I need help in locating photos or art work related to the Sacco Vanzetti trial in the 1920's. I know Ben Shahn did 32 paintings of the trial but I can find only a few and those not in color. I'm doing a report that I'd like to videotape but I need photos.
Answer
From Teach MJ:
I think your best bet is to try to find a college library and check under both Ben Shahn and Sacco & Vanzetti. That way you are checking under the artist and the event. Local libraries also have access to a lot with their network systems so you may be able to get access to the pictures if you are part of a larger library system. These books may be reference books, but if you talk to the librarians and tell them what you are doing, there is a chance they will help you find the materials and arrange for you to tape them.
From SusanI371:
My general suggestion would be to get ahold of as many books and articles as you can. Most will be illustrated and you should gradually find enough visual material.
Some places to look include:
New York Times Book Review , March 17, l991 and May 25, l986 (doubtful that any illustrations would be in color)
"Art Education" vol 39, pp.29 and 30 (l987) has a lesson plan called "the Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti with at least one Ben Shahn illustration (your school may get this for your art teachers)
"Sacco and Vanzetti" in James Davidson and Mark Lytle, "After the Fact" (l986) is excellent and has a couple of good black and white illustrations including a comparision between the Ben Shahn portrait and a photograph.
In terms of making a video dramatic, you might consider getting some of the contempoary commentary.
John Dos Passos comments on the case in the context of the l920s in "The Big Money", Maxwell Anderson wrote two plays,commenting on the trial: "God's of Lightning" and also "Winterset"; Upton Sinclair commented on the case in hs novel "Boston" and Edna St. Vincent Millay in a series of Sonnets.
You might check your library and reader's guide for anything on the topic by Francis Russell, who is one of the leading experts on this topic. There has been a lot of new evidence in recent years which he is on top of.
Also, there was a good bit in the news in l977--the 50th aniversary of the event, when then Governor Dukakis declared that "any disgrace should be forever removed from their names" (though I gather that the newest evidence does implicate them a bit..)
