Joe Hill

Joe Hill, born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund in Gävle, Sweden, emigrated to the United States in 1902 and became an itinerant worker. He joined the Industrial Workers of the World and used songs, cartoons and speeches to organise workers, turning everyday grievances about wages, hours and working conditions into memorable labour propaganda.

Arrested in Utah after a 1914 double murder, Hill was convicted in a controversial trial and executed by firing squad on 19 November 1915 despite an international campaign for clemency. His songs and the circumstances of his death made him one of the enduring symbols of the American labour movement.