Sacco-Vanzetli Trial: 1921

Anarchist friends organized the Sacco-Vanzetti Defense Committee. For three months, it collected money. Then the committee hired Fred H. Moore, a long-haired radical labor lawyer from California. Moore, experienced in handling underdog cases for Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, founder of the Workers' Defense Union, and for the International Workers of the World (The "I.W.W."), saw the Sacco-Vanzetti case as a cause. "In saving them," he said, "we strengthen our muscles, develop our forces preparatory to the day when we save ourselves."

Moore spent a busy year writing, traveling, and organizing volunteers. The United Mine Workers, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, the American Federation of Teamsters, and the American Civil Liberties Union were among the many organizations that responded. Pamphlets were printed in batches of 50,000. Publicity releases flooded the mail weekly to 500 newspapers. The murder charge was depicted as "a mere device to get them [Sacco and Vanzetti] out of the way."