Today in History
7 October 2010
October 7, 1879
Joe Hill was born Joseph Hillstrom in Gavle, Sweden. He emigrated to the United States, where he became a songwriter, poet and organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World, the “Wobblies.” He was convicted of murder on dubious evidence and in 1915 was shot by a firing squad in Utah. His parting words, to IWW co-founder “Big Bill” Haywood, have inspired many in the decades since: “Don’t mourn. Organize.”
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