I dreamed I saw Joe Hill and Paul Robeson in memories of Labor Day

Carol Forsloff - Joe Hill's story remains controversial, but the symbol of labor protest
continues with his name associated with it.  Songs of protest and
stories of what happened long ago evolve to the present, but the story is a memory on Labor Day.




PBS did a special
on Joe Hill in 2000, outlining the controversy about him as well as the
labor movement in the United States.  Songwriter/activist, Hill was put
to death by firing squad on November 19, 1915.  So what was the
accusation against him and why is he associated with Labor Day?

Hill is considered by the Marxist Union a hero of the labor movement.
The website outlining his story takes a view of him in that respect.
Otherwise, there are still few entries, perhaps because of the
controversies surrounding him and the fact he was executed in the United
States, some say, for his strong views about unionism.    The Marxist group
says this, " A model for the fighting cultural worker, Joe Hill wrote
globally relevant, militant topical songs and biting parodies in support
of the union cause and in the process, spawned a legend. Among his most
lasting pieces are “The Preacher and the Slave,” “Casey Jones, the
Union Scab,” “There is Power in the Union,” “Mr. Block” and “Where the
Fraser River Flows."

Hill was, therefore, someone who, like Woody Guthrie, but in other ways
still, chronicled a piece of American history, in his social protest.
Whereas Guthrie focused on the poor, the feelings of the people as they
experienced the Depression and war, Hill encapsulated a different era in
very different ways.

Gävle,
Sweden on October 7, 1879 is the time and date given of the birth of
Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, whose life was difficult growing up  facing a
bout of tuberculosis and the loss of  his mother at a young age and the
struggle to just get by.  He arrived in America in 1902 with his brother.

Hill's life thereafter is in some ways a mystery, as after 1906, when he
split up with his brother, he left his Swedish name behind.  Some say
that happened because he was committing petty crimes.  Others say he
took on a new name to stand up for the labor movement.

Wandering through the newly organized labor groups, Hill became a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, known as "Wobblies."
This group sought a revolutionary program that would unite the workers
of the world in a single movement to take power from the rich and give
it to the poor instead.  He became a folksinger, and his songs became
part of what was called "The Little Red Songbook."

In his wanderings through the West and Southwest, Hill was accused of
robberies, while lauded as a hero of the union.  There were diverse
opinions of him them as well as different accounts.  He landed in jail
in California, near the border where he was said to be involved in a
Mexican uprising.  From there he was on the move again, in secrecy for
the most part, with the ambiguities and stories increasing too.

A robbery at a store in Utah led to Hill's downfall, where a killing was
pinned on him because he had arrived with a gunshot wound the night it
happened.  The accusation of his guilt came even as there were other
serious suspects who had reason to commit the crime.  Hill, however, was
found guilty, and executed in Utah.  The case against him was entirely
circumstantial, according to the documentations of the period.

But Joe Hill's involvement with the social reform and protest brought
him notoriety from opposing forces.  He refused to talk in court, it was
said, so as not to betray the honor of a woman.  That refusal, however,
brought a serious blow to his defense.

Sentenced to death by firing squad, the ambassador of Sweden pleaded for
Hill, declaring he didn't get a fair trial.  Helen Keller asked for
mercy too.  Even President Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, intervened.  William Spry, the Republican Governor, however, refused clemency as he
maintained he didn't want to be told what to do and could find no reason
to give it.

With that Joe Hill was put to death, with a final message from his jail cell to labor organizers, "Don't waste time mourning. Organize!"


The song done by Paul Robeson, another highlighted public figure accused
of being a Communist during the McCarthy hearings, made the song "Joe
Hill  famous, as it is shown here with this piece, and that has been performed by many folk singers since.