, preferring working with his hands to reading books. So at 14, he traded the classroom for work in his small, sun-swept town. Four years later, in 1909, his older brother Sabino decided to emigrate to America. Looking for a bit of adventure, Sacco happily agreed to tag along.  He was just short of 18 years old.

The brothers settled in Milford, Massachusetts, living with a family friend. Sabino soon decided to go home. But Nicola wanted to stay. He found work in a shoe factory, a job he loved. In November 1912 he married a Milford girl, Rosa Zambelli, with whom he would have two children. And though he never completely understood the intricacies of their ideas, he joined a local group of anarchists, followers of Luigi Galleani. He was attracted by their commitment to justice - and by the excitement that the movement had to offer.

Nicolo lived in this safe, secure world until the spring of 1917, when a number of Galleanisti decided to flee to Mexico rather than be drafted into the US Army, then being mobilized to fight in World War I. It was on that trip that Nicolo met Vanzetti. They didn't become close friends. But even after they returned to the States in late 1917, they kept in touch. Vanzetti was visiting the Saccos at their new home in South Stoughton, Massachusetts, on the night in 1920 the two men were arrested for the murder that would make them both world famous.

From that evening on, the lives of Sacco and Vanzetti were completely intertwined. Together, they faced the jury that convicted them. Together, they fought the seven year battle to avoid the electric chair. And on the night of their execution, August 23, 1927, they died less than ten minutes apart.