Joe Hill (labour activist, IWW member, and song‐writer) Add a review

Joe Hill (born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, October 7, 1879 – November 19, 1915) was a Swedish-American labor activist, poet, and songwriter. He worked as an itinerant worker for much of his life, organizing with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a militant anarcho-syndicalist labor union. His conviction for murder and execution under questionable evidence led to him becoming a folk hero among the American labor and radical movements.

Born to a impoverished and religious family in Gävle, Hägglund learned to play various musical instruments from a young age, but was forced to work in factories following the death of his father in 1887. After the death of his mother in 1902, he emigrated with his brother to the United States, where he adopted the name Joe Hill. He lived as a hobo, traveling across much of North America while working various odd jobs. He likely became associated with the IWW in 1910, while working as a longshoreman in Los Angeles. In 1911, Hill likely participated in the Magonista rebellion in Mexico. That year, he also submitted his first songs to the IWW's Little Red Songbook. One of his first songs, a satire of the Salvation Army entitled "The Preacher and the Slave", became the most popular and reprinted of the IWW's songs, and Hill rose to be the most prolific and celebrated IWW songwriter. Other songs he later contributed, including "There Is Power in a Union" and "The Rebel Girl", became influential labor songs. His songs were generally sung to the tune of existing hymns or popular music, intended to be sung by groups as a means of raising class consciousness.

Salt Lake City grocer John G. Morrison and his son were murdered on the night of January 10, 1914, by a pair of gunmen. On that night, Hill had visited a doctor in the city with a gunshot wound through his chest, stating that he had been shot after arguing with a friend; a holstered firearm fell out of his pocket while at the office. Hill was arrested several days later and charged with the murder. Hill maintained his innocence, but refused to give details about the nature of the argument with his friend, saying that he sought to protect the woman he had argued about from humiliation. The IWW rallied in Hill's defense. After Hill was found guilty and sentenced to death, the union launched a campaign for clemency. However, despite the support of figures such as Swedish ambassador August Ekengren and President Woodrow Wilson, no stay was given. Hill was executed by firing squad on November 19, 1915. He was honored with a large funeral procession in Chicago, while the IWW had his ashes scattered across the world. Now generally considered to be the victim of legal injustice, Hill has been honored by a popular folk ballad, alongside various other musical and literary tributes.