Two Westminster College students, Benjamin Nelson and Ray Walling, presented their historical research to the Phi Alpha Theta History Conference held at Washington and Jefferson University.

"The Rulings of Judge Webster Thayer: A Statistical Analysis of Prejudice in the Sacco and Vanzetti Case," is a statistical analysis of the rulings of Judge Thayer, who presided over this 1920s case.  Nearly 1,000 rulings were entered into a data base to reveal patterns in the judges' rulings.

"Using this data base, we have unearthed an obvious, yet never before seen pattern in the rulings that suggest that the judge was deliberately helping the prosecution convict Sacco and Vanzetti," Walling said. 

"Generations of scholars have tried to make a case that the judge was biased, but no one really was able to prove it," said Dr. Russell Martin, associate professor of history.  "This is truly a big achievement.  Their research won the first book award, which is essentially the 'best paper' prize for their session at the conference.  I'm incredibly proud of them, as I am of all our students in the history  program at Westminster."

"This conference gave us a wonderful opportunity to not only get feed back about our research, but it allowed us to see the methods other students were using in their research," Walling said.

Nelson, a junior history and business administration major, is a son of Thomas and Kathie Nelson of Poland, Ohio, and a graduate of Poland Seminary High School.

Walling, a junior history major, is a son of Carl and Barbara Walling of Landenberg, and a graduate of Kennett High School.

For more information, contact Martin at (724) 946-6254 or e-mail martinre@westminster.edu.

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