death_date death_place birth_place other_names signature_alt name birth_date signature image article_title birth_name occupation death_cause
19 november 1915 utah , united states gävle , sweden joseph hillström yours for the o.b.u. ; joe hill joe hill 7 october 1879 joe hill yours for the obu signature.png joe hill002.jpg joe hill
 joel emmanuel hägglund labor industrial workers of the world activist , songwriter , and member of the firing squad
joe hill

joe hill , born joel emmanuel hägglund in gävle , sweden , and also known as joseph hillström -lrb- october 7 , 1879 -- november 19 , 1915 -rrb- was a swedish-american labor activist , songwriter , and member of the industrial workers of the world -lrb- iww , also known as the `` wobblies '' -rrb- .
a native swedish speaker , he learned english during the early 1900s , while working various jobs from new york to san francisco .
hill , an immigrant worker frequently facing unemployment and underemployment , became a popular songwriter and cartoonist for the radical union .
his most famous songs include `` the preacher and the slave '' -lrb- in which he created the phrase `` pie in the sky '' -rrb- , `` the tramp '' , `` there is power in a union '' , `` the rebel girl '' , and `` casey jones -- the union scab '' , which express the harsh but combative life of itinerant workers , and call for workers to organize their efforts to improve working conditions .
in 1914 , john g. morrison , a salt lake city area grocer and former policeman , and his son were shot and killed by two men .
the same evening , hill arrived at a doctor 's office with a gunshot wound , and briefly mentioned a fight over a woman .
yet hill refused to explain further , even after he was accused of the grocery store murders on the basis of his injury .
hill was convicted of the murders in a controversial trial .
following an unsuccessful appeal , political debates , and international calls for clemency from high-profile figures and workers ' organizations , hill was executed in november 1915 .
after his death , he was memorialized by several folk songs .
his life and death have inspired books and poetry .
the identity of the woman and the rival who supposedly caused hill 's injury , though frequently speculated upon , remained mostly conjecture for nearly a century .
william m. adler 's 2011 biography of hill reveals new information about his alibi , which was never introduced at his trial .
according to adler , hill and his friend and countryman , otto appelquist , were rivals for the attention of 20-year-old hilda erickson , a member of the family with whom the two men were lodging .
in a recently discovered letter , erickson confirmed her relationship with the two men and the rivalry between them .
the letter indicates that when she first discovered hill was injured , he explained to her that appelquist had shot him , apparently out of jealousy .
