Joe Hill

(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.