Joe Hill Organizing Committee records
Collection
Identifier: ACCN 1243
Scope and Contents
The Joe Hill Organizing Committee records (1914-1991) contain book reviews, committee lists, correspondence, flyers, news clippings, newsletters, petitions, play reviews, posters, reservation permits, songbooks, stamps, and tax forms. Most of the items are by the organizing committee while some are copies from the trial and execution of Joe Hill.
Dates
- 1914-1991
Creator
- Joe Hill Organizing Committee (Organization)
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
Conditions Governing Use
The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.
Biographical Sketch
Joseph Hagglund (1879-1915), also known as Joseph Hillstrom and later still, Joe Hill, was born in Sweden. He immigrated to New York's East side in 1902 and saw the terrible conditions faced by many of the workers. Hill joined the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in 1910. He was well known for his many workers' songs like "Rebel Girl," "The Preacher and the Slave," and "Casey Jones," all of which became popular and widely sung at strikes and rallies. In 1913 Hill moved to Utah to work in the Park City mines and became associtated with the Sweedish Community in Murray. Things took a downturn for Hill, in 1914, when he went to a doctor in Murray to be treated for a gunshot wound. That same evening in Salt Lake City, there had been a murder of a store owner, and the assailant had been shot. The doctor informed police, and Hill was arrested for the murder. In what became an internationally watched trial, Joe Hill was found guilty of the murder on circumstantial evidence and sentanced to death. The IWW was viewed with suspicion by many Utahns and many saw Hill's execution sentance as a business-led campaign to get rid of him. A massive movement to get a pardon for Hill began. President Woodrow Wilson asked for a stay of execution, but the stay ran out and Joe Hill died by firing squad on 19 November 1915. His ashes were given to workers in every state, except Utah. Hill remains one of the IWW's better known members. In 1989, Salt Lake City attorney Brian Barnard sought to find out whether there would be a 75th anniversary commemoration of Joe Hill. Upon finding no official commemoration, Barnard organized the Joe Hill Organizing Committee, which arranged several events including a concert at Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake City.
Extent
4 Linear Feet (3 boxes and 1 oversize folder)
Abstract
The Joe Hill Organizing Committee records (1914-1991) contain book reviews, committee lists, correspondence, flyers, news clippings, newsletters, petitions, play reviews, posters, reservation permits, songbooks, stamps, and tax forms. Some documents are copies from the trial and execution of Joe Hill in Utah in 1915. The Organizing Committee was formed in 1989 to commemorate Joe Hill who was a popular songwriter for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of John Sillito in 1990.
Separated Materials
Photographs transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections (P0445).
Processing Information
Processed by Luke Kelly in 2000.
Creator
- Joe Hill Organizing Committee (Organization)
- Title
- Inventory of the Joe Hill Organizing Committee records, 1914-1991
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Luke Kelly
- Date
- © 2000 (last modified: 2019)
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid encoded in English.
Repository Details
Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository
Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu