On May 21, 1921, the infamous trial of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti commenced at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham. The two were accused of murdering a payroll clerk and his guard the previous year; on July 14, 1921, both men were convicted and in August of 1927 were executed.

They were Italian immigrants and avowed anarchists. The trial spurred international outrage and condemnation, with claims that their conviction was not based on evidence but on their political ideology and bigotry toward immigrants.