Hill, Joe

Hill, Joe, 1879–1915, Swedish-American union organizer; b. Sweden, as Joseph Hillstrom. He came to the United States in 1902 and, as a maritime worker, joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1910. He wrote many labor songs, including "Casey Jones" and "The Union Scab." Found guilty in 1915 of murdering a prominent Salt Lake City man, Hill was executed. He has become a legendary hero of radical labor.

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Hill, Joe

 orig. Joel Emmanuel Hägglund

(born Oct. 7, 1879, Gävle, Swed.—died Nov. 19, 1915, Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.) Swedish-U.S. songwriter and organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Hill immigrated to the U.S. c. 1902 and joined the IWW in 1910. His songs of protest and solidarity—including “The Preacher and the Slave,” in which he coined the phrase pie in the sky to mock the “reward” awaiting the meek in the next world—became widely popular. In 1914 he was arrested in Salt Lake City and charged with the murder of a grocer and his son during a robbery. Convicted on circumstantial evidence despite mass demonstrations on his behalf, Hill was executed by a firing squad. His death made him a martyr in the eyes of the radical U.S. labour movement.

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Hill, Joe 

(also Joseph Hillstrom; real name, Joel Emmanuel Hägglund). Born Oct. 7, 1879, in Jevle, Sweden; died Nov. 19, 1915, in Salt Lake City, Utah. American proletarian poet and songwriter.

Hill emigrated to the USA in 1902 and worked at many occupations. He wrote political verse, parodies, and songs, often to popular tunes. In 1910 he joined the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). In support of striking railroad workers he wrote the satirical song “Casey Jones.” He was one of the chief authors of the periodical The Little Red Songbook, an anthology of IWW songs. Arrested on a false charge of murder, Hill continued writing songs in prison, including “Rebel Girl” (dedicated to Elizabeth G. Flynn), “It’s a Long Way to a Cup of Soup,” and “Workers of the World, Awake!” A few hours before his death he wrote “Joe Hill’s Testament.”

In 1971 the Swedish director Bo Widerberg made the film Joe Hill.

WORKS

The Songs of Joe Hill. New York, 1955.
The Letters of Joe Hill. New York, 1965.
In Russian translation:
Pesni Dzho Khilla. Moscow, 1966.

REFERENCES

Surkov, A. “Pesniu rasstreliat’ nel’zia.” Inostrannaia literatura, 1965, no. 11.
Flynn, E. G. Svoimi slovami. Moscow, 1962.
Foner, P. S. The Case of Joe Hill. New York, 1965.
Smith, Gibbs M. Joe Hill. Salt Lake City, 1969.

B. I. ZAVADSKII [28–743–11