This week in 1915

“Gentlemen, I die with a clear conscience. I never did anything wrong in my life. I die fighting, not like a coward. Well, I’m going, good-bye.”

— Joe Hill (aka Joseph Hillstrom) , convicted of murder, firing squad, Utah.
Executed November 19, 1915

Born Joel Emmanuel Hagglund in Sweden, he changed his name upon arriving in California. A convert to socialism, Hillstrom was a singer and songwriter whose songs, composed under the name Joe Hill, were published in union newspapers and sung on picket lines and demonstrations.

While in Utah, where he organized a successful strike against the United Construction Company, Hill was arrested and charged with the murders of J. G. Morrison, a grocery store owner, and his son. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) organization, or Wobblies, came to Hill’s defense, contending that he had been framed due to his political activity. President Woodrow Wilson and author Helen Keller were among those who campaigned for clemency. Eventually Utah’s governor refused.

Before his execution, Hill wrote Bill Haywood, an IWW leader. “I die like a true blue rebel. Don’t waste any time in mourning. Organize . . .” Mourners in Chicago wore sashes that echoed this sentiment: “Don’t mourn—organize, Joe Hill.”

Hill’s case was included in the 1992 book “In Spite of Innocence” among almost two dozen cases in which the editors believed “an innocent person was executed.”

Several folk songs were written about Hill, and his last will, written as a poem, was set to music. It read:

My Last Will
My will is easy to decide
For there is nothing to divide
My kin don’t need to fuss and moan
“Moss does not cling to a rolling stone.”
My body — Oh. — If I could choose
I would to ashes it reduce
And let the merry breezes blow
My dust to where some flowers grow
Perhaps some fading flower then
Would come to life and bloom again
This is my Last and Final Will
Good luck to all of you.
Joe Hill