biography
| name: |
Hill, Joe
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originally Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, also known as Joseph Hillstrom
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1879–1915)
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| biography:
| Labour leader and songwriter, born in Gäyle, Sweden. Little is known of his early life (even his Swedish name is in dispute), but he apparently worked as a seaman and arrived in the USA c.1901. Joining the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) (‘Wobblies’) in 1910, he participated in organizing strike actions in California and Mexico. While he seems to have led a hobo-like existence, he contributed letters and essays to the Wobblies' publications. He also became known for his protest songs, especially ‘The Preacher and the Slave’ which introduced the phrase ‘pie in the sky’; these were collected in The Little Red Song Book. Arrested for double murder in Salt Lake City (1914) and convicted on dubious evidence, he was executed by a firing squad despite international protests. The night before his death he told ‘Big Bill’ Haywood, ‘Don't waste any time in mourning. Organize.’. His body was cremated and its ashes were distributed to IWW locals all over the world. He was one of the best-known ‘martyrs’ of the radical labour movement, which adopted as one of its anthems, ‘I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night’ (words by Alfred Hayes, music by Earl Robinson). |
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