Black Fury

Michael Musmanno (1897-1968), a prolific writer and colorful jurist, was born the son of Italian immigrants in Stowe Twp., Allegheny County. As a young man he worked in mines and mills before entering college. He earned degrees from George Washington University, Georgetown Law School, American University, and the University of Rome. He served as a lawyer (for the anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti); a Pennsylvania politician; a U. S. Navy officer during World War II; an Allegheny County judge; and as a justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from 1952 until his death. He also prosecuted Nazi war criminals as Presiding Justice at the Nuremburg International War Crimes Tribunal. Musmanno is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.