Sacco and Vanzetti collections: Gardner Jackson Collection 1896-1965

This collection of Gardner Jackson's papers is important due to his close involvement with the Sacco-Vanzetti case. Brandeis University Special Collections has several collections dealing with the Sacco-Vanzetti case, thus making the university one of the most important sources for material in the country.

The bulk of papers in this collection are related to the Sacco-Vanzetti case, writings by and about Gardner Jackson, his involvement in the establishment of the case as one of the supreme examples of American injustice in this century. The papers and letters show that while others involved in the case later rethought and changed their positions on Sacco and Vanzetti's innocence, Gardner Jackson never did.

Another major part of the collection, the letters to Dorothy Jackson, give an overview to Gardner Jackson's life and career. It details his involvement with labor organizations, political elections, Bolivian reform, and other liberal causes of the day. These letters portray a man in the midst of some of the most important political and social movements of the first half of the twentieth century.