Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Joe Hill Organizing Committee records, 1914-1991
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Joe Hill Organizing Committee
- Title
- Joe Hill Organizing Committee records
- Dates
- 1914-1991 (inclusive)19141991
- Quantity
- 4 linear feet, (3 boxes and 1 oversize folder)
- Collection Number
- ACCN 1243
- Summary
- 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).
- Repository
-
University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860
Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu - Access Restrictions
-
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.
- Languages
- English
Historical NoteReturn to Top
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.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
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.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on 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.
Preferred Citation
Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Organizing CommitteeReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
1 | 1-2 | General Correspondence |
1989-1991 |
1 | 3 | Internal Memos and Correspondence |
1989-1990 |
1 | 4 | Proposal for Joe Hill Committee and Member Lists |
1989-1990 |
1 | 5 | Meeting Minutes |
1989-1990 |
1 | 6 | Budgets |
1989 |
1 | 7 | Tax Exempt Status Forms |
1989-1991 |
1 | 8 | Donations |
1989-1990 |
1 | 9 | Insurance Policy for Sugarhouse Park |
1990 |
1 | 10 | Joe Glazer, Correspondence and Compiled Program |
1990 |
1 | 11 | Phone Directories of Unions |
1990 |
1 | 12 | Reservation Permit for Sugarhouse Park |
1990 |
1 | 13 | Headstone for IWW Worker |
1991 |
1 | 14 | Notes and Miscellaneous Papers |
Commemorative Events and PublicityReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
2 | 1 | Exhibit and KUED Documentary |
1989 |
2 | 2 | Slide Show Script |
1989 |
2 | 3 | Earl Robinson and Peter Seeger Concert Correspondence |
1989-1990 |
2 | 4 | Candlelight Vigil, Correspondence and Flyer |
1989-1991 |
2 | 5 | Media Packet for Candlelight Vigil |
1990 |
2 | 6 | Monument Proposal |
1990-1991 |
2 | 7 | Academic Conference |
1990 |
2 | 8 | Essay Contest |
1990 |
2 | 9 | Film Festival |
1990 |
2 | 10 | Swedish Stamp and Poster Commemorating Joe Hill |
1990 |
2 | 11 | Memorabilia |
1990 |
2 | 12 | IWW Commemorative Songbook |
|
2 | 13 | Posthumous Pardon Attempt |
1990 |
2 | 14 | Press Releases |
1990 |
2 | 15 | Mainstream Article |
1990 |
2 | 16 | News Clippings |
1989-1990 |
2 | 17 | IWW Newspaper Clippings |
1970-1990 |
2 | 18 | Labor Societies' Newsletters |
1990 |
2 | 19 | Postal Workers Union Newsletters |
1989 |
2 | 20 | Book Reviews |
1970-1990 |
Copies of Documents from the Trial of Joe Hill and AfterReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
3 | 1 | Letters to Utah Governor Spry |
1914-1916 |
3 | 2 | Correspondence, Joe Hill |
1915 |
3 | 3 | Petitions and Editorials |
1915 |
3 | 4 | State Versus Joseph Hillstrom (Joe Hill), Court Report |
1915 |
3 | 5 | "The Life Preserver" |
1915 |
3 | 6 | News Article |
1915 |
3 | 7 | Intermountain Protective Service Reports
Intermountain Protective Service was hired on to protect Governor Spry after receiving death threats in connection with the Joe Hill trial.
|
1915-1916 |
3 | 8 | Joe Hill Documents in Original Order |
1970 |
3 | 9 |
Don't Mourn For Me- Organize!
|
|
3 | 10 | Posthumous Pardon Attempt |
1970 |
3 | 11 | Joe Hill Festivals |
1970 |
3 | 12 |
Accidental Play Review |
1990 |
3 | 13 |
Joe Hill, Poet and Agitator
|
1990 |
OversizeReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
map-case-folder | ||
1 | Broadside |
1990 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Labor movement--West (U.S.)--Congresses--Records and correspondence
Personal Names
- Hill, Joe, 1879-1915 --Congresses
Corporate Names
- Industrial Workers of the World
Form or Genre Terms
- Articles
- Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
- Correspondence
- Financial records
- Minutes (Records)
- Pamphlets
- Press releases