1915: Joe Hill
November 19th, 2007 Headsman
On this date in 1915, songwriter, poet and labor activist Joe Hill was shot in Utah for the murder of a local butcher.
Even before his execution, the Swedish immigrant was widely thought to have been railroaded for his IWW affiliation.
Though state authorities had little use for the worldwide clemency bid whose backers included U.S. President Woodrow Wilson — powerless to intervene officially, since the execution was a state matter — Hill walked spryly into his martyrdom. The strange post-mortem career of his totemic ashes is the least of the ways Hill lives on.
His dauntless last message to fellow Wobbly Bill Haywood — “Don’t waste any time mourning. Organize.” — is a permanent fixture on pins and placards among every stripe of left activist. The songs he wrote remain in print — and in performance.
And the Depression-era tribute ballad “I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night” can seamlessly serenade ripped-from-the-headlines footage, as a Paul Robeson rendition does in these clips of 1998 protests against then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Also On This Date
- c. 865: Ragnar Lodbrok, Viking raider
- Themed Set: Vikings
- 1945: Three German war criminals
- 2002: Craig Neil Ogan, drug war informant
- 1928: Marshall Ratliff lynched for the Santa Claus Bank Robbery
- Themed Set: The "Ex" Stands for "Extrajudicial"
Possibly Related Executions
- 1977: Gary Gilmore
- 1942: Avraham Stern, a strange bedfellow
- 1953: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, “the first victims of American fascism”
- 1887: Parsons, Spies, Fischer and Engel, the Haymarket Martyrs
- 1927: Sacco and Vanzetti (and Celestino Madeiros)
Entry Filed under: 20th Century,Activists,Artists,Arts and Literature,Capital Punishment,Common Criminals,Crime,Death Penalty,Execution,Famous,Famous Last Words,History,Language,Martyrs,Murder,Popular Culture,Shot,USA,Utah,Wrongful Executions
Tags: 1910s, 1915, ballads, bill haywood, i dreamed i saw joe hill last night, international workers of the world, iww, joe hill, labor, november 19, paul robeson, woodrow wilson
November 19th, 2007 at 9:10 am
Don´t mourn – organize!…
Am 19. November wurde der Wanderarbeiter, Sänger und Gewerkschaftsaktivist Joe Hill, in einem manipulierten Gerichtsverfahren zum Tode verurteilt, von der amerikanischen Justiz ermordet.
Joe Hill – Autor Phil Ochs – Sänger Billy Bragg
Joe Hill – Au…
November 27th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
w00t! for the wobblies!
November 27th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
they’re still around, btw: http://www.iww.org/ . i’m not a member. i probably should be, but it’s too romantic for me. lol.
October 8th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Sad, tragic but full of hope and grace
April 13th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
{st louis mo attorneys}…
[URL=dui-mo.com]…
August 2nd, 2011 at 9:44 am
[...] Little undoubtedly had in mind the precedent of his fellow-martyr Joe Hill, executed judicially two years before in [...]